BE MADE: DIY Fleece Ruffle Wreath

I mentioned on Facebook the other day that I'm not crafting much this holiday, but I do have a couple of projects to show you guys, this being one of them.

Which came about as a "test run" for another project I have done.

Recently I have had a couple of friends ask me to make them spirit wreaths for their favorite colleges, which is something I had never done before. So I did my research and found a particular style I liked - felt ruffles - and went to purchase the felt in the school colors.

Which almost caused these beauties to not be created. My local fabric stores have a limited color selection of felt, but luckily they did have the colors I needed. The last time I was purchasing my needed felt, the fabric shop had all their fleeces marked down for holiday projects, and I swear they had every color under the sun in fleece! As I'm eyeballing those soft fabrics, the hubby says, "Why couldn't you use fleece on your wreaths?"

Well, I dunno. Why couldn't I?

So I decided to get a yard - since it was so cheap! - so I could do a test wreath to see how the fleece would work versus the felt.

Just because it was a test run doesn't mean it couldn't be useful, right? So I figured I'd make a cute mini Christmas wreath for our house (if it worked).

When I made the two above wreaths, I had cut my felt into 4x4 squares, but since I was doing a mini wreath, I did 2x2 squares.

You'll have lots of these little squares, and you'll probably need more. I didn't cut the entire yard; probably ended up using about 2/3 of the yard. I did use more felt for the bigger wreaths, probably close to a yard of each color I used {just FYI if you want to tackle a larger one}.

I'm a bit picky; I didn't want the styrofoam in the back showing, even though you wouldn't see it because it's the back. It would be totally cool to leave it as is. But, if you're like me, you can add a felt back to the styrofoam easy. And I would recommend doing this before adding the ruffles. Makes it easier to trace the wreath form.

I used felt for my backing but you probably use whatever scrap fabric you have, or use the same felt/fleece you are using for the wreath. Just cut out your donut and glue it on. I've tried good ol' Elmers and my trusty E6000 for the backing. I definitely recommend the E6000. The Elmer's just peels right off.

In doing my research for these ruffle wreaths, I found several different tutorials for attaching the fabric to the wreath form, but this tute was the one I used. Which, oddly enough, the Elmer's glue is perfect for. Weird.

But, this is a perfect project for sitting in front of all those Hallmark & Lifetime holiday movies. Because after like 30 minutes, I had this:

But isn't all that ruffley-goodness beautiful?!

And, after a movie or two, you get this beauty:

And by using the fleece, in the words of Agnes: "It's so fluffy!" Really a different texture than using the felt, but essentially the same effect.

I really wanted to keep this wreath simple, so I grabbed this cute little pinecone & holly floral pick from Hobby Lobby, and stuck it in the wreath form. Then I used a little piece of holly printed burlap ribbon to make a hanger.

Then I added a small white bow at the top of the ribbon to bring a bit of the white up.

See that ugly green wire on the bow? I just covered it with a pearl do-dad you can find with the scrapbooking supplies.

Just a sweet little wreath! And now I know: yes, I can use fleece, too! Yay! Two birds, one stone!

I don't have any Christmas decor out yet -- I don't decorate until after Thanksgiving -- but I'm trying to get my projects knocked out before that so I'm not crafting while I'm decorating. I felt like last year I wasn't able to really enjoy my decorations because I was so focused on crafting. I don't know where I'll hang this little guy yet, but I'm sure my decor will tell me. (:

So, whadya think?

I've got two more projects comin' at ya soon: my most favorite from last year, and a new addition for this year. So be sure to follow along! (:

And I hope you guys have a very Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for you guys for sticking with me these past few years! It's been fun!

TTfN!