Okay, maybe a better title for this post would be “The Pinterest Project That Kicked My Butt.” Warning – Do not try this at home.
A few weeks ago, I saw a ribbon wreath on Pinterest. It seemed easy enough – a few yards of ribbon, styrofoam wreath form, straight pins, and hot glue. How hard could it be? I followed the links to several blogs that said this was such an easy project and described how to do it. One even said that she did hers during her son’s naptime. I’m always looking for easy projects, especially for holidays, and this seemed perfect.
I bought all my supplies and started right away, but it wasn’t long before I realized that this was a huge project. I mean massive. It took days weeks. I had to go back out to the store to buy more supplies. TWICE. There was a week or so where I couldn’t even stand the sight of the project. I abandoned it altogether and it mocked me from the corner of our kitchen (which is where I do most of my crafts until we get a bigger place, and can spare some room for a real craft area). About a week ago, I decided I had too much invested to just let it all go to waste – too much money, too much energy, too much time. I was determined to finish it. And finish it I did.
I think as bloggers we sometimes try to simplify projects, when they are actually complicated. Because who wants to read about a super complicated project? Then again, maybe it’s not them, maybe it’s me. Maybe I did something wrong on this one. I’m not sure, but let me just assure you, this is not a “done in an hour or two project”.
Want to know how I did it? Okay, I’ll tell you. Mainly because I’m just so proud of myself for finishing it and I love the way it turned out, but I still strongly urge against anyone trying it themselves.
What you will need:
Tons of ribbon in varying widths (mine ranged from 1 1/2 inches to 5/8 of an inch)
Hot glue
Scissors
Foam wreath form
Straight pins
Directions:
Step 1 – Wrap the foam wreath form in the widest ribbon that you have. I’m pretty sure mine was 1 1/2 inches wide. Secure the end with a straight pin, then glue when you have the ribbon exactly where you want it. Make sure to leave a little of your widest ribbon left over, because you will use that same ribbon to hang the wreath up.
Step 2 – Cut your remaining ribbon into 4.5 inch strips.
Step 3 – Fold the strips in half and glue shut, but leave a small area at the bottom unglued.
Step 4 – Open the area that is not glued shut and glue it to the wreath.
Step 5 – Then do it a million more times.
Step 6 – To hang the wreath, take the remainder of your widest ribbon and attach it to the back of your wreath using straight pins. I attached mine in two places, the glued underneath.
With the ribbon secure, I hung it up and tied a bow at the top.
Sounds easy, right? Don’t fall for it!
I love, love love your honesty… and that craft looks far too time intensive and detail oriented to me!! So kudos to you for sticking with it!! I might have just blamed it on my kids and moved on, but it looks great in the end AND you have humorous story to tell (humorous to US, anyway!)
Aww! But, it DID turn out really cute! I don’t listen very well. . . maybe I’ll make one for St. Patty’s day! 😉 Of course, ribbon is expensive and it looks like it takes a LOT of ribbon. Hmmmm. . . I still think it’s cute. I’m grab the post for my Valentine Craft linky.
http://www.heartfeltbalancehandmadelife.com/search/label/VALENTINE%20CRAFT%20LINKY/
Oh, how I love how “easy” and “perfect” the projects posted on Pinterest look! At least yours still turned out really pretty! My sister and I tried the crayon art… needless to say we flung more melted crayon across the room than softly down the canvas in beautiful lines!
Kudos to you for sticking with it and finishing!
Tiffany at Mom’s Daily Zen
http://www.momsdailyzen.com
Checking out your blog from a design aspect today. It’s very cute! I enjoyed stopping by, and I may just have to hire that designer.
Pingback: Happy Valentine’s Day + Cute Kid’s Valentines
Uh oh…. at first, I scanned your post and thought what a lovely wreath. Now that I’ve read it, I TOTALLY get it… Must say, it is quite pretty!
Oh yeah, I know totally understand where you’re coming from. I’ve fallen for my share of “easy” “quick” projects :/
New FB fan here from the Happy Hour Linky 🙂
So adorable!
LOL! I”m so sorry! It’s one of those projects that takes MAJOR self-control to FINISH! 🙂 Found you through Mom’s Best Nest and am following!
Lol…not gonna lie, it looks totally time-consuming. Fabulous, but way too much effort for me. 😉 I saw a similar wreath and pinned it, but then did my own variation of it where I just wrapped the ribbon around the wreath form. Here’s a link with a picture if you want to see.
http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentine-ribbon-wreath.html
That I honestly did do during my son’s nap.
Thanks for sharing this at Shine on Fridays and yay for kicking that project’s butt!
Pingback: Life Doesn’t Stop for Sick Moms, But It Really Should
Dearie me – I do sympathise, having had similar experiences to yours from time to time. if it is any consolation, the end result looks good, so I hope the family liked it.
If it’s any consolation, it looks absolutely adorable! 🙂 Good for you to stick with it. Thanks for joining us on our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday.” We hope you come back next Saturday. We would love to have you share more wonderful ideas! -The Sisters
It did turn out really pretty. I was thinking I’d like one in spring colors or maybe green & white/green & yellow. But I have such a hard time starting what I finish (no kids to blame either) so I guess I won’t try it.
I wonder if it work to cut everything up and then run it on a sewing machine in a long strip (just line them up one after the other and do a straight seam and then cut them apart. Then you could just hot glue them on the wreath. Still it is a lot of ribbon…. For now, I think I’ll just add it to my projects to look at closer page on GivingNSharing.
I’m here from the Hump Day Hop – and following you on LF/GFC. Would love a follow back at one of these blogs:
Tina ‘the book lady’
http://familyliteracy2.blogspot.com
http://givingnsharing.blogspot.com
Yes! You could absolutely use a sewing machine and do a straight seam – I’ve seen a few bloggers do it that way. I don’t think that was the hardest part though. The entire thing was just time consuming. So much more time than I expected. Cutting the ribbon and gluing it together wasn’t really the hard part, gluing to the wreath was the hard/time consuming part. And it is a ton of ribbon. I do love how it turned out though.
Thanks for stopping by! Now I’m off to check out your blogs…
Pingback: Weekend Baking: Rainbow Cake with Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting!
Pingback: Crafty: Picture Frame Hair Bow Holder
Pingback: Crafty: Easter Feather Wreath
Wow! I can see how it would be a lot of work, but I must say you did a really great job! It looks so pretty!
So glad you could link up at this week’s Harvest of Friends Weekend Blog Hop.
Hi Jennifer, are you going to decorate this year with your ribbon wreath? Your project turned out quite nice and now that a year has past do you still feel the same about it? Keep up the good work and try not to hate ribbon too much 😉
LOL…I’ve since reconciled with ribbon, and this wreath doesn’t stir up the feelings of animosity that it did last year, so yes, I’ll be using it to decorate next month. I’m even considering doing a similar one for my daughter’s 2nd birthday (in the shape of a minnie mouse head), BUT this time I’m going in knowing how time consuming it is. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
This is so absolutely adorable! It may have taken you a long time (and I appreciate your honesty), but I think I am going to have to try it! Of course I need to invest in a glue gun.
I love the brutal honesty of this project!
Pingback: 20 Valentines Day Crafts {Round Up} - Diary of a Working Mom