This idea came to me the other day when I received a bag of potpourri in a gift exchange. I liked how "chunky" it looked and enjoyed the different shapes within the bag. It wasn't just made of hardened petals.
I found a grapevine wreath at Wal-Mart for $3.50. Originally I had envisioned using an evergreen style wreath but could only find the grape vine style. But now that I've completed the potpour-wreath, I'm glad I used the grape vine style wreath because of the rustic style of potpourri in general. I think the potpourri went better with the grapevine overall than it wold have the evergreen style wreath.
I found a nice big red velvet like bow to go on top. It was only $.97 at Wal-Mart! Since the potpourri was a gift, I'm not sure what the cost was. But you can find potpourri just about anywhere for next to nothing. Just make sure you get a bag with interesting pieces and some good "big chunks".
This bag had nice big flowers, little flowers (perfect for filling in spots and getting the "trickle over" effect to spread things out), spiral shaped thingies, and fruit shaped pieces!
I had a silver cord "embellishment" --I love that word--left over from my craft night where I made the chalkboard cookie sheets, see last blog. I found these for $1 at The Dollar Tree. This made a nice wrap around. A ribbon would have also been nice. I really liked how the silver cord looked, however. Again I think it was the overall rustic and chunky look of the wreath that contributes to this. To me a ribbon seems more suited to traditional styles and flowers. I wanted something different.
I trimmed off some of the wild jutting out vines that grabbed everything that passed it and tempted the cats too much. I didn't want to put any one's eye out either! I could just see someone bending in to smell the potpour-wreath and POKE! OUCH! Safety first!
I then separated the big chunks from the little chunks in the potpourri. I was a little disappointed the the potpourri wasn't Christmas scented. I guess I just assumed that it was since it was red. If that's important to you and your wreath, you might remember to check the fragrance first!
With my trusty glue gun in hand, I set about affixing the bow first, then twined the silver decorative cord around the wreath. This part was somewhat difficult due tot he fact that the viney things kept wanting to grab at the cord and any time I had to unwind it and re-adjust it there were some snags. It was easy to cover them up with glued on potpourri though.
Then came the fun part! Selecting and gluing on the potpourri pieces to the wreath was the most fun. It was almost cathartic standing there, arranging, deciding what looked good where....the way a good craft should be! I started out with the biggest chunks and main pieces, then worked in the smaller pieces to fill in and blend.
I went for an asymmetrical design, with the main cluster to the right hand side of the wreath, below the bow. I like an off-centered looking wreath myself. Again, maybe this looked best to me due to the intentionally imperfect nature of the materials.
I even used some of the better-looking dried petal pieces. This particular bag was good about having larger ones and a nice twirly shape to them.
Overall, I enjoyed creating my potpour-wreath very much! I will enjoy giving it to my aunt for Christmas day after tomorrow.
Merry Christmas and enjoy!!! Happy DIYing!!!!!
--Amy the DIY Monkey
That is a really cute idea!!! I think this could also work for a year round wreath, if you used a satin or organza ribbon.
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