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Jones Design Company

ruffle wreath {a tutorial}

90 Comments

I spent yesterday with my friend Rae while our husbands were doing important things like putting out fires and rescuing kittens from trees {by the way, do you know that fire fighters don’t really do that? Ryan gets slightly annoyed at the mention of it}. Anyway, we let the seven children of ours run wild while we did a little bit of Autumn crafting.  She needed a new fall wreath for her front door and so we created this little beauty:

ruffle wreath

How about a tutorial?

Here’s what you’ll need:

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:: styrofoam wreath

:: burlap

:: scissors

:: needle & thread

:: straight pins {not shown – oops}

:: hot glue gun {also not shown, but definitely necessary}

STEP ONE: cut three long strips of burlap {4″ x 70″}

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STEP TWO: wrap the wreath with one burlap strip

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secure the start and end with straight pins

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STEP THREE: gather the burlap strips into ruffles

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Because of the loose weave, tie your thread to the fabric to hold in place. Then start stitching.

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Now pull your thread to gather the burlap

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STEP FOUR: attach the ruffle to the wreath

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attach the first ruffle to the back of the wreath, pinning in to hold with straight pins.

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then add hot glue to secure.

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Flip over and this is your first layer.

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STEP FIVE: attach second ruffle

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Starting from the inside of the wreath, pin down the second layer.

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And you’ll have this:

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We added some seasonal embellishments {a bunched up fabric flower, a satin flower, some feathers, a glitter bird and tag}

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Love it!

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Here is her front door before {wearing a spring wreath}:

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And now:

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Perfectly Autumn-ish.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Mariah

    Funny story…my husband has actually rescued a kitten from a tree on shift before! He gets slightly annoyed when I mention it too, but only because it really happened, haha.
    I just found your site, love it, and love this wreath!

    Reply

  3. Megan Hawthorne

    I just stumbled across your blog from an amazing pin on Pinterest and am literally sitting in my studio surrounded by said burlap and a styrofoam wreath just waiting for loveliness! I think I’ve found my inspiration, in more ways than 1 actually- I just started my own blog @Pinhappydiy.blogspot and I am greener than green, but looking for blogs that capture the same feel and provide the kind of well formed ” how to” that yours obviously does. So, thank you for the shot of inspiration- I can only hope to create half of what you have going on here one day!

    Wish I could stick around and browse in awe a bit more, but I have a wreath to make! I will be posting my own experiences and finished pictures and will be sure to credit your original idea. (Not that it gets much traffic, but maybe one day! :)

    Reply

  4. Nicole

    What did you use as a hanger? How did you attach it?

    Thanks for the tutorial…I’m creating a couple for a Silent Auction for our school. I bought mine big, so I had to double some fabric to get the look. I’ll post pictures as soon as I take them.

    Reply

  6. Susan

    So BEAUTIFUL! This is exactly what I’d been looking for! Thank you for the amazingly clear tutorial.

    Here are mine if you’d like to see how they turned out: http://sosimplysusan.com/2011/11/12/

    I do think I lost some of the effect by going with larger (18″) wreath forms, but I am still very happy with how they turned out.

    Thanks again!!!
    Susan

    Reply

  7. Aimee Steckowski

    i LOVE following Rae at ARMOMMY… found your tute on pinterest and couldn’t resist checking it out. i am falling in love with burlap and this is one more reason too! thanks for the amazing tute!!

    Reply

  12. Madison

    I just wanted to let you know how beautiful I think this wreath is! Thanks for taking the time to share with us how to make it! I’ll be featuring your project on my blog in a fall roundup this week if you’d like to stop by and check it out! Thanks again for the wonderful idea! :)

    Reply

  13. Larissa

    Coming over from Dear Lillie. Great post! I had to comment too because my husband says the same thing about rescuing cats! Apparently people call all the time asking them to rescue cats!

    Reply

  15. Amber daSilva

    Hi Emily, I have become a great fan of your blog, you have beautiful taste. Thank you for sharing your tutorials, I am working my way through them! Made this wreath, turned out lovely, and would love to add bunched up flower, can you share how to make it?
    Thanks again.

    Reply

  16. Diane

    Okay…I just came back for a refresher….hopefully tomorrow I’ll get around to the wreath. But….I did create a very large burlap flower thanks to your inspiration. And I wish I’d read and remembered to tie my thread to the burlap….oh that is such a significant tip!
    Blessings!

    Reply

  18. Jennie Larsen

    LOVE LOVE LOVE your fab. blog. My SIL sent me this link because she was going to make this wreath. I loved it so much I had to make one too. Mine still isn’t 100% like yours but I did my own twist on it. I love it still. Just wanted you to know that I linked you and thank you for this great tutorial and blog. winks- jen

    Reply

  20. Diane

    What an inspiring tutorial! My mind started swirling with all the possibilities. I even liked the wreath before ‘step 5’!!! Christmas is over. I really don’t want to keep my very Christmasy looking wreath up. Now I have inspiration to create something new and fresh yet appropriate for my snowy north east location. Blessings to you!

