Making a modern wreath
For the holidays this year, I made a giant ornament wreath to hang in the stairwell, which is situated right in the middle of our home. The white shiplap and and extra-wide staircase is one of my favorite areas, and provides a nice bridge between the formal upper level, and rustic lower level. Once the ornament wreath came down, it felt like the space was missing something. However, I had a hard time finding something large enough to fill the 55" x 55" area that was visually light and airy, but also large enough to not be swallowed up by the space. I stumbled across some asymmetrical wreaths built using metal crochet forms on Pinterest, and it seemed like the perfect option! Or course, finding a metal crochet form that's 32-40" was nearly impossible... and the alternatives were extremely pricey.
I put my thinking cap on and came up with this solution: a hula-hoop! I mean, considering the ornament wreath was built on a base of pool noodles, it kinda' seemed like a no-brainer. I purchased a pack of 4 hoops (ranging from 20-36" in size) from Amazon, and ended up using the 32" one.
Initially, I sprayed the hoop with a dark gold paint/primer (I prefer Rustoleum spray paints and enamels). It didn't have the shiny finish I was looking for and basically just looked like a painted hula-hoop – definitely not the look I was going for. I had some twine tucked away, so I wrapped a small section to see if that was any better. HUGE improvement! Even though I love my hot glue gun, I ended up using Tacky Glue and doing 6-12" sections at a time, because it gave me more working time. (Also, I was in bed, and it's way less dangerous to wrap a few sections and then doze off when there's NOT a heated glue gun involved.)
Once covered, I used preserved Lamb's Ear, along with some accidental "preserved" (read: dried out) greenery I saved from a floral arrangement I received when I was in the hospital, and began "wiring" them to the hula hoop using twine. It looked a little sparse, so I ordered a few very realistic looking succulents and a magnolia branch*, along with a 12" wide magnolia that looks and feels so real it's amazing! You can find all of these supplies at www.afloral.com, but you can also pick them up from Amazon - I'd recommend searching for the brand/keyword "real touch".
In the end, I'm so pleased with this wreath... it's perfect for spring, took approximately 8 hours over the course of a few days, and is a totally legit alternative to leaving Christmas decor out, year-round.
* I have a real disdain for faux botanicals, but I'll make an exception here and there if they pass the "I need to feel it to see if it's real or not" test.
