Anthropologie inspired ‘wool’ wreath

It’s December 1st!! I can’t say “it’s officially the Christmas season,” because I’ve already said that once (or twice) already. However, things are really starting to look like Christmas around our house and our entire neighborhood! We picked out a tree yesterday, decorated it, listened to Christmas music, drank some ‘Christmas beverages’ (mine and the boys being non alcoholic … see yesterday’s news), and then watched part of a Christmas movie. It was great! Owen was so excited to decorate the tree this year, it was fun to watch. He kept asking me, “if Santa was going to like our tree.”

Charlie taking our tree home

Our house is still a disaster (way too many projects all started at once), so I can’t share too much of our Christmas decor (yet), but I did finish one project that I am excited about! Our DIY Anthropologie-inspired ‘wool’ wreath:

Anthropologie Inspired ‘Wool’ Wreath

Here’s the inspiration wreath from Anthropologie (only $128!!!):

Inspiration from Anthropologie

They’re similar, right?  I love that these wreaths can be used all winter long … maybe even to Easter(?).  While I do love Anthropologie … I can’t justify spending $128 on this wreath!  DIY to the rescue!

Here are some additional shots of my DIY wreath (I had a super hard time deciding where to put it) ….

Hanging out on our four season porch … hmmm

Not sold on that spot …

Since I spent quite a bit of time on this wreath, and since I’m pretty sure white yarn hanging outdoors may not end well, I decided upon an indoor spot in our house (you’ll notice it’s the same mantel we had our Halloween Decor and then Thanksgiving Decor set up on…).

Red and White Christmas Display

Are you convinced you need one, too?

Anthropologie = $128; DIY = ~$31 (and cheaper if you can use more JoAnn coupons for the yarn).

Convinced now?

Here are the details …

SUPPLIES

You’ll need:

1. ~18″ wreath form from craft store … OR even better, a piece of pipe insulation from Home Depot/Lowes/etc and duct tape (this is the option we choose)
2. White duct tape (if your wreath form is anything but white)
3. 4 large bundles of yarn (is ‘bundle’ the right word for yarn … pretty sure it’s not). The ‘fluffier’ the better, in my opinion (see pictures below for the exact yarn I used).

I used ~3.5 ‘bundles’ of this yarn

Apparently, ‘super bulky’ is the term for ‘fluffier’.

Get the ‘Super Bulky’ kind, if possible

That’s all you need! If possible, try to use some coupons on your yarn (since that’s the most expensive part). The original price for the bundles I purchased at JoAnn were $10 each. I was able to use two 40% off coupons to help take $8 off the total. I used the pipe insulation from Lowe’s which was less than $1. MUCH less than an 18″ wreath form from JoAnn (even with coupons)!!

Okay, here’s the how-to:

First, make your wreath form from pipe insulation ….

Step 1: Chase down 3 year old trying to joust dog with the pipe insulation you just purchased for your project

Once your pipe insulation is back in hand, determine how big you want your wreath, and simply trim to the appropriate length. Duct tape ends together:

Pipe Insulation wreath form … <$1!!!

Next, cover entire wreath form with white duct tape. Some of the form just may show through, and black is not the look we’re going for here.

That was the easy part … now on to the yarn pom pom making. I’m warning you, this part is a bit tedious …

Basically, you need to make about 75-80 yarn pom-poms that will then just get tied onto your wreath form. You’ll be a pro at yarn poms by the end of this wreath (though you may never want to make another. ever. again.). Okay, I’m being dramatic … it didn’t take that long, plus you can watch TV, your kids playing, Christmas movies, etc while you do this.

Here’s how they’re made:

1. Take one end of yarn bundle, and begin wrapping around your four fingers (or a piece of cardboard approximately the same width). Wrap it around 40 times (yes, I said 40!).
2. Once you have wrapped the yarn 40 times around your hand, carefully slip yarn off your fingers. You want the loops to stay intact.
3. Cut a separate piece of yarn roughly 18″ long, and tie this around the center of your yarn bundle. (See picture … very hard to explain that in words)
4. Once your piece of yarn is secured around your bundle (make sure to knot it several times), use a sharp scissors to cut loops on either side of tie. This creates the pom-pom looking ends.
5. Leave the two long ends of the piece of yarn that you tied around the center (you’ll use these to tie the pom pom onto the wreath form), trim any pieces that are too long.
6. You should now have one yarn pom pom, with two long strings hanging out on either side.
7. Repeat this same process about 75 times (if your wreath form is about 18″ in diameter) … wreath after one bundle of yarn
8. Keep going … wreath after two bundles
9. Almost there … wreath after three bundles of yarn

DONE!

Complete!

That’s it! It’s a super easy project, just a bit time consuming (and a little messy … at least the yarn I choose).

Anthropologie Inspired ‘Wool’ Wreath

I really do love how it turned out, and would suggest this project to anyone that isn’t up for paying $128.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope all your Christmas decorating is going well!