Deco Mesh Wreath

I finally finished my first deco mesh wreath.  I have wanted to learn how to make one for quite some time.  I have been collecting some supplies for the last year or so, but had not done anything else.  Last month I finally decided that I really wanted to make one, so I started researching how to make one.  I ended up watching a lot of Facebook live videos.  Everyone seems to do the wreaths differently, there are some similarities, but everyone puts their own spin on them.  I had a 14″ wire wreath frame that I purchased at Dollar Tree and I had some white pipe cleaners left over from another project.

I began to tie the pipe cleaners on the wreath form.  I put 3 on each section for a total of 18 pipe cleaners, 2 on the outside ring and 1 on the inside.  Then I hot glued them to the form to keep them in place.

I used 21″ deco mesh in hot pink for the base of this wreath.  I started on the inside of the ring and gathered up the mesh and put inside one of the pipe cleaners and twisted it in place leaving a few inch tail.  I used a zip tie to firmly attach this tail to the wire frame.  Then I gathered the mesh again creating a poof measuring 10″ between pipe cleaners.  I used a tape measure to make sure I kept the poofs the same size.  I continued around the inside of the frame measuring 10″ poofs and twisting them down to the frame with the pipe cleaner.  Once I finished the inside ring, I made another poof and attached it to a pipe cleaner on the outside ring in the next section.

I then continued measuring and making poofs around the outside ring of the frame.  Once I had tied down the last poof, I cut the mesh leaving a tail that used a zip tie to attach it to the frame.  The zip ties might not be necessary but they do make the mesh on the wreath more secure so I don’t accidentally pull it loose while I am working on the rest of the wreath.

I had bought a beautiful roll of ribbon when I was gathering supplies.  It didn’t have wire on the edges as I later learned is very important when making this kind of wreath.  I still wanted to use it, so I figured out a way to use it anyway.  I cut it in 15″ pieces, folded the cut edges together to create a bow, and scrunched it together in the middle.

I decided to twist it as I attached them to the wreath.  I didn’t have enough for all the pipe cleaners, so I skipped some and evened them out.

The other supplies I had purchased didn’t match as good as I thought they would so I stopped until I could buy more mesh, ribbon, and decorations to add to it.  I ended up buying a lot of different things to match a sign I thought I wanted to use.  I looked at Walmart and Dollar Tree, but didn’t find the colors of mesh or ribbon I wanted so I had to wait until the next week when I could go to Hobby Lobby.  I had a really weird shopping experience that day.  I started in the ribbon and mesh aisle and picked out 3 colors of mesh and 3 ribbons, then started looking to see what else I could find to decorate the wreath.  I enjoy looking around at all the craft supplies and usually spend too much time and money when I do go to Hobby Lobby.  Since I spent quite a bit of time just looking around, I had to go to the restroom.  When I came out my basket was gone.  I don’t know if an employee took it and put the stuff away or if a customer took it by accident or what.  I looked around for awhile but did not find it, so I ended up having to go back and re-shop for all the stuff I had already put in my cart.  Of course one of the ribbons that I had chosen was out of stock, so I got another one that I didn’t like as well and ended up getting 4 rolls of 10″ mesh.  While I was looking around, I found 2 signs that I thought would go better on the wreath, but couldn’t decide between them so I bought them both.  So I already have a lot of supplies ready for my next wreath.

I wanted curls on my wreath, that is what I bought the mesh for.  Some of the videos I watched had recommended using a wood burning tool to cut the mesh.  It is supposed to help prevent the mesh from unraveling as much.  I remembered my dad had one of the wood burning tools so decided to try it.  I purchased a small glass cutting board at Walmart to cut the mesh on as was recommended.  I wanted to have 2 curls for each pipe cleaner, so I cut 36 pieces, 8″ long each.  I placed a measuring tape under the cutting board to measure the mesh, used my left hand to hold down the mesh and my scissors on the right.  Once my wood burner was hot, I picked a line and followed it down until it was all cut.  It was very quick and easy.  I did turn on the fan to pull away the smoke created by cutting the mesh.  I also used a glass plate to hold the tool to keep from burning my table.

Once all the mesh was cut, then I started creating the curls.  I rolled one up and used a clothespin to hold it until I had the second one rolled.

I then twisted them on the wreath.  I started on the outside, alternating turquoise/white and pink/gold.  I took off the ribbon I had put on it last time and put the curls over the poofs.  On the inside row I alternated turquoise/gold and pink/white.  I decided to only use 2 of the ribbons I had bought.  I cut 9 pieces of each ribbon 10″ long.  I dove tailed the ends, put them together and scrunched them in the center and twisted them on every other pipe cleaner.

I placed the original striped ribbon bows back on the pipe cleaners without the ribbon.  I attached the sign with pipe cleaners and then twisted on 3 turquoise jeweled flowers and 3 bundles of pink silk flowers on top of the ribbons and topped the rest of the ribbon with the striped ribbon.  Then I tucked all the pipe cleaner to the back and twisted them down so it looked neat and wouldn’t cut or scratch a door or wall.  I attached a pipe cleaner to the top for a hanger.

I hung it up on the wall and straightened and fluffed all the mesh and ribbon to make it look pretty.

I left the wreath hanging on the wall while I was writing this post.  When my daughter came home from school, she noticed I finished the wreath, but was upset that I moved a picture to hang up the wreath.  She does not like change at all.  Hopefully she will get better about that as she gets older.  I enjoyed making this deco mesh wreath and now I need to go back to Hobby Lobby to get some more supplies so I can try out the ruffle method.

You also might like Valentine Bookmarks – they could be made for any holiday or occasion, just by changing the paper and stickers.

Do you like making crafts?  Did you try making a wreath?  Leave a comment below and let me know.

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