Initial Grapevine Wreath

One of my favorite things is to reuse and recycle materials while working on a project. This project is no exception. Take an ordinary piece of material and turn it into something personal and unique!

What you will need:

Grapevine Wreath

Twine

Ribbon

Cardboard

Paper 

Pencil

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun

Start by selecting a bold font in Word around 550 or so. If you can freehand your initial, go ahead and skip this step!

If you'd like to skip using a printer, an easy way to copy your letter is to hold your paper over your screen and LIGHTLY trace with a pencil. No harm done. You can trace it over a little darker once you're done.

Next, cut out your letter.

Using your cut out, trace onto cardboard. Cut your cardboard letter. This is what you will use for your wreath! 

(You must explain to your husband just how helpful he is, taking photos of you while you craft. It's essential.)

Since I work with a hot glue gun for many projects, I've discovered an old magazine makes an AWESOME surface to work with. When it's full of dried glue and such, just rip off the page and start with a fresh surface! Easy peasy. 

Add a thin strip of glue on the front and back of wherever you will be starting to wrap your twine. This is simply to hold it in place so it won't unravel. Do the same at every edge you come to.

Continue wrapping around, with as little space in between each wrap as possible.

Working with a W, I had a few places where I needed to cut, glue and start in a new location to continue with just one layer of twine. Each letter will be unique in that way. 

Here's how it's looking:

Now, decide where you would like to position the letter on your wreath. What's awesome about grapevine wreaths, is the way they were wrapped. They are so customizable and can easily be hung. Here's how you can hang yours:

Start by pulling your twine through one of the vines. 

Wrap twice in the center of your letter and continue to meet with the other end of twine.

Pull tight and tie in a knot, cutting any excess twine off. Add a dab of hot glue to help secure in place. (Skip that step if you'd like to be able to remove your letter later.)

Presto!

To hang, choose your ribbon of choice, or just simply use more twine. Pull up and through one side and down to the other side. 

Decide how much ribbon you'd like to show and cut off the excess, leaving about 2 inches to use.

Tie each end around a vine.

You are done! A personalized and recycled wreath to adorn your space.

(If you're like me, you stare at something long enough.. you want to change it. Like the ribbon! Change it out seasonally, or simply to get a different look. Get creative!)