Festive Wreath Beginnings

I am, as usual, behind with my Festive Making. It was the exact same scenario last year with the Jolly Festive Bunting being completed sometime after Christmas had been and gone. But I don't mind too much as I am having such fun with this wreath thing and I know it won't matter to anyone if it arrives late to the door.

I bought the polystyrene ring a whole year ago, so the idea of this Festive Wreath has been hanging around in my Creative Mind for a good while now. I'm using a 30cm "half round ring" which has a rounded top and a flat back. You can find them on Ebay for about £4, I got mine here.

Before I get stuck into the decorative bit of the wreath making, I'm making a woolly, stripy cover. I'm working random stripes of double crochet in an aran weight yarn, just a long length with no shaping. I know from the making of my May Rose Wreath that it'll work out, even though it never quite seems like it will do at this stage. Unlike my rose wreath, I'm planning on completely smothering this one with a huge collection of pom poms, flowers, leaves, berries, stars, baubles, buttons, ribbons and bells. So the stripes might only be very slightly visible, but this seemed the easiest way of dealing with the white polystyrene which I don't much care for.

Over the past few weeks I've begun assembling some suitable wreath making materials. The Knit and Stitch show in Harrogate a few weeks ago was a great hunting ground for festive bits n bobs, and I had a lot of fun searching and gathering there. I came home with a small but beautiful haul of buttons, beads and bells, and an excited, fluttery heart.

Oh, and ric rac..........

....oooooooooooooooooooooooo, yummy!

I could not resist this ric rac in such gorgeous colours and at only 40p a metre I thought it was well worth a little splurge.

I also bought some very cheap n cheerful bits of glittery-shiny to add a true Christmas flavour to my woolly wreath. 

The glittery holly berries are wired, so I thought I could cut them up and dismantle them a bit, then simply poke them straight into the polystyrene amongst the crochet. And the baubles...well I just LOVE baubles and these little colourful plastic ones will look cute amongst the pom poms and other bits I'm sure. Well I hope so anyways. My Creative Mind tells me it'll all work out, but the reality maybe somewhat different....we shall see!

I've also been making some little crochet stars during the past few weeks.

These stars are great fun to do, very quick and easy to make and very satisfyingly cute.

I've been churning out piles of them in my favourite colours, and can't wait to use them in my Festive decorating. Many of them will be included on the wreath, but I'm also going to use them as a sweet finishing touch to my gift wrapping this year (with a button sewn on, and some colourful ric rac tails). They would also be great made into a garland, or strung vertically with invisible thread to dingle and dangle in front of a window....oh endless possibilities!

If crochet is your thing, maybe you might like to make a few Teeny Tiny Stars for Christmas? Or maybe you might like to make a whole heap load?! I've already written up a tutorial, which you can find here.

Right....off to crochet some more stripes, I'm really hoping to get that finished today so I can start on the business of attaching The Decorative Stuff. Sooooooooooooo excited!!!

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Comments

[Alisa]

Hoping to use your pattern to start a group project in my fb group and get lots of participants to maybe make them and even make it so they can change the decorations for the different holidays and seasons ect

[Hazel]

HI Lucy found your page by sheer luck. What I would like to know is do you know any where who do a complete pack of wool for this wreath Hazel A fellow Yorkshire native

[Kristina Kyle]

I love your blog ang your creativity! I always feel so happy after visiting with you! I have a lot of strange colors of yarn that someone gave me and I am going to begin crocheting a blanket much like yours. Wish me luck!

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[Tracey]

These are so lovely - i'm learning to crochet whilst temporarily in usa with my partner for his work and already have one multicoloured star for our little apartment!

As a beginner can i just check one thing - where the pattern says to chain 2, and then slip stitch into 2nd chain from hook, does that mean to ss the first of the stitches you just chained and if so which direction should you go into it from??

[Lynda M O]

Lucy, your generous spirit shines in these blog posts and tutorials with which you bring us such joy and beauty. Thank you from a very grateful reader; you inspired me to start my blog. Learning from you brings delight to my crocheting fingers and charm to my home.

[Vivienne Martin]

Please can you tell us where you bought your plastic baubles. I'm having trouble tracking these down on the net. Can't wait to see the finished wreath!

[Tracy Oxendine]

I can't wait to see the finished wreath! The colors are wonderful and very festive.

[aLittleBlonde]

Wow, I look forward to seeing the finished project! And I love the little stars xx

[Diana]

...I wonder how much beautiful will be your christmas wreath..i love all of your precious creatvive works..wonder-crochet!!ciao!

[emma]

Can't wait to see this finished Lucy.
Just popped over to your star tutorial! your stars are soo easy! thank you for sharing.
Festive wishes to the attic from a snowy Chamonix, France.

[Cassandra]

You are just so inspiring....now I think I need to make a wreath!

[Rebecca]

thank you so much for the star pattern, I will be adding them to my packages for sure. Oh and possibly stringing them later on after the sewing is done.
What a nice present from you
Rebecca

[Sue Addison]

You just inspired me to crochet some stars too! Just made two aqua ones. Now I have to go see what other colors I have in my stash. Thanks so much for sharing.

[penelope]

Utterly inspiring!!!!

[Liesbeth]

Hi Lucy, as always I love reading your blog and I am so inspired by your projects! Since it is very hard to get the "flexi hoops" here in the Netherlands in the shops, to create a nice place for the French birds, I thought that it would be a possibility to make a basic wreath like this one for them! Tell us how you think about that? Love from the Netherlands! Keep up the good work!
Liesbeth.

[Lyn Z... Isle of Long, NY, USA]

Just a thought for the next time you need to simply cover the background in a quick manner: perhaps simply wrapping the yarn around the form instead of taking the time it takes to crochet a cover........stripes can still be had by wrapping, hot gluing behind and changing colors..... Just sayin' it's so much faster... Looking forward to the Ta Da moment!!!

[bridget]

Gorgeous colours and I absolutely love the crochet stars.

[Angela-Southern U.S.A.]

Look forward to the wreath 'Ta-Dah'!I'm sure the stars will be a big hit with the recipients.Happy Holiday decorating!

[Taylor]

I'm excited to see the finished wreath! I'm sure it will be fantastic. Those stars are delightful!!! Putting them on gifts sounds like a great idea. Maybe when I have a little more time. . .Thanks again for a wonderful post! Look forward to more!

[Helen]

This looks like such a fun, exciting project. I've just had a go at crocheting holly leaves from your pattern. I'm rather pleased with how they turned out!http://ahandfulofhope.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/jolly-holly-crochet-decorations.html
This was my first attempt at something small and cute like this, I think I'll try your tiny stars next, they're so sweet

[carla]

thank you, Lucy!!!!

[Sonia Petitpoint]

A very bright and lovely wreath !

[Justine]

I just tried my first teeny, tiny star and it worked!! Thank you for your easy to follow tutorial as I get a little nervous trying out, what for me is a little more complicated crocheting. I have just started learning this year so feel very chuffed!! I love all your oolours you use for your projects :)

[wendy]

Wonderful and look forward to seeing the finished product too.