Christmas Rag Wreath

December is FINALLY here! Which means....25 MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! To celebrate I am going to post a Crafty Creation everyday for the next 7 days!!! I have come up with some really cute Christmas crafts to share with you so make sure you keep checking in everyday!

To get this week started right, I made a FABULOUS rag wreath to hang on my door! A Rag Wreath is a great way to use up those scrap fabric pieces you have been hanging onto.

Here is a list of materials you'll need for this craft:

* Fabric! You can use your scrap fabric pieces as long as it's big enough to cut a 3 x 3 square out of it. The fabric stores have their Christmas fabric for dirt cheap right now! I bought 1/4 of a yard of 6 patterns of fabric. So all together you'll need about 1 1/2 yards.

* A Straw Wreath! You can find these at most craft stores. I bought a 14 inch wreath for $1.75 when it was 50% off!

* Scissors or Pinking Shears

* Glue

* Phillip's Head Screwdriver

First cut you fabric into 3 inch by 3 inch squares. I used pinking shears to cut my fabric because I think the zig-zag edge is more visually interesting than a straight edge.

I used my quilting rulers to measure my squares. A 1/4 yard of fabric produced about 45 squares so after cutting all 6 of my fabric choices I had about 270 squares.

Get a plastic container of some sort and put some glue in it. I used regular Elmer's Glue, but Tacky Glue will also work.

Wrap a square of fabric around the pointed end of your screwdriver. Make sure that the 'pretty' side of the fabric is on the inside.

Now dip the tip of the fabric into the glue and push the screwdriver firmly into the straw wreath. Poke your fabric about 1/2 way into the wreath.

When you pull the screwdriver out of the wreath, the fabric should remain in the wreath. As the glue dries, it will anchor the fabric permanently into the wreath.

Keep repeating this process placing the fabric squares about 1/2 inch or so apart.

You will want to cover the sides well, so that you cannot see the wreath--but leave the back empty so that your wreath will lay flat when hung up.

Your wreath should look something like this after you are done:

You can leave your wreath as is, or put a beautiful bow on it! There are so many ways you can make bows, but here is how I made mine:

For my bow I needed 2 1/4 inch wide red satin ribbon, scissors, needle and matching thread, and a cute sparkly button for the middle.

Out of my ribbon I cut 2 - 18 inch long pieces and 1 - 15 inch long piece. Grab a piece of ribbon and overlap the ends a little placing 'seam' in the middle of the back. Stitch everything in place. Here is what it should look like :

Back

Front

Do this with all three pieces of ribbon.

Lay the 2 biggest pieces on top of one another forming an X and stitch together down the middle.

Now lay the smaller piece in the middle of the X and stitch in place.

Lay a piece of strong thread underneath the bow in the middle.

Tie a tight double knot around the center of the bow. This should gather the center of the bow.

Now hot glue your button or gem in the middle of the bow and hot glue the bow onto your wreath!

All together I spent under $10 on this project! I love to decorate around the holidays, but money is soooo tight around Christmas. You don't have to spend a fortune buying decorations from stores when you can make BETTER, UNIQUE decorations at home!

Check in tomorrow, and I'll show you another cheap and beautiful way to decorate your home for the holidays!

*Jes*