Dream Catcher Wreath!

This Instructable is for a wreath that is also a dream catcher!

It is like a little garden you can hang on a door in your house and it looks like a dream catcher!

Project notes:

-You can use any objects you want besides ceramic feather ornaments for the bottom.

-You can use any size doily for the center of the dream catcher. If it is larger than the center of the wreath you can cut it down a little. If it is the same size you can tie it on without making it smaller. My doily was slightly smaller than the center of the wreath but I still cut it down further because I didn't want this difference to look like a mistake.

-If you do not want the doily/dream catcher part, you can skip that step. The last step in this Instructable shows you what one would look like without the doily.

note:Only adults should use wire cutters or hot glue guns. Adult supervision may be required for scissor use.

Enjoy!

Elana

For this Instructable you will need:

-wreath base (I used a stick wreath base)

-flowers and or succulents to put on the wreath (you don't have to fully cover the wreath, you can just cover it partially instead.

-doily

-scissors

-stretch magic or other invisible string (I couldn't find mine so used sewing thread the same color as the doily. It looks okay but I think it would look cooler if the doily looked like it was floating (the doily is smaller than opening of wreath).

-objects to hang off the wreath (I used ceramic feather ornaments from the Fabulous Chic collection at Michaels but you may use anything! (beads, real feathers, tiny wreath bases (see last step) are some ideas).

-string to tie these objects to the wreath. it needs to be able to hold these objects weight without breaking. I used jute stringing.

-hot glue gun and hot glue sticks (gluing the flowers/succulents to the wreath. not pictured)

-wire cutters to cut the flowers and succulents down

-clear nail polish (optional but recommended if you end up cutting doily down at all. not pictured)

-optional: wreath hanger to display your wreath when you are done (not pictured)

plug in your glue gun to start getting it warmed up.

For this wreath, I cut a flower down (so about 1 inch of stem was below base of flower) and placed it into the wreath. I then continued this with other flowers and succulents, placing and rearranging the flowers and succulents until I had an arrangement that I liked. The next step was lifting each flower one at a time and placing a dot of hot glue on the stem and sticking it into the wreath so that the glue would touch the wreath base and adhere to it.

If you already know how you want the flowers/succulents arranged on the wreath, You can cut,glue, and place each of them one at a time... but you cant really change placements after the hot glue cools down.

Use method of your choosing to adhere all the flowers and succulents you want to add to your wreath.

If your doily is larger than the hole of the wreath, you can use scissors to cut it down.

If it is smaller than the opening, you can cut it down more if you want to exaggerate the difference in size of the doily verse the wreath opening (or leave it).

If the doily is the same size exactly as the wreath opening, you can leave it as it is or cut it down more to exaggerate difference in size.

My doily was slightly smaller than the opening of the wreath and I didn't like how it looked like it was a mistake that it wasn't the perfect size. I ended up cutting down the doily some so the difference in size looked like it was purposeful.

After you cut the doily, you can put clear nail polish on the parts you cut to keep the doily from unraveling (not pictured)

This step is a little tricky.

You are going to use small pieces of string to tie the doily to the inside of the wreath.

My doily is smaller than wreath opening so I wanted it to look centered when I was done. If your doily is the same size as the opening this will be easier (edge of doily will touch inside of wreath).

I started out by placing the doily inside the wreath and seeing how much space needs to be around it in order for it to be centered. Next, I cut a small piece of thread and tied the middle of it to the doily then tied the loose ends to the inside of the wreath but made sure that it hung down the distance I needed it to in order for the doily to be centered inside the wreath. Next step was to tie the opposite side of the doily (from where I just tied) to the wreath using same method (check to make sure the doily will still be centered).

You cannot pull too tight when you are tying the doily to the wreath because it will cause the doily to look "pulled" too hard in one direction and/or cause it to unravel from the tension.

After you have tied the doily to the wreath in two places, tie it to the wreath in a third. The fourth time you tie it to the wreath, choose to tie it on the opposite side of the third tie down point. Continue this pattern of tying down the doily until the doily is sturdily in the middle of the wreath how you want it until the doily is completely tied into the wreath. The more ties you do, the sturdier the doily is and the more circular it will look (if there are less ties, some parts of doily might droop aka not keep the circular edge)

For this step you need:

-objects to hang off the wreath

-string that can be used to tie these objects to the wreath

-scissors

-If you have any tags on the objects, use the scissors to cut them off. I also cut off the gold thread loops that came on the ornaments because I didn't need them.

-cut a piece of string in the length a little longer than you want your first object to hang. I hung the middle feather first, then worked out (based on the pattern layout I chose this made the most sense)

-tie the string to the object then to the wreath. Be sure that the object's string length allows it to hang as far down as you want it to.

note: my jute string was larger than the holes of the ornaments so the pictures showed how I unraveled a portion of it and used the 3 pieces to tie the feather to the string. Just see what you have and tie the object to the string in the way that most makes sense for your situation.

-continue cutting pieces of string and using the string to attach an object to the wreath until you are finished

-tuck in the extra portions of string into the wreath so they cannot be seen or cut them off

Congrats! You are now the proud new owner of a little circular garden that doesn't need to be watered and catches dreams!

Use a wreath hanger if you have one to hang it up on your bedroom door or anywhere actually. These would make great gifts just stick one in a box and wrap it up!

The second picture is the same project without the doily (and different objects. These are mini wreaths not the ceramic feather ornaments).

Hope you enjoyed this Instructable! Please vote for it if you did and let me know if you make one!

thanks!

Elana