Have you heard of a pinterest project yet?
Pinterest Project [n. pin-ter-est proj-ekt] - the act of a Pinterest addict getting off their heinie, pulling themselves away from their computer screen displaying pin after pin after pin, and finally completing one of the great projects they have spent countless hours pinning.
I am not even going to tell you how many pins I have.
It is borderline embarrassing.
But I am all about pinterest projects.
What fun are great ideas if you don't put them to use?
This project is a combination of two ideas:
1. Cutting up a foam pool noodle, taping the ends together and using it as a wreath form.
Can you say FREE? I snatched Kendry's worse-for-wear pool noodles and hacked them up. Hey, he won't need more until next summer anyway. Have you ever used a carpet knife? Serious sharpness. Those pool noodles sliced apart like butta'.
2. Crafting with coffee filters.
Coffee filter crafts are everywhere right now. They are super cheap and very easy to work with.
Pool noodle + coffee filters =
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Slice up your pool noodle, shape it into a circle and tape it securely. My wreath form was 13" across, which looked small at first, but we all know first impressions can be deceiving. Once completed, this wreath is the perfect size and quite full.
2. Tear some long strips of light colored fabric (I used muslin), keeping the width about 4". Wrap the fabric around your wreath form to hide the ugliness that is a disintegrating pool noodle, pinning or gluing the fabric in place. The light-colored fabric is necessary because it blends with the coffee filters and disguises small gaps; plus, you want to avoid putting any hot glue directly onto the foam noodle. Trust me, it will melt. Fast.
3. Gather up your hot glue gun, lots of glue sticks, lots of coffee filters, and a Diet Coke and start working. I scrunched the bottom of each filter a bit and then attached it with hot glue. In all it took me about 4 hours of scrunching and gluing. Put a fall movie on in the background to help pass the time.
I have a thing for Pauly Shore in Son-in-Law.
We all have our vices.
NOTE: I don't advise starting in one place and going all the way around your wreath form. The filters start piling up on each other and it gets tough to make them fill out the wreath in a uniformed fashion. Instead, I would complete a 5" section, then go out a few inches to a bare spot and start a whole new section. When you think you are almost done, step back and look for tiny bare spots that could accept one more filter. The fuller the better!
4. When your gluing is completed, step back to admire the beauty you have created and exclaim "Wow is that white!" (if you used white filters like I did) It is almost hard on the eyes white. So I brewed a little coffee, put it into a spray bottle and repeatedly spritzed the entire wreath until it had the slightly browned color I was going for - all the while listening to the hubs complain because he hates the smell of coffee.
Oh the price my hubs pays for my crafting addiction.
Its a tough life.
5. Put a cute accessory on the front of your wreath, then hot glue a ribbon scrap to the back and hang it up. I suggest attaching your front accessory (in my case a ribbon) with something other than hot glue, like a small safety pin. This way you can swap out your accessory with each season without damaging the filters.
Coffee filter beauty!
Are those ruffles not totally gorgeous?
They remind me of a wedding dress.
And because I am a total movie dork - always quoting lines, pointing out references and such - I couldn't resist posing for this hilarious Chevy Chase similarity:
The kiddo thought this was pretty funny too.
HAPPY CRAFTING!
