I did this alternative to a headboard with three large frames last month, but the ocean picture in the frames just didn’t seem to jive with the holiday spirit.  So, I got some burlap and went to town.  It didn’t turn out quite as I would have liked, but my mom insisted that I share this project on my blog anyway.  If I were to do this again, I would be a bit more patient and order big wooden letters online instead of painting.

I started with making the wreath.  I bought a 10″ foam wreath, white ribbon, and 5 sprigs of these pearl-looking berries (I ended up only using 3 though).

I wrapped the wreath with ribbon and secured everything with hot glue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, I bent the first sprig of berries to match the curve of the wreath.

 

 

 

I cut off the stem of the berries and hot-glued the berries to the inside ridge of the wreath. Repeat this two more times, and then you have a wreath.

 

Now, it’s time for brown paper bags and burlap.

I cut apart some grocery bags and pieced them together with packing tape into a 19.5″ x 29.5″ rectangle – to fit just inside the 20″ x 30″ picture frame.

Then I cut burlap – just few inches wider than the paper bags.  I saw this great tip on cutting burlap the other day:

 

 

Mark off the length of burlap you want, and pull one strand of thread out of the burlap.  This missing strand creates a straight “line” to follow when cutting.

I folded the burlap over the edges of the brown paper.  At this point, I discovered the challenges of using hot glue on burlap… ouch!  Loose strands around the edges were secured with tape.  Repeat this two more times, so there are three burlap panels total.

Then pull out a red Sharpie and paint.  Use the Sharpie to make an outline of the letters J and Y.  Paint in the letters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I taped the burlap panels onto the frames, and hung the wreath with a red ribbon.

Here’s the finished product:

And just for fun, here’s a glamour shot of the pup.  She thinks she owns all furniture…

Linking to: Sat Nite Special DIY Link Party from Funky Junk Interiors; Sundae Scoop Link Party from I Heart Nap Time; Thrifty Nifty Tuesday from Coastal Charm.