Tree Branch Wreath With Burlap Bow and Flowers

This is the fourth week of my "retirement," and I'm having an amazing time being home every day. My quiet time with the Lord has been amazingly sweet (and much longer than normal), and I have so much more time to clean and decorate our home, something that went by the wayside for three and a half years.

 Out of the desire to learn new things and keep the house, I decided to make this wreath - a project I've wanted to do for ages but didn't have the time or energy to do. Spring seemed like the perfect time to tackle it.

To start with, I very sweetly asked Danny to cut me some tree cookies, the branch slices that would make up the wreath itself. Mine are about 3 inches in diameter. Then I made him a template for the circle they would be attached to. It's a plywood circle 9 1/4 inches on the outside and 7 inches on the inside. A circle cutter makes this incredibly easy.

Then a little hot glue adheres the cookies to the circle. I was able to fit 10 on the bottom layer, and then I added 10 more to the top layer when that one was dry and cooled.

This is what it looked like in all its naked tree cookie wreath glory. But you can't have a naked wreath, so I added a bow and pink flowers to make it perfect for spring.

To make the wreath, you can't just tie a bow like you tie your shoes - burlap doesn't bend that way. For the bow part of the bow, I cut a thick piece of burlap ribbon in half, so it is now 2 3/4 inches wide. I stapled the ends together to make a folded circle.

Then I pinched the middle together into an accordion.

Half a dozen stitches with brown thread and it will hold quite well.

Then I cut a small piece of burlap for the wrap in the middle of the bow. Two staples work perfectly because they will be on the back of the bow.

Then I cut a long strip of burlap ribbon for the tails of the bow. At this point, they're about 8 inches long.

Both pieces of the bow are then put together and fastened together with the little wrap I cut. A few more stitches will hold this part together.

Then I flipped it over and trimmed off the frays from the edges where I had cut. I also cut a wedge out of the tails to make it look like finished ribbon.

I used two lines of hot glue to attach the bow to the lower left corner of the wreath and accented it with three pink carnations, one of my favorite flowers.

It's now hanging on our entryway door, ready to greet visitors and greet spring!