Easter Basket Wreath

The same sad looking wreath had been hanging up on my front door since Christmas so it was definitely time to change it out.  I ended up with this fun, fancy Easter Basket Wreath.  It was easy to make and I'm really proud of how it ended up.  Here's what I did.

My first stop was actually to the craft store where the two silly monkeys and I found these pretty plastic eggs.  We took them over to the craft section and matched them up to some tulle and netting.  Tulle and netting are fantastic materials because they are soft, beautiful and cheap! We picked four colors and got a yard of each.  We mixed up the textures and got some shiny tulle with really tiny holes, and some matte netting with larger holes.  The next step was to find a wreath form to make it on.  I had two possibilities to start: the small white styrofoam circle that had been sitting under my garage since Christmas of 2009 and the larger woven one I found at the Dollar Store.  I went with the larger because it fit the door better and because it reminded me of an Easter Basket. 

A few years ago I had made one of those adorable tulle tu-tu's, so I decided the same technique could work here.  To do it, just cut the tulle and netting into long strips.  The length will depend on the size of the wreath you use, because you need enough length to wrap it around the wreath and still have some sticking out.  My wreath was rather large, so my strips were about 3" or 4" wide and about 18" to 20" long.  (Make sure you cut one and try it out on the wreath before you cut them all, otherwise you'll have to head back to the craft store.)  Cutting out the strips was kind of boring, but the good news is the strips do not have to be identical in size.  Turns out cutting tulle is tricky.  When it is unfolded it is hard to see and my scissors kept snagging the holes.  The fastest way to do it was to fold the fabric a bunch of times and cut out several strips at one time.

  

To tie the tulle/netting on, take a strip and make a loop over the wreath.  Next, wrap the bottom tails of the loop around the wreath and pull it tight. Just repeat this with all the strips, trying to keep them as close together as possible.  I kept the same pattern, but you could do it randomly if you wanted...totally up to you!

This is what mine looked like halfway after a little fluffing.  I almost kept going all the way around, and I'm thinking someday I may do that.  This time though, I wanted to see the wreath form because it looked so much like a basket.

The cracks on the plastic eggs were bugging me, so I hot glued some ribbon to the back of the egg, then tied them in the front.  Attach the eggs to the wreath with hot glue.

And, voila!  That's it.  Happy Easter!