    Reply

  22. Gabby

    My sis in law made one of these for me and I love love love it! You have a very fun lil blog :) It is feeding my addiction. Happy Holidays to you! Oh, I also cracked up at the firefighter comment as I too am married to a FF who does not rescue many kittens. Ha ha ha!

    Reply

  25. Allie

    Oh My Word! This is fabulous! I do hope you will come link this up on my Making It With Allie Thursday! It is really beautiful!
    AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

    Reply

  26. Tonya Hurter

    Oh my gosh! I love this. Going to do it. I almost bought a storemade Walmart wreath yesterday but decided to hold off. I’m so glad!! I can do this and it’s 10,000 times better!

    Reply

  30. Megan

    Thank you for the tutorial – so cute! I made my own version and made sure to link back to you! I was lazy and just pinned mine, instead of heating up the glue gun! Thanks for sharing your always great ideas! Happy Fall!

    Reply

  31. Ginnie

    I just love this wreath and my husband is a firefighter (in OKC) also! It’s funny how people ask about cats in the trees! OR that they have a dalmation and a pole :) Thanks so much for all you wonderful ideas! Blessings!

    Reply

  33. Anissa

    Hi Emily

    Thank you for this great tutorial! I linked it to my last post, I hope you don’t mind? I have been using a lot of your ideas lately so thank you for all the inspiration!

    Reply

  34. Anissa

    Hi Emily

    Thank you for this great tutorial! I linked it to my last post, I hope you don’t mind? I have been using a lot of your ideas lately so thank you for all the inspiration!

    Reply

  35. Sue Christianson

    Hey Emily,

    What size wreath did you use. I think I got a styrofoam wreath that may be too big. Mine isn’t turning out quite as ruffly.

    Thanks! :)

    Reply

  39. House Mouse

    I just made the wreath and it is gorgeous, but I have one little tip: Do not make this wreath while wearing your nightie and then snuggle up in bed…the burlap fibers are not comfy.

    Reply

  40. Joy Peiss

    Emily, I love this! I will try it as soon as the wedding hoopla is all done and faded away…it has been fun escaping for a few moments while reading the how-to!

    Reply

  43. Amanda

    I love this!! I made your page wreath a while back and have had so many people do the same…they all loved it as much as me! This is calling my name, too! I must have a love of wreaths I never knew about. :)

    Reply

  50. emily

    so cute! i made the book page wreath…it turned out so pretty, thank you for your fabulous tutorial! now i’ll try this one, i love it.

    Reply

  51. MeganDVD

    UBER CUTE!!! How I adore burlap and thrilled to have found this most scrumptious tutorial. Thank you ever so much my dear.

    Cheers~
    e

    Reply

  52. Julie Brazelton

    Dear Emily,

    Oh my gosh! I’m in love with this tutorial! Where can I purchase burlap? Do you a have tutorial on the flower? Going to try it this week:) So excited. I can’t thank you enough for sharing this with everyone!

    God Bless, Julie Brazelton

    Reply

  53. Lisa B

    Ohhhh, love this! The almost instant gratification of having it done in no time is a bonus too. I am adding this to my project list.
    Thanks for ANOTHER great idea!

    Reply

  55. Rebekah

    I did actually make one today, and I’m so pleased! It’s so full and pretty. I didn’t have any cute flowers on hand so I just tied on a big bow using some sparkly pumpkin ribbon I’ve had for years. I love it so much I may wind up keeping it up all year long, changing out the add-ons to go with the seasons! Thanks for the great tutorial.

    Reply

  56. Amy

    Emily – just found your blog and love it – you are so talented! Hurry up and invite me over to tour your darling house.
    Amy (your neighbor across the street)

    Reply

  62. Linda

    Absolutely adorable! Living in AZ where it’s still 110 degrees, I need all the Fall visuals I can get. Tiny ones would make great napkin rings also.

    Reply

  66. ItsLily

    Okay, I love the wreath, really I do, but I’m so darned distracted by her fabulous black door. Would you mind asking her the name of the color? I know it’s black, but really, there are so many names of black. Please? Then I promise to run right out and make a wreath to go with it. Thanks.

    Reply

  84. Lauren Leonard

    Hello Emily. You always come up with great ideas. I love this wreath. Can’t wait to try it!! I recently made one of your ruffle pillows for my daughter’s room and it turned out so cute…and it was easy (which I definately like!) Thanks so much. Happy Monday!

    Reply

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