Crayon Wreath {Teacher Gift}

For Christmas I wanted to make my sons teacher something to show appreciation for all she has done so far! He's in Kindergarten and before Christmas break knew how to write all letters in cursive, could count to 100, reading 2-5 letter blends & words and already starting addition..I'm impressed to say the least! I have seen a few crayon wreaths online and really liked them..but wanted something different!

Off to Michael's we go!

Here's what we used -
Unfinished wood frame (has a 5x7 opening) - $5.00
Crayons (2 boxes) @ $1.00 each - $2.00 total
Small unfinished wood rectangle "sign" - $0.50
Painted School themed wood cutouts @ $0.25 each - $1.25
Black Matte Finish Paint (on hand) - FREE
White Matte Finish Paint (on hand) - FREE
Glue sticks & Glue Gun (on hand) - FREE
Ribbon (on hand) - FREE
Project Total - $8.75

Ok let's get started! You obviously can put the crayons on however you wanted but this is how I did it! Put all like colors together. I had the boy help me sort them out. Browns, Blacks (which included grays, silver, etc), & White went off to the side as the "extra" colors. I was going to try complete OCD and do all like colors and sort them lightest to darkest but decided to skip that with the help of a 5 year old!



I had the boy hand me whichever crayons he wanted in each group (and tried to not have the same color together). We worked in rainbow order and started with the reds and worked our way around. I found that trying to put glue on the frame first and sticking the crayon on next worked best. Gluing onto the crayon then to the frame made the crayon fall right off! I used a straight edge to line the crayons to the opening of the frame and started at the complete outside edge. I made sure the crayons were even with the floor on the sides of the frame. I worked around the frame clockwise and just repeated until I got back to the starting point.





For some reason the crayons didn't fit on the left side of the frame evenly like they did on the left side! I put one black crayon and two white (the two end crayons), rubbed the second black crayon on the glue gun a bit to melt it some and glued it and wedged into place between the first black and first white crayon. It sticks out some but not a biggie!



Next I put the ribbon on the back. Just made it even on both sides and used the cutout to make the length even. Lots and Lots of hot glue! The "wreath" wasn't heavy just wanted to be safe!

Painted the glass from the frame with a White letter M for his teachers name, let dry and painted over it in the matte black to look like a chalkboard.

The black "Welcome" sign I also painted like a chalkboard. Black with white letters and glued the school themed cutouts around the "chalkboard" and glued on to the wreath!



My biggest worry was breaking it before it got to the school! I was happy to see that after Christmas break it was hanging up in the classroom!

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Fall Wreath

My new "thing" is wreaths! My Grandma used to change hers out according to the season, I always thought they were old lady-ish but now I think they are a great, cheap and easy way to decorate and show off what is usually a pretty boring area!
I wanted something that I could put up in the fall and keep up until Thanksgiving. The plan was originally Halloween then take down til Thanksgiving but that wreath turned into a mess...literally! I had melted candy corn on my door step!

So here is what I came up with, and all under $10!


What you need....
A wreath form...I used a 14" straw form because it felt more fall to me! (and kept the plastic on it because I was wrapping it in bed & didn't want straw bits everywhere!!)
Yarn...I picked up 'Falling Leaves" by TLC Essentials at Joanns for a few bucks
Felt...I got the sheets at Joanns (I think they were the 9"x12" ones) they were all around $0.50..the fancier textured ones might have been closer to $1.
Scissors
Hot Glue
A comfortable place to sit
A good movie or plenty of DVR'ed shows

Basically you are just going to wrap your wreath in yarn. I made one loop around & tied on the back of the wreath so that the knot wouldn't be visible from the front. Just keep wrapping, and wrapping, and wrapping....and wrapping. Every once in awhile you may have to adjust the yarn so that there aren't any spots showing through (or leave it if you want a more "rustic" look with a straw wreath. I have read that some people use a dab of hot glue around their wreath to keep it in place, I didn't see where it would be necessary unless you were preparing to hang it during a hurricane!!

Once you have it all covered tie it off on the back. I tied mine to the starting knot.

Next its time for the flowers! Cut a circle shape out of your felt. I cut different sizes so I would have different sized flowers. Use a decent size circle...a glass, bowl, small plate or measuring cup work great! You could even freehand your circles...I'm just not that talented! Now you will cut the circle into a swirl, but leave room in the "middle" of the circle for a base. You will be hot gluing your flower to the base so it needs to be a pretty good size. To cut the swirl think the things you used to draw when you played MASH! I made some a little wavy as I was cutting and gave my flowers some "texture". You could even practice with paper first to see what the results would be! Once you have your swirl cut out you are going to roll it from the outside (point of the swirl) to the inside (base). You can make the roll pretty tight or kinda loose...as long as it all fits onto the base when you are done! Once you have your roll, put hot glue on the base (enough to hold all of your roll in place)..and say goodbye to your fingerprints!! Repeat until you have the amount of flowers that you want!! I cut leaves out of a green felt as well...just the basic leaf shape and glued them under and between the flowers.

Glue your flowers how you like them on your wreath. Glue the leaves if you want them...if not, hang on the door and you're DONE!!