When I saw this giant fluffy yarn at Michaels, I immediately had a vision for it as a wreath, so I bought it in a couple colors.
Bernat Blanket Big Stich ‘n Win yarn
But not as a yarn wrapped wreath. I not-so-secretly detest yarn-wrapping wreaths. No patience!
Instead, I thought it would be fun to teach myself a 4 strand braid, and bedeck the top of a foam wreath with it.
This was my first attempt, and I love it for it’s simplicity. For this one, the foam wreath is wrapped in a few strips of burlap that I had in my craft room, with an extra burlap strip used for a big bow.
It’s a really simple project, which is another reason I love it. Here’s a basic tutorial for you, including a video at the end of the post. You can easily customize this to match your decor, and different holidays and seasons.
What you need:
1 wreath form- I liked using the flat top foam wreath for this because it keeps the braid flat. You could probably make a rounded wreath form work, too.
1 skien very chunky yarn- This Bernat Blanket Big Stitch ‘n Win is the biggest I’ve seen at my local craft stores. If you end up with something smaller, you could always bunch several strands together to create one strand. Or even cooler- braid several strands together to create one strand, then braid those!
Ribbon- Enough to wrap around your wreath and extra if you want to add a decorative bow. It took me 3 spools.
Ornaments and/or floral picks- Totally optional. I made one wreath with and one without. You do you.
Hot glue & scissors
Secure your ribbon with some hot glue, then wrap, then secure the end of the ribbon, then keep wrapping with the next spool, then hot glue again when you get all the way around.
Gather 4 pieces of yarn that are about 2x the circumference of your wreath. I tied mine together at the top while braiding.
I found it helpful to roll up the ends of the strands so I didn’t have so much yarn to wrangle while braiding.
Now, imagine the strands are numbered, left to right, 1 2 3 4. Take number 2 and number 4 and move them over the strand to their left (crossing 2 over 1, 4 over 3).
Next, take what is now strand 2 (was originally 1), and move it over 3 (was originally 4).
Repeat this to create your 4 strand braid.
If that’s not clear, or if you do better with a video, this is a video I found on YouTube that helped me a lot.
Hot glue your braid to your wreath.
Cover the ends of the braid with a bow.
Add your optional flare.
Done!
There’s no right or wrong way to do this, but I did it with 2 separate pieces.
I cut the top hat in half (so technically you could get 2 wreaths out of one), so it would lay flat against the door. I secured it to the wreath with long pins. Eventually I’ll get around to coloring those yellow heads with a black Sharpie.
