Tuesday, December 18, 2012

{Mesh Snowman Wreath}

Hey, y'all!  Today, I want to share the birthday present I made for my mom.  She is turning...well, she has a milestone birthday today, and I made her a little something special.  She LOVES snowmen!  (It borders on obsession!)  She wanted a Christmas wreath to go in her living room.  She likes those mesh wreaths, so I decided to attempt to combine her love of snowmen with a mesh wreath, and I have to say I LOVE the end product!
I started with a wreath form and a metal baker's rack from the dollar store.  I also used wire and white, iridescent mesh "ribbon."  (We'll talk about the other supplies later.)
I began by hot glueing and wiring the metal rack to the middle of the wreath form.  (Since I was going to fill in the middle of the wreath with the mesh, I had to have something to attach the ribbon to.)
I then simply covered the wreath with the mesh ribbon.  (There are plenty of tutorials for covering a wreath with the mesh, so I'm not going to bother trying to explain that.  I will suggest that you used pipe cleaners the color of your mesh, though.)  I used the whole spool of ribbon in the supply picture, and I still had some gaps.  I went to Walmart (the closest craft store to me is forty-five minutes away), and bought some tulle ribbon stuff.  I also bought pipe cleaners because, up to this point, I had been using floral wire.
When I finished covering the wreath with the ribbon and tulle stuff (I neglected to take a picture), I had to work on the coal eyes and mouth, the carrot nose, and the top hat.  For the eyes and mouth, I used styrofoam balls from the dollar store.  For the nose, I used a styrofoam cone from the craft store.
I'm not sure if you know this, but you can't paint plain styrofoam.  I googled how to paint styrofoam, though, and came across this article from ThriftyFun.  It said you can paint styrofoam if you cover it with a layer of Mod Podge first.  So I covered all the pieces with Mod Podge.  Then I painted them.  (I glittered the nose too, of course!)  And to top the piece off, I made a pretty fabulous hat.
To make the hat, I cut a semi-circle out of cardboard for the base and a rectangle for the cylinder.  I covered the pieces with spray glue and attached felt to them.  I glued the rectangle to the semi-circle.  Then I traced the top on a piece of cardboard, cut it out, glued felt to it, and glued it to the top.  I glued a cardboard rectangle to the inside of the cylinder to reinforce it.  I added a felt band and a dollar store ornament to complete the hat.  (I did the same thing on a smaller scale for my embroidery hoop snowman.  There are more photos for that hat, so if you don't understand what I just typed, check it out.)  Then I attached all the pieces to the wreath.
I stuck pipe cleaners through the backs of the styrofoam pieces.  (Stick a toothpick in the pieces and pull it out so your pipe cleaners will stick in easily.)  I stuck the pipe cleaners through the mesh where I wanted the eyes, nose, and mouth to go.  I wrapped the pipe cleaners around the metal rack.  I pretty much did the same thing for the hat.
I hot glued several pipe cleaners to the back of the hat and threaded those through the mesh and wrapped them around the metal rack as well.  Then I was finally finished!
I have to say that I REALLY love this guy!  I had this vision of what he would look like in my head, and he turned out better than I imagined.  I LOVE when that happens!
My favorite part about the whole thing is the hat.  My husband actually called it "awesome."
I gave the snowman to my mom after her surprise birthday party Saturday night, and he is now proudly hanging in her living room over her mantle.  I'm kind of a little sad that he didn't get to stay with me, but I'm glad that she loves him.  Merry Christmas!
Photobucket

14 comments:

  1. I think the whole snowman is awesome! What a wonderful tutorial! I love using the mesh ribbon. It's easy to use and the end results look fabulous! As yours (your mama's) does! You can definitely make one for yourself!

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  2. How cute! I bet your mom was thrilled! Love it!

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  3. So adorable!! Also, I'm kind of obsessed with your green door.

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  4. oh my goodness, your hubby is totally right! that hat ROCKS and the whole wreath does! great present!

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  5. What a wonderful, loving and talented daughter you are. Your (Mom's) snowman wreath is so cute and what a great imagination figuring out how to make him. I've yet to work with the tulle ribbon but you've inspired to try. You make it look pretty doable, great tutorial.
    Hope she really enjoyed her landmark b/d.
    On my 50th. our oldest son had a big party for me and a friend of his. Where he was living had a pool and jacuzi so we all had a great time. All ages and everybody behaved. I still remember that well.

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  6. SO CUTE! I love his hat!! I would have wanted to keep that for myself too, lol. Love it, great job as usual! Hope you're having a Merry Christmas!

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  7. Super cute!! Thanks so much for linking up to Do Something Crafty Friday!

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  8. So creative, he is such a spectacular snowman!!! I love the way you pulled him together!

    I am linking over from "the Answer is Chocolate Link Party" hope to see you drop by too.

    Hugs, antonella :-)

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  9. He turned out so cute! I'm your newest follower and would love for you to share him at SHOW-licious Craft Showcase!

    http://sew-licious.blogspot.com/2012/12/show-licious-craft-showcase-13.html

    Happy Holidays!
    Marti

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  10. This is a really cute idea. I'm having a PINTEREST Social hop. I'd love for you to hop on over, grab a button and link up your Pinterest. If you don't have Pinterest it's ok, come link up your blog.

    http://mydailyphotojourney.blogspot.com/2012/12/pinterest-party.html

    I'm also looking for Pinterest Pinners to feature every week beginning in January. If you are on Pinterest and are interested in being featured come link up! Who knows you might meet some other great pinners and gain a few great ideas.

    http://mydailyphotojourney.blogspot.com/2012/12/looking-for-pinners.html

    Have a crazy beautiful week!

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  11. I just found your blog and I love these rings! You have so many great projects! I would love you to stop by my blog on Tuesday. I am starting a link up for awesome projects like yours in the hope that more people can discover the projects we've all made and love. The link up is especially for older projects that we feel didn't get enough attention.
    So stop by on Tuesday!
    www.dosmallthingswithlove.com
    Nancy

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  12. Fabulous tutorial! I want to make one for myself now. Thanks for posting how you make this cute snowman...I know that your mom loves him...and YOU too for making it for her!

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  13. I want to know what method you used for the wreath ? there are so many different ones

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Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to leave an awesome comment! :)