Welcome

Year round I hang a handmade or store bought wreath on my front door corresponding to the season or holiday. I find that wreaths are such an easy way to brighten up or warm up the front porch. Especially, when you get many visitors. The door is the first thing visitors see and you want them to feel welcomed. This year I decided to make my own Spooky Halloween Wreath.

This Spooky Halloween Wreath was supposed to be a very quick and easy project, however, once I started the project I found that it was not the case. It was a bit tedious. But when it was all said and done I was so happy with the results. It was totally worth the effort.

I began by gathering and purchasing all of my materials. Luckily, I already had a white extruded foam wreath on hand from a previous project. You can find similar foam wreaths at most craft stores. The remaining materials I purchased at Hobby Lobby.
My shopping trips to Hobby Lobby usually consist of me meandering through the aisles waiting for inspiration. On this particular day I went with a purpose. Well, sort of.  I knew I wanted to create a Spooky Halloween Wreath, although, I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted it to look like or what materials I wanted to use. All I knew was it needed to be spooky.

I began my search in the Halloween section of Hobby Lobby. There was a bevy of Halloween accoutrements. Any of the bats, witches, pumpkins, and ghost products would have been great choices. Then, I came across the eye balls. Jackpot! Exactly what I was looking for and the perfect degree of spooky.
Once I landed on the the eye balls, I knew I wanted a nice thick yarn to wrap the wreath. But what color? I thought red. Maybe black. And there it was. This beautiful bright green yarn. It was calling to me saying “Buy Me.” And so I had found my yarn. As an added bonus the yarn was on sale. How great is that?

Now, it was time to assemble my wreath!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED
– 14″ White Extruded Foam Wreath (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby)
– 1 spool of yarn (I used Crabapple by Yarn Bee from Hobby Lobby)
– 3 Packs of eyes balls (I used Hobby Lobby’s Halloween Crafts – eye balls – 24 pieces per pack)
– hot glue gun
– glue sticks

DIRECTIONS
1. Begin by applying a drop of glue on your foam wreath and place the end of the yarn on top of the glue. Give it a moment to dry. Then add another drop of glue on top of the yarn and previous glue drop. That means you will have a layer of glue, the yarn and another layer of glue. This will secure the yarn and keep it from moving as you begin to wrap the yarn around the foam wreath. Designate the glued side of wreath as the BACK SIDE of the wreath.2. I planned to wrap the yarn around the wreath only once, therefore, as I wrapped the yarn I made certain there were no gaps in between.

3. As I wrapped the yarn on the foam wreath I applied a small amount of glue to the BACK SIDE to secure the yarn. I did this about every 2-3 inches. If you don’t apply the glue, every time you let go of the yarn it will unravel. This little bit of glue will secure the yarn and allow you to leave the project if need be or take breaks without disrupting the work you have already done.

Note: I will say this was the most tedious part of the whole project. It took quiet a while to completely cover the entire wreath. Once the wrapping was complete, I did have some achy fingers afterwards. I would suggest taking a few breaks during the wrapping process to let your fingers rest a bit.4. Once you have completely covered the foam wreath with the yarn, secure the last of the yarn with a drop of glue.

Now, the fun part!5. Apply a generous amount of glue, about a penny or dime size worth, on the wreath and place an eye ball. It’s important to apply a good amount of glue so that the eye ball has something to latch on to.6. Randomly place the eye balls onto the wreath until you have completely covered the FRONT SIDE of the wreath in spooky eye balls.7. Once your wreath is completely covered in eye balls take a minute to look over the wreath for any gaps. If you do find some gaps simply fill them with the remainder of the eye balls.

NOTE: I used 3 packets (a total of 72) eyes balls for my wreath. But the number of eyes balls used will vary depending on how tightly you position the eye balls on your wreath.8. In order to hang your wreath, you may either cut a length of yarn, tie a loop and secure the yarn to the BACK SIDE of the wreath. Or cut a length of ribbon, loop the ribbon around the wreath, secure the ribbon with a knot on the top and then hang.

9. PRESTO! You have successfully created a SPOOKY HALLOWEEN WREATH!

It is such an easy Spooky Halloween Wreath to make. The hardest part of the entire project is wrapping the yarn around the wreath, but with a bit of patience and a few breaks to ward off achy fingers it will be a piece of cake.