Holiday Wreath :)

So, I have made my first Christmas season wreath!  It is quite simple actually, but holds lots of meaning for me!

The lighting is a little dark :(  But i promise it looks adorable!!  The reason it seems so simple to you, yet so sentimental to me is the source of the materials!  The pine cones were collected when we went to Red River, NM.  Jarrod and I found them across the stream from the cabin we were staying in :)  I know, I know.. gag, right? LOL!  For a wreath that looks so simple, it actually took me a while to make.

Step 1:  I painted the edges of my pine cones red and green to give them more of a holiday feel.

(yes I use postal service boxes as my work space for now, don't judge)

Step 2:

Once you get them painted to your satisfaction, which is much harder than you would anticipate, you are ready to start with your hanger.  I used burlap and hot glue (go figure).

I folded the edges over to keep them from fraying because burlap is difficult to work with if you use rough edges!  Then I wrapped it around the wreath and hot glued the seam together.  I centered it a little to the back so you wouldn't be able to see it while it was hanging.  

Step 3:

You are ready to start gluing your pine cones on.  Since I only used 3 colors (I left some pine cones natural) I had to be careful when placing them so there wasn't a cluster of green or red together.  

**Remember, here you can alter your pine cones... there were quite a few that I cut the bottoms off of so they would not stick out too far!

 You can see the green one sticking out in the picture (above). I cut this one shorter before I hung it

the same with the red on at 5:00 here

Just keep gluing and working them into each other and eventually you will get there!  It seems to take forever, and if you sit in the floor like I did, you will DEFINITELY have a back ache :(

Once I got all my pine cones onto my wreath, I decided it was too plain and painted a decorative "B" for Brainard on my burlap hanger.  Get creative here folks!  It really is more fun!

Once everything looks the way you want, you are ready to hang your masterpiece and start preparing for the holiday season!

(I am not quite ready to put up the Christmas tree like some folks, but a little cheer this early never hurt anyone) ;)

Happy Crafting,

Shaunda

 *Side note:  While creating this post I have realized my phone takes much better photos up close!* Mental note!