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Monday, December 6, 2010

A Cheap Wreath Idea…


So I was actually wanting to make this wreath for fall/Thanksgiving, but I didn’t get it finished until last week, so now it’s a Christmas wreath.  I saw the idea on Made, where Dana made a wreath sort of like this but out of acorns.  I love the acorns, and they would have been even cheaper than the beans, if I lived near some trees that dropped acorns.  But at $1.29 for a bag of great northern beans, a Styrofoam wreath and some stuff I already had, you can’t beat a new wreath for under $5.  Now there is a catch.  It takes A LOT of time and patience, but if you do a little bit each night, who am I kidding, it still takes forever.  But eventually, it’s done, even if it’s not for the holiday you intended.  Which brings me to my next point about my bean wreath……I’m going to try to use it for every holiday this year.  On Made, Dana  just painted it different colors when she wanted a new look.  So in the interest of making the most of this thing, I’m going to paint it a new color each month.  I’ll keep you posted.


If you’re interested in making one yourself, it’s really easy.  Here’s what you’ll need:

-styrofoam wreath base (use a 40% off coupon from the Sunday paper at Michaels)
-one 16oz. bag of beans, I bought two, but didn’t even use a whole bag.  I chose Great Northern for the color, but pick whatever color you’d like.
-glue, lots of it.  I like Aileen’s tacky glue.  You need something thicker than regular white glue.
-spray paint is optional

1.        You can really use any type of Styrofoam wreath base, I chose the more squared off edges just because I liked the look of it.  I chose to paint my wreath with black spray paint, just so I couldn’t see the white Styrofoam.  I already had black spray paint, but if I didn’t I probably would have just left it white, it’s up to you.
2.       Start gluing beans!  I started with a diagonal line of beans going from edge to edge.  I found it was faster to put a lot of glue in a 2 or 3 inch section and then just do as many rows as I could before the glue dried.  Also, because my wreath base is flat, I didn’t glue any beans on the back, just 3 sides.  I found it was helpful to kind of push each bean into the styrofoam  to help it hold better.
3.       Keep gluing beans!  You’ll find that you need to adjust your pattern as you go around the wreath.  I tried to pick out the smaller beans for the rows closer to the center and saved the larger ones for the outside rows. 
4.       Get a glass of wine and then keep…….gluing……..beans……one day it will be over. 
5.       Horray!  I used a ribbon to hang mine because I liked the look but also because once it’s done, it can be kind of heavy.  You could also use some wire or a traditional wreath hanger.  Let me know if you have any questions!  Enjoy!





1 comment:

Ali said...

I've been dying to see how you decorated the house this season. Do virtual tour please! PS) Did you hear the interview with Amy on Marketplace (NPR)? So funny!!

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