Monochromatic Metallic Wreath

A holiday wreath for Nan!  (Who likes bright sparkle just as much as the kids!)

Materials

• Cardboard  (IKEA cardboard is a bit thinner & easy to cut)
• Scissors (we find kitchen scissors great for cardboard)
• Egg cartons
• Metallic paint
• Brush
• Artificial stamen
• Penci/eraser
• Dinner plate
• Bowl
• Wire
• Metallic sheets
• Stylus or similar tool (you could use a pencil too)
• Glue gun/glue sticks
• Wire cutters

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Trace your plate on your cardboard sheet.  IKEA cardboard is a bit thinner, making it easier to cut.  (Thank you Handy with Scissors for the tip!).  Trace your bowl in the inside of the circle you made with the plate.  Cut the exterior of your wreath base out.  Then poke a hole in the centre and cut to the edge of the interior circle.

• Cut out the portions of your egg carton that hold your eggs into flower shapes.  You could have curved edges, more sharp edges, whatever you like for each.  Ours have a sharper edge like a pointsettia.

• Don your smock.  Paint your wreath base and your flowers.  You could go with any colours you like or a variety!  While your paint is wet and the flowers a bit saturated, you can slightly bend the petals a bit if you like.  We went with a few coats, painting both the exterior and the interior.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Puncture a small hole in your flowers to insert your stamen and then glue them onto your wreath base.

• Draw and cut out your leaves on your metallic sheets.  Add details with your stylus or a similar tool or with a dull pencil.  Glue them onto your wreath.  Be careful as the edges of the leaves may be sharp, so handle with care.  You can scuff the edges with fine sand paper.  If you want to be on the safe side, cut out and handle your child’s leaf drawings.  If you made your wreath silver, you could even use foil wrapped over cardboard leaves.

• Trim your wire into manageable lengths.  You may need an adult to help you and be sure to wear safety glasses.  If you are concerned with sharp edges, add a drop of glue glun glue to the ends.  We wrapped them around a pencil so they looked a bit vine-ish.  As the colour scheme is just one shade we tried to figure out various ways to create texture and interest.

• Once your wreath is dry, hang it up!

Pin for later:

Purpose

• Working with a single colour scheme in different materials.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors, wire, a wire cutter and a glue gun with care and direct adult supervision.
• Small items can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.
• Exercise care with the edges of cut metal as they can be sharp!