Consigned Design: Pink Flamingos and Christmas Wreaths

Happy New Year's Eve, y'all! I guess this will be the last post of 2014! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Holiday.

As y'all know I have been on a bit of a wreath kick recently (which reminds me, I need to post all of the Christmas wreaths I've been making!). A friend of mine came to me with a couple of wreaths she wanted to make for her grown kids. Let me give you some background before we dive into this because it's not your typical Christmas story....

This friend of mine lived in Hawaii for 10+ years and raised her two children there. Their holidays were filled with sunshine, beaches, and old St. Nick running around in swimming trunks...oh, and flamingos. Wait....what??? Yes, I said flamingos! Actually, the flamingo thing started as a joke when her daughter got married. Apparently her and her son in law exchange obnoxious flamingo souvenirs every year for Christmas (and all throughout the year when they find a flamingo that is worthy enough to be displayed with all the others). Well this year, Friend decided to change things up and really give the son in law (who lives in snowy Boston) something that represented a true Hawaiian Christmas filled with pink flamingos. I'm so confused.

The wreaths I have been making have been filled with greenery, fake snow, jingle bells, and bright red ribbon. So I was really excited when Friend came to me with this idea. So instead of doing the typical burlap bubble wreath that goes perfect with any Christmas decor, I got to switch things up, and get in the mind set of being in Hawaii for Christmas (cue the ocean waves on the noise machine!). This time, burlap just wasn't going to cut it. Sooooo here's what was decided!

The scrap fabric wreath! Except, I went out and bought this fabric because, I don't know about you, but I don't have any flamingo inspired fabric scraps laying around my house.

Here's what you will need: Fabric scissors (or one of those fancy straight line fabric cutters...which I do not own...hint hint...), about 4 yards of fabric (mix it up - I do a half a yard to a yard of a few different patterns and colors) and a few spools of ribbon, along with the well known wire wreath (this was an 18 inch wreath).

Now, get to cutting. The strips do not have be perfect by any means but typically mine are about 6 inches long by 1 inch wide. Same for the ribbon.

*Tip: fold your fabric up and cut several layers at once - this makes the process a little faster.

Now, one at a time, alternating different fabric and ribbon, start tying them onto the wire. It's very simple but somewhat tedious.

*Tip: you don't have to fill each section of the wreath completely. I went about half way before I started on the next section. Once you get all the fabric on there and fluff it up and spread it out, it will look full - so, no need to completely fill the wreath (unless you just want to).