A Wreath Divided
Happy Thursday everyone! I’m not sure about you ladies, but this week has been loooong. The good news though is that tonight is Thursday night which means…football! Here at the home group you might say we are a little crazy about football. There’s something about being able to set aside whatever is stressing you out or going on and coming together with friends to root for the same team. But what happens when you aren’t rooting for the same team? Now before you get ahead of yourselves and assume this is a post about putting aside differences and not taking things too seriously, let me jump in and say it’s not, this is a post about crafting a seriously cute wreath that lets the world know who you’ll be rooting for on Thursday night…even if it’s a different team then your roommate or husband or whomever you live with!
First you’ll need a few tools and materials:
- A wreath form – I used a skinny wooden wreath form I had leftover in my closet.
- Ribbon – two colors for each team you want to represent — wider and thinner options work well for some visual interest. I chose a tealy blue and black and white polka dot ribbon for the Panthers, and solid purple and yellow and white chevron for the Vikings.
- Burlap – this is a personal preference, the burlap creates a nice neutral background for your two warring sports teams, but you can always go with another wide ribbon if you’re not about that farmhouse life. I would recommend getting a burlap with a fairly tight weave so you don’t burn your fingers when you glue it on the wreath form.
- A small wooden plaque – basically a little flat piece of wood, big enough to write your team names on. They come in all different shapes and sizes at Michaels. I got an oval one because (1) it’s a great shape and (2) it’s kind of like a football!
- Small wooden letters (optional)
- A small wooden football (also optional). I used a garden spike and just cut the post off.
- A hot glue gun (with glue sticks) – if this is your first foray into the crafting world, you can pick one of these up with about 100 glue sticks at Target or Michaels for a few dollars.
- Patience – while you can easily knock this wreath out during one football game, the first few flowers will probably end in a few burnt fingers while you’re getting the hang of it.
Everyone back from their Target run with a coffee and a can-do attitude? Awesome! Let’s craft!
The first thing you’re going to do is glue your burlap ribbon around your wreath form. This gives you a nice even surface to attach your flowers. Basically you’re just going to glue a line straight down the back of the wreath form and lay the burlap on it as you go. (Be careful, the glue is hot!) Wrap both sides around and press them into the glue; because it’s such an open weave the glue should come through enough for both layers, but if it doesn’t you can always add more. I wrapped some of my colored ribbon around the burlap to really tie all my colors together, I chose purple for the Vikings half and black and white for the Panthers half. You can put some glue on the end you start with to attach it to the wreath, wrap it around and glue it again where the ribbon ends. I would double check that your ribbons are wrapping the same way before you glue them down.
While that cools and sets, you can start making your ribbon flowers. I’m not going to lie I was kind of winging it with these. I’ll tell you how I made the three types of flowers I used, but feel free to do all the same or just two different types if that’s what you’re feeling. The first flower started with the wider ribbon, putting a dot of glue on one corner and then folding it over, adding another dot of glue, folding it like a fan, and making sure to use enough glue to hold the shape until you complete a circle. I made four with each of my wide ribbons, so eight total.
Next, using the same ribbon you’re going to make smaller carnation-shaped flowers. Start by putting glue on the end and folding it over to create a sturdy center, then put a dot of glue towards the base and push the bottom into the glue, leaving the top free to pull away from the center. Keep working your way around the center, putting glue towards the base, pinching the ribbon, and pushing the bottom into the glue. (Tip: the bigger the pinch of ribbon, the bigger your petals will be. I would start tight and work your way looser towards the outside.) Stop when it’s the size you want it to be, I recommend not going too large to make sure they don’t overpower your wreath. I made two of these in each of the wider ribbons, and then two in one of the thinner ribbons, so six total.
The final type of flower is a rosette. The reason I didn’t make carnations in both thin ribbons is that one I picked out (the purple) did not hold that shape, so if you have a similarly silky ribbon these rosettes might work better for you as well! Start by cutting out a small, quarter-sized burlap circle (this will save your fingers, trust me), repeat the first step from the carnation by putting a little glue on the end of the thinner ribbon and folding it over to make a sturdy center. This time instead of putting the glue only on the base of the center you can put some on the burlap circle which will create a different shape as you continue around, creating the appearance of a small rose. Again, the more fabric you pinch the bigger your petals will be. I made three of these in one color I had already used for two of the carnations and five in another ribbon, so eight total.
There are a few more steps before we’re ready to assemble our wreaths. The first is leaves; this is one of those optional steps but I really liked how they filled out the flowers. Cut a length of burlap the size you want your leaf to be, fold it in half (like a hot dog) and cut your leaf so it ends in a point. You can put a dot of glue at the wide base and fold it together to give it more shape. I made about twelve of these in a couple different sizes.
Next paint your plaque; I painted mine white so it would pop and not get lost in all the colors. Let’s be honest — teal, black, purple, and yellow are rarely a match made in Pantone heaven. Now if you bought wooden letters you can paint the first letters of your teams in their corresponding colors, so I painted the P for the Panthers teal and the V for the Vikings purple. When those dry you can glue them onto your plaque, then using a small brush (or a Sharpie if you’re feeling a little shaky) you can write the rest of your team name after the letter. I used the same paint I used on the letters, and then in black between the two I wrote “A House Divided,” because on certain Sundays we definitely are!
Now we’re ready to assemble! Start by gluing your plaque where you want it on your wreath, I chose to place mine where my two ribbons diverged. Now, you can start filling it in with your flowers! Be creative with your layering and how you fill in with your leaves. I prefer things to be a little asymmetrical so I started with my plaque on the right and filled my Panthers flowers on the top and my Vikings ones along the bottom. The final touch was to glue the football to the bottom with a few small leaves and voila! You have made a beautiful, classy, and yet still sporty wreath to hang up on Thursday, Sundays, and Mondays…let’s be honest, you can just leave it up all week. If you decide to make a wreath for your divided household please leave a comment! I’d love to hear how they turned out!
-Abby
This Small Group 
One Response to “A Wreath Divided”
[…] be sure to check out Abby’s lifestyle post about “A Wreath Divided,” directions on how to make your own football wreath to show the love for your favorite team(s). It […]
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