Crafty: Easter Feather Wreath

A couple of weeks ago I was at the craft store when I saw a feather wreath that had Easter eggs on it.  It was so different (and fluffy); it was love at first sight.  I picked it up and intended to purchase it before I saw the price tag – $29.99.  Even with the coupon I had, it was a little more than I wanted to spend.  It promptly went back on the shelf and decided that I could probably make my own for a little less.  Mine ended up being around $16 (after coupons) and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

You will need:

12″ Straw wreath frame

3 White feather boas

Hot glue gun

Scissors

15 Plastic eggs

Step 1 –  Wrap the 3 feather boas around the straw wreath frame, one at a time, securing the boas at the ends with hot glue.  You want the boas to cover the wreath frame, but you need to be able to move the middle part of the boa that isn’t glued down for placement of eggs.  At first I thought this would be easier to do if I took the plastic covering off of the wreath, but doing so made a huge mess and I quickly decided to leave the plastic on.  Leaving the plastic on the straw wreath frame made it so much easier to secure the boas and eggs.
I toyed with the idea of zig-zagging the feathers across only the front of the wreath, securing at the top and bottom with hot glue, but I’m so glad that I didn’t.  Yes, it would have made the best use of my feathers, but hot gluing them would have been a problem.  Feathers and hot glue are a tricky combo.  Plus, you need the feathers to be able to move freely so you can attach the eggs.I know, it looks a little rough, don’t worry.

Step 2 – Using hot glue, attach the plastic eggs to the straw wreath frame.  In order to do this, you will need to move the feathers out of the way and put the hot glue directly on the straw wreath frame.  It’s also good to have an idea of how you want your egg colors to be distributed before you glue them down.  I had to pull two of my eggs off the wreath because I had a clump of similarly colored eggs all in one spot.My package only contained 12 eggs, but this wreath requires more than that.  I wasn’t about to make another shopping trip for a 99 cent package of plastic eggs though.  So instead, I used a few eggs from the Easter Egg Hunt my kids went on last weekend.  They aren’t a perfect match, but I picked similar colors and placed them towards the back.
Still looking rough, don’t worry.

Step 3 – I used white ribbon left over from my ribbon wreath project and attached it to the back so I could hang the wreath.  Make sure to hot glue the ribbon at an angle so it will hang properly.   I attached my ribbon in two different places (it crossed over one of my strands of feathers and is glued on either side of the strand) for extra hold.

Step 4 – Time for a hair cut!  Using scissors create a center to the wreath and tidy up the edges.  I also trimmed a little around the eggs so they were all visible.  This was mid-hair cut:Oh, and I don’t advise you do this in your house.  I did and I regret it.  It looks like a white bird died in my living room.  I’m still trying to figure out why I thought it was a good idea to to this inside.  Unfortunately, Hazeline’s carseat was near the area where I did this and she went to school covered in feathers.

Happy Easter Everyone!  And Happy Passover to my Jewish friends!