Spooky Halloween Wreath Tutorial - re-posted

I LOVE making wreaths!  The Fall wreath on my door I made a couple of years ago was faded and totally didn't match the spooky decor we put up this year.  Soooo, I thought, why not make a Halloween wreath and hopefully inspire someone to make one too?

I promise, it's not hard!  It just takes a little imagination, creativity and a few minutes at the craft store to pick up some supplies...

 

I chose a grapevine wreath, Styrofoam skulls, a little metal sign, some black leaf garland, and purple glittered black roses...but you can chose from a variety of items.  A garland of some sort and a couple of focal pieces usually works well, as you don't want it to be too busy.

I plugged in the hot glue gun and inserted wooden dowels in the base of the skulls while waiting for it to heat up.  If they are too long, cut them short enough to not stick out of the back of the wreath...

Then, hot glue around the dowel where it meets the skull to give it extra hold.  When in doubt, add hot glue (but not to your finger ;-) tee hee...

I decided to add black glitter to the eye sockets to jazz it up a bit...but of course adding glitter is always optional.  I prefer Martha Stewart's glitter and glittering glue but you could use any kind.  So, paint the glue first...

Then, pour the glitter in (I am never shy with it as you can see ;-)

Now, it's time to move on to the wreath itself. 

Start by hot gluing the end of the garland into the back of the wreath.  Please do this over a covered surface, so that if the hot glue drips through, you don't burn yourself or ruin furniture...

Then, you summon your nifty little studio helper, tee hee!  Yes, I do that whenever I can...so I can't take credit for the whole wreath, it's true. 

She winded the leaf garland around and around trying to space it out a bit until it reached the starting point...and then I hot glued that end the same way I did the other one...

It's time to add those spooky little Skelly's you made! 

Just pop the dowels through the bottom of the wreath and hot glue them really good in there.  I kind of pull the wreath apart a wee bit to fit in the tip of my hot glue gun...again, being careful the glue doesn't drip through to the front...

I found these purple glittered black roses that were perfect to add a splash of color!  So, I just cut off the stems...

...and popped them in around the wreath like I did the wooden dowels, hot gluing along the way...

For a final touch, I added the 'Ghosts were people too,' sign, by sliding it onto an broken branch and hot gluing it really good.  Then I covered it with a black leaf so you couldn't see any glue...

 

There were a lot of cute Halloween signs but I thought this one suited the purple and black skull theme!  Better yet, make your own little sign...oh, I should have thought of that earlier, tee hee.

Sooooo, here is the final Spooooky wreath...

I will say...if I were to do this one again, I might spray paint the grapevine wreath black before adding all the decor.  I think it would make it a little more spooky...oooh, and maybe sprinkle some purple glitter on it too ;-)  Glitter is a girls best friend...isn't that the saying?  Oh, wait...no, that's diamonds, tee hee.  Well, not this girl...I LOVE glitter!

So, I hope you've been inspired to try making your own wreath.  They are so fun and fairly easy to make.  Not to mention much cheaper than buying one already made (not that there's anything wrong with that because I've seen some really cute ones on Etsy ;-)  But, I think this cost me about $15 to make, yay.

Jamie :)

p.s. this was re-posted from Halloween last year (thought I'd give you new readers a fun tutorial to try...thanks for reading ;)

Comments

[cinnamon robin]

LOVE this! Miss Talented!

[Julie]

Super cute, Jamie! I've been in Michael's and Joanns the last two days wandering around..I wish I saw this earlier. Store bought wreaths are EXPENSIVE!!

[Theresa]

I remember this!!!! Thanks for reposting it. :) I especially love those gothic-style flowers. So bloody lovely! hee hee hee Halloween is SO much fun! Theresa

[a fanciful twist]

Miss Jamie, you know i LOVE your wreath. It looks so good on that red door too.

I have to tell you, actually, I can't tell you... what those two little fingers making the peace sign behind your head do to me.

They make me so happy, my heart feels like it could burst. You know that already... but still, I see it and I just am tickled and swooooooon!

Little fingers, soooo cute!!

[Dawn (Bee and Rose)]

I LOVE this idea! I have that sign! I think Cat and I will do this as a school craft project tomorrow! Thanks for the inspiration! Love the glitter!

(awesome Halloween giveaway on my blog right now! Come on over!)

[Annemieke]

Thanks for sharing! I put a pick and your link on my blog! Keep on the beautiful work! :-)

[Lily's Treasures]

Nice result ;D