Being a little obsessed with mantle decorating (Check out the past 7 years of mantles here!), I'm going to share my handiwork on the mantle this year, which isn't as impressive as the past ones, but it still gets on the list!
I made this garland in 2005 or 2006...
I distinctly remember glittering it while talking to a customer. So, this was a store prop :)
Here's how I did it...
36 flowers total, 4 of each design
Here is the progress:
When all the flowers are finished, you can attach the flowers to the wire form with their pipe cleaner stems. I started with a large gray pom pom at the bottom center, leaves facing in, and just added the flowers counter clockwise, rotating the leaves so that some faced inside the wreath, and some faced outside. The cool thing about the wire form is that you can slide the flowers around, too, making it easier to move them around a bit.
Seeing as I like to take things 8 steps too far, I glittered each and every flower and their leaves, too. Black and dark gray glitter on the leaves, silver glitter on the petals. It's up to you if you want to do this. I didn't show this step because I think everyone knows how to add glitter. (And if you saw my mess... you'd mock me. It's ALL OVER the place. Including the dog.)
Here's how the flowers looked all glittered up:
The centers of each rosette are stickers that I printed and added glitter to. Very easy.
I sell these rosettes on ebay for $3.99 each, if you are interested :)
And, here's the wreath with my Valentine's Day decorations:
Ohboy... I'm hooked.
