Patriotic Tulle Wreath

Last year, I made a quick {Tutu} for my daughter to go with her Patriotic outfit for the Fourth of July.  Over the almost year, I constantly saw the Red, White, & Blue tulle in my cratt drawer and knew there was something to be made with them.

About a week before Memorial Day, it came to me.  A wreath!  But, it couldn't be a plain wreath, there had to be something else to go with it. (Seriously, though, I didn't see THIS other fabulous wreath until I started mine--- AND I picked up the Family Fun magazine and they had a different Tulle wreath as well.  I swear I had the idea too and didn't copy.)

Then, when we went hunting for a flag to hang outside our house, I had another idea--- a flag...

Since I'm currently in a 'delicate condition,' I had just enough energy to finish this project yesterday... a few days late for our Memorial Day celebrations.  Good thing I've got the Fourth of July AND the Olympics coming up!  Now I have TWO excuses to keep it up all summer.


Gather It:

• Wreath form: Styrofoam, wire, straw--- still wrapped, you get the idea
• Red, White, & Blue Tulle (I got mine at HL  25 yd rolls for 2.99 or 3.99--- use coupons over a couple of weeks or watch out for whne the tulle is on sale)
• 99 cent American Flag
• White paint
• scrap plywood, wood plaque
• red vinyl or paint
• Mod Podge
• Glue Gun & Stick

Create It:

1. First, cover the wreath.  I cut my tulle as a went with lengths between 12-18 inches, this is completely personal preference.  If you want a more uniformed look, cut your tulle, at the beginning all the same length.
2. After you have some cut tulle, start wrapping,  I folded my tulle in half, looped it around the wreath, and then pulled the ends through the loop of the tulle.  Then, to keep it in place, I tied a knot.  Continue until the whole wreath is covered.  This process takes a little while, so it wouldn't hurt to do this while chatting with friends, watching your kids play, listening to a book... you get the idea.(Sorry for the lack of pictures, one of these days I'll remember... hopefully it won't take me giving birth before I remember...)
3. If you don't want the flag, then TA-DA, you're done!  If you do, now is time to pull out the wood.  Mr. Nag had some extra plywood in the garage, so he cut one to the length of the flag I found.  I wanted my wreath to have a saying on the bottom, so we added 2 inches to the width.  Paint the wood white, front and back.  Let it dry.
4. Remove the flag from the pole it came with (or have your 2-year-old 'accidentally' break it) and prepare to mod podge it to the wood, once the wood it dry.  Only apply MP to the part of the wood under the flag.
5. While you wait for the first layer of MP to dry, cut out the vinyl saying, or paint it on.  I have a Silhouette, so I quickly whipped up what I wanted it to say.  As always, I'll send you the file, if you have one.
6. Transfer the vinyl, then apply one last coat of MP to the whole plaque.
7. Hot glue the plaque to the wreath, and a ribbon to the back for hanging.
8. Step back and break into a chorus of "God Bless America" (it was in my mind because of the quote.)

I thought about going back and making it look more uniform around, but honestly I like it in it's non-perfected state.  Plus, I can say it looks more like a firework that way, right?

I link up {HERE}.