DIY Camo Wreath Tutorial

DIY Camo Wreath Tutorial. This tutorial includes a video also. Supplies: 10/11/15 Update This tutorial was done in 2014 and some of the supplies are sold out or no longer available. The tutorial is left up since you can substitute different styles of mesh, ribbons, etc and follow the same guidelines. We have made some suggestions on substitutions. XX7504W4 Pencil Burlap Work Wreath 24" (you can use other colors in the Pencil or Work Wreath style, just chose the 24") Click here to see other 24" Pencil Wreaths. You could also use 24" Work Wreaths. RE1002C8 21" Chocolate Deco Poly Mesh (you could also use another base color such as moss green, green/gold, chocolate foil etc) RR800648 10" Paper Mesh Natural Moss Chocolate Plaid (Sold out, no more available) Click here to see other Paper Mesh Styles QXB330110-19 10" Orange Burlap Net Ribbon (Sold out, no more available) You could substitute other orange ribbon such as this 4" Burlap X314704-19 RG1253 2.5" Camo Happy Happy Happy Ribbon XY7148 Camo Hat Ornament - 3 KQ707130 Tin Duck Call Ornament - 3 (Sold out, no more available) 3252385 RAZ 27" Faux Twig Bundle (Sold out, no more available) You could use 3422458 RAZ Faux Birch Twig RD106018 Natural Jute Wired Roping First Step was to take the 24" Pencil Wreath and smooth out the twists. You can use an assortment of colors on a wreath like this in case we sell out of the exact wreath we used. Good substitutions would be a Pencil wreath in chocolate, evergreen or a Work Wreath in a different color. The twist show very little in this finished wreath. The pouf technique was used by grasping the end of the 21" Chocolate Deco Poly Mesh about 3-4" from the end. Gather it together and secure it in a twist. It doesn't matter if you start on the inner ring or outer ring. Close the twist using just a couple of turns (you'll secure with 3-4 turns later after you have layered on your last product). The mesh is not cut for this project, it's worked all the way around the wreath in one piece. Measure 14" from the secured twist, pinch the mesh together and secure in the next closest twist. You have made your first pouf. Fluff it up as necessary by placing your hands under it. Continue on around the wreath in this same fashion....measure, secure...measure..secure. Once you have worked around the wreath, you last pouf will be secured right into the same twist where you started. To do this, open that twist, making sure your mesh stays in place and secure the last pouf into the same twist. Then you are ready to move down to the outer ring. For this project, we started on the inner ring first. After you have completed the last pouf on the inner ring, pull the mesh snug down to the outer ring, choose the twist that is closest and secure the mesh. This is your starting point for working around the outer layer. Continue to measure and secure poufs working around the outer ring. When you reach your starting point, make your last pouf by securing into your stating place. Now you are ready to cut the end of your mesh off leaving a tail of 4-6". Once we had finished our poufs, we had a couple of yards of mesh left over. Flip the wreath over and find your loose ends, twist them together and wrap around the metal wreath frame, secure with a zip tie. Second Step is to add in the next layer. We chose a 10" plaid paper mesh. This is made of paper and the wreath will need to be protected from wind and rain. The 10" paper mesh was started the same way as the mesh by pinching it together 3-4" from the end and securing in a twist. It doesn't matter where you start, but we started on the inner ring. Choose a twist, open it and make sure your poly mesh stays in place, secure the paper mesh right on top of the poly mesh and give the twist a couple of turns. Let the paper mesh pouf a little or lay over the poly mesh poufs nicely without being too tight. We did not actually measure the paper for this layer. Continue around the wreath in the same fashion and once the last pouf is completed, cut the paper mesh leaving a 4-5" tail and secure to the inside of the work wreath with a zip tie. Add Contrast by using the Orange Jute Net Ribbon. This ribbon as 5 yards on the roll, so we cut strips of about 24" in length. The jute ribbon was secured by starting in a twist on the inner ring, making a bit of a pouf and attaching to a twist on the lower ring, leaving a few inches of tail sticking out of each twist. We started out by skipping every other twist until until we had gone around the wreath, still had 3 pieces of jute left and just worked them in too. Add Happy Happy Happy Ribbon by cutting strips about 36" in length, think it was about every 6th word. The ribbon strips were attached working around the inner ring and then the lower. Each strip was attached to a twist, fluffed a bit and attached in the next twist. We tried to attach to where you could see the words as best as possible. We did work around the wreath with the wreath laying flat on the table.....this resulted in some of the wording being upside down when we hung the wreath. So, you might want to hang the wreath or place on a stand to position these ribbon strips))) Add Camo Hat and Duck Call Ornaments around the wreath and use as many as you would like. The Camo Hat ornament is also available in a Tree Camo also. The hats are made of plastic, so you can punch a tiny hole in the brim and use that to attach to your wreath using a zip tie or chenille stem. The Duck Call Ornaments are made of metal and have a jute string. We used the string to attach to the Work Wreath Frame. Add a Finishing Touch by using a sign or something if you have it, we didn't, so we used a 27" RAZ Mossy Twig Bundle. Instead of putting a bow on it, we just used the Happy Happy Happy ribbon and some plain natural jute wired roping (double a couple of lengths of it) and used the ribbon and roping to just tie a not around the branches. The Branch Bundle already comes tied with raffia. The wire jute roping was curled. This just roping has a fairly heavy wire in it, so it will hold the shape well. This finished our wreath except for clipping strings which you will have to do. Paper mesh along with poly mesh ravels and you will always have some strings to clip. Check the back of your wreath and make sure you don't have anything sharp that might scratch your wall or door. The finished wreath measured around 32-34" in width and ht, not counting the branches or the ribbon tails and a dept of about 10-12". Great wreath for a "Man Cave."