DIY Monogram Wreath

During the holiday season, I saw tons of super cute burlap and deco mesh wreaths all over Facebook and Pinterest. I looked into ordering one for our front door but when I browsed Etsy and other websites, the price was more than I was willing to pay....$55-58 not including shipping. Ouch. 

So what is a gal that likes to dabble in DIY do? Make one, duh! 

So I looked online for a wreath I liked that had a tutorial attached. Lord have mercy at all the options! Felt wreath, branch wreath, Styrofoam wreath, metal wreath...a million different possibilities. I settled on this tutorial from Amanda Jane Brown. While I wasn't in love with any of the wreaths, I thought the tutorial was easy to follow. I have also outlined my steps below for you:

My supplies from Hobby Lobby. I bought the burlap looking deco mesh because it is weather resistant, which is perfect for a front door. The chevron ribbon is burlap, though, and both were on sale for 50% off. If they weren't on sale, my materials would have cost about $12 more. 

1. Take the beige pipe cleaners and tie some onto the outside of the wreath (shown above) and then more onto the inside. I alternated spacing for inside and outside, which you can kinda see in the picture below.

2. Hot glue the pip cleaner to the wreath so it doesn't slide around. 

3. Unroll your material about 12 inches and the pinch it together like in the picture above. Then put that pinched area of material into one of the "pipe cleaner arms" on the wreath- doesn't matter where you start. 

4. Wrap the pipe cleaner tightly around the material. 

5. Repeat this process all the way around the exterior of the wreath. I did about 10-12 inches per bunch, but definitely didn't measure, just eyeballed it. Once you finish the exterior then keep going and use the interior "arms" for another layer. You can see below both the exterior and interior bunches that I did. 

6. When you finish going around the interior, leave about 12 inches of material before you cut. This leaves you with two "tails": The 12 inches of material from the very beginning and 12 inches at the end. Flip the wreath over and use the tails to hide as much of the metal wreath as possible. Then use another pipe cleaner to secure both tails to the wreath.

7. Now its time for the decorative burlap ribbon!

8. I unrolled most of it with the intention of tying a bow at the bottom, but realized I didn't have enough ribbon once I got started. Just like with the deco mesh, start wherever you would like and use the pipe cleaner "arms" to secure the ribbon onto the wreath. Twist all remaining pipe cleaners to the back of the wreath when you are done. 

9. Viola! You are done! You can add a letter like I did or other decorative accents. 

Here is my finished product using an already painted "P" I had laying around the house....

wait, you don't have extra monograms hanging about, too?!

So sorry for the not so good tutorial...I got distracted by cooking dinner, talking to an old friend, checking Instagram....you know, the usual :) Please check out the link above for a *much* more detailed explanation and pictures if you decide to make one, too. 

For all of you that don't have the time or energy to make a monogrammed wreath,

 let me know and I will be happy to create one for you!