Scrap Fabric Christmas Wreath

I had been looking on Pinterest for some ideas on a homemade Christmas wreath.  (The one I used for the last few years got chewed apart by our last doggy.)  I had a lot of scrap fabric from the kids Christmas outfits, so I was trying to find an idea that incorporated fabrics.  There were so many good ideas (I'm loving burlap now) but chose this tutorial from Southern Priss Designs because I didn't have to buy much! 

I cut my red and green fabrics and had a total of about 200 rectangles.  I didn't think it looked like enough, so I rummaged through my scrap fabric and found a yellow I thought would go well.  I ended up getting another 60 some rectangles and thought that would be enough.  

I purchased the wire wreath for around $3 at JoAnns.  I cut my rectangles 2.5inches by 7 inches.  (This step is super fast if you have a rotary cutter!  If you don't have one, feel free to borrow mine!)  It took me about 40 minutes to cut all my pieces and that was with the "help" of my kids.  

I just noticed my belly photo bombed the picture!  Ha!

Next I counted my red, green, and yellow rectangles then divided that number by 9 (the number of sections in my wreath).  It gave me an idea of how many colors to put in each section so the overall look would be balanced.  7 yellows + 12 green + 11 red = 30 rectangles per section.  I sorted them into stacks of 30 to make it easier since I had to stop and start a lot. 

Next, I started knotting (just a single knot).  I put approximately 8 on the inside row, 10 on the second row, and 12 on the 3rd row.  At this point I realized I didn't have enough fabric to do the 4th row, unless I wanted the wreath to look loose - and I didnt.  So, I just decided to skip that row.   

It took me about 15 minutes to tie each section.  This picture is with 2 sections completed.

The wreath turned over - you can see my empty row.

About two hours later (stopping to put kids to bed) this was my stopping point for the night. 

I kept racking my brain about what I could add to finish the 4th row, without going to buy more fabric.  I had some extra Christmas garland laying next to the wreath for a couple days and it occured to me I could cut the garland apart and add that to the empty row.  I wasn't sure how this was going to look, so I cut about 10 pieces and looped them through to see if I'd like it. 

I really like how it made the whole wreath look more "Christmasy".  About one hour and a big mess later, the wreath was just about done.  I had been looking for a red sparkly "Merry Christmas" sign to put on it, and hadn't had much luck.  I found this one at Walmart for $.98 and thought it would do the job (although I'd still love to find one about twice this size).  You just can't go wrong when it's less than $1

So here it is all done!  It cost me a total of about $4!!!  I'm the most excited about that :)  Happy Christmas crafting to you!