Condo Blues: How to Make a Colorful Year Round Wood Wreath

Sunday, May 1, 2016

How to Make a Colorful Year Round Wood Wreath

I found a bag of round hole saw scraps in the reclaimed wood stash in my workshop.  I’m not sure why I kept them. Most of the “wood holes” in the bag were cracked, split, and otherwise wonky because that’s how hole saws work.

A hole saws is designed to cut a round hole in wood and not for cutting a piece of wood into a perfectly round shape.

I could blow it off as part of a being DIYer who works with recycled materials but the fact of the matter is, my reclaimed wood stash is starting to outgrow its storage area. I need to either use it or start making up gift boxes of scraps for friends to use as kindling in their fire pits. Which I may or may not have gotten puzzling looks when I may or may not have tried to pass off a box of wood scraps for a fire pit as a hostess gift in the past.


hole saw scrap wood
 Hole saw scraps!

Fortunately, there were a few wood rounds that were in good enough shape - or could be with a smattering of wood filler and some sanding - that I decided to use them to make a scrap wood wreath. And you can too! Read my step by step tutorial to learn how!

How to Make a  Wood Wreath


how to make an easy year round wreath
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You will need:

 

10 2 1/2 inch unfinished wood circles

11 2 inch unfinished wood circles

4 inch wood letter

Sanding sponge

Orange craft paint

Kiwi green craft paint

Turquoise craft paint

Yellow craft paint

Paint brush

Gorilla Glue

Rust –Oleum clear coat spray paint

Flat round wood wreath form like this one

2 soda pop aluminum can tabs

2 small wood screws

Screwdriver

Twine or wire

Disclosure: I added affiliate links to the supplies I used to make this project for your convenience.

How to Make it:

 

1. If needed, hand sand any rough edges and surfaces smooth with the sanding sponge. If you are using wood rounds from a craft store you can most likely skip this step since they are already sanded smooth  and ready to go.


2. Use the paint brush and craft paint to paint the following:
  • 2 1/2 inch wood rounds – Paint the surface orange and the edges lime green
  • 2 inch wood rounds – Paint the surface turquoise and the edges yellow
  • Wood letter – Paint the letter yellow
craft paint scrap wood rounds
Paint time!


Tip: Binge watch your favorite show while you work to make the time fly buy. Right now I’m streaming  Mercy Street on my iPad for free through Amazon Prime. So good!


3. Arrange the large wood rounds into a circle topped with the small wood rounds in a size pleasing to you. Use the Gorilla Glue to glue the wood rounds into place.

glue the wreath together


Tip: You can glue your wood rounds to a flat wood wreath form (which I will be buy here) for extra stability. I didn’t do this because my wreath will spend most of its life hanging on a stationary wall rather than a moving front door. Unfortunately it just came apart in two places after I took it off the wall and had it on my desk for reference while I wrote this post. Whoops!


4. Use the Gorilla Glue to glue the wood letter to the front of the wreath and allow the glue to dry overnight.

Warning: Gorilla Glue expands three times its size when it is drying to create a bond that holds like iron. If you aren’t careful about how much Gorilla Glue you apply to the back of the wood rounds, you may find a hard foam on the surface of your wreath where the glue has seeped out around the edges. If this happens – hey nobody’s perfect! – you can easily sand it to remove the excess glue and touch it up with paint. Not that I know anything about this.

5. Spray the wreath with a coat of clear coat to protect it from the elements. Allow the clear spray paint to dry overnight.


How to Make an Aluminum Can Tab Wreath Hanger


use a aluminum can tab for a wreath hanger
 Just hanging around...


5. Either use a screwdriver and small wood screws or Gorilla Glue to attach one or two aluminum can tabs to the back of the wreath. I am always running out of saw tooth picture hangers (they look like this) so I switched to using aluminum can tab tops to hang light projects like this. I have a baby food jar in my toolbox I use to save the pull tab from the rare pop or craft beer can that crosses my path. I always have a ready supply of homemade picture hangers when I need them.

6. You can tie a loop of twine or wire though the aluminum can tab tops to make a hanging loop, if you like.

7. Hang your colorful scrap wood wreath, stand back, and admire your work!


wood initial door wreath

If you'd rather buy than DIY a year round outdoor door wreath, check out the following ideas - and more!- below!


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1 comment :

Teresa B said...

Cute! This is perfect for me, as I usually don't have enough time to keep changing decor with each season.
Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned.

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