Hello Kitty Inspired Wreath Tutorial

We have a serious obsession with all things “cat cat” around here, and have since long before Leyna turned 2. Actually, this goes WAY back to my childhood, back in Hawaii, back when I used to collect Sanrio erasers and hoard them in my kick-ass ninja pencil box.

“Cat cat” means Hello Kitty. It’s one of those things that’s just stuck since Leyna’s toddler days when everything was 2 of the same word.

You may recall Scott painted a Hello Kitty on Leyna’s cast last year?

You might have a great dad if…

A photo posted by Jill Krause (@babyrabies) on Jan 5, 2014 at 3:13pm PST

Well since he’s just so darn good at it (he’s seriously very talented at this stuff), I enlisted his help with this project, too. Leyna’s very own cat cat wreath!

So the first thing you’re going to want to do is download and print the 3 pages of templates (that Scott freehanded) that will help you cut out the ears and the bow:

hellokitty wreath templates

As for the rest of the supplies, you’ll need:

1 regular wire hanger
1 foam pipe insulator (get this at the home improvement store, shouldn’t be more than a few dollars)
white Duck tape
4 white marabou feather boas
4 floral wire stems (check the floral section of the craft store, also very cheap)
1 yellow bead (we painted ours yellow)
3 black pipe cleaners
white craft foam
black craft foam
2 popsicle sticks
craft foam in whatever color you want the bow to be
hot glue gun, glue sticks, scissors

*If you’re tempted to try to use a pool noodle, I’d urge you not to. I think it will be way too thick. The pipe insulation already has a slit that makes it easy to slip the hanger through, too.

The above supply shot is slightly different from what I wound up using on the final wreath. I substituted glitter pink foam for the pink felt, and used black pipe cleaners in place of coloring the floral stems black with Sharpie. This is mostly to show you what the pipe insulator looks like.

To start, bend your hanger into an oval shape. Hello Kitty doesn’t have a round head, but more of a square-ish oval. That’s why a regular round foam wreath wouldn’t give the same effect.

Plus, this method is super easy, cheap, and makes hanging the wreath simple when you’re done!

After it’s a shape you’re satisfied with, wrap your foam around the hanger. You’ll likely have extra. Cut that off. Also, the foam will wrap around itself around the hanger. Don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Use tape to secure the ends.

Then use your tape to wrap all the way around the entire wreath, leaving you with a nice white base to work with.

Cut your ears (template in the link above for download) out of the white craft foam, then glue popsicle sticks to the back. Glue the ears to the front of the wreath, leaving just enough space between the bottom of the ears and the wreath to wrap the feather boa under.

Wrap your 4 feather boas around the entire oval. Just remember to divide the oval into 4s, and use one boa to cover each quadrant.

That should make it nice and fluffy!

Thread your floral wires through the yellow bead, them spread them out like whiskers. They are not going to stretch beyond the “cheeks” of the kitty. That’s okay! Their job is to hold the nose in place. They aren’t the actual whiskers. Glue them down, all the way to the tape, not on top of the feathers.

Then cut your black pipe cleaners in half, leaving you with 6 little whiskers. Glue 3 on each side, right over the top of the floral wires.

Cut out the pieces for the bow, using the black craft foam for the base of the bow, and whatever color you want the bow to be for the small pieces. (Remember, you can download these templates in the link at the top of the post.)

I was working with craft foam that had an adhesive backing, so I just stuck the pieces on the bow base. You can also glue them.

Then just glue your bow on top of the kitty’s head, right below her left ear (your right).

We had to bend the hanger hook back just a bit to attach it to the wall, but that actually made the hook disappear into the fur, and hanging the wreath was a breeze.

This wreath has been living in my brain for months! I’m so glad I finally got it into the real world. I was inspired to make it after I re-made my black cat wreath last Halloween. So if you love all things cats, you probably want to check that out, too.