Curlicue Heart Wreath Valentine’s Day Tutorial

Any other month if you put hearts all over the place you would be declared an overly romantic loon or a young girl. In February, however, you’re festive! And I quite like that because I quite like girly things. I like pink and I like hearts and I like all of that romantic stuff. It’s sweet!

And a few weeks back I had started curling ribbons for a project that hadn’t even been formulated yet. I knew it would be for Valentine’s Day and I knew that it would be the colors you see above because that is what I fell in love with during 1/2 price ribbon week. I curled and curled and then my curlicues sat around waiting to be used.

Yet another trip to the craft store when I was on a lightning dash back to the ladies’ room having thought I left my keys on the counter (in my pocket) I saw styrofoam heart wreaths. And I stopped. And then I remembered that somebody could potentially be driving away from my orange hooptie (okay it’s not that bad but I’m over that car) and though I wouldn’t miss the car per se I would have trouble getting home. Eventually, the keys were found, I got all sorts of panic sweaty and I knew what to do with all of my ribbon curlicues.

For this project you will need:

• Lots of 3/8 inch ribbon (I used approx. 10 rolls)
• Acrylic paint to match the ribbon
• 1/4 inch dowels
• Spray starch
• Pushpins with silver heads (or gold)
• Styrofoam heart wreath form
• String to hang

Boom! Look at that. It’s pretty much a heart! Now I admit there is something just off about the top part but it’s gonna have to work.

Paint your styrofoam wreath a color that matches the bulk of your ribbon.

Be sure to paint both sides and allow to fully dry.

Next, it’s time to curl your ribbons. Now, here’s a quick recap but if you need the full tutorial check this out for all of the steps and photos of each.

Wet your ribbons and wrap around a dowel. Spray with starch and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. When you remove them after they cool they look like the pic above. Cool, eh?

Once your ribbons are curlicued up you’ll need to chop them into 1-inch pieces.

It’s easiest to throw these in a bowl or somewhere because they’ll get lost, cats will walk off with them, etc.

To attach the ribbons, simply pus a pin through the ribbon into the styrofoam to hold tight.

Now I started this over SEVERAL times. Finding a way to get the wreath looking full without using an absolute freaking ton of ribbons was difficult. This was my second attempt. It’s so full that the heart shape is completely lost. No go.

So everything got pulled right back out and I finally stumbled upon a great way to do this… Simply attach the ribbons in a straight line all around the wreath. Hop over so that you have a little gap and start another straight line of ribbons. No area looks fuller than the others because you’re doing the same thing all of the ways around and you can more easily keep track of how much ribbon you’re using up. Boom!

Grab some thread… (look at this thread 22 cents! That is some old thread and I just HAD to share!)

and turn your wreath over. Using a pin start wrapping the tread around. Then push the pin into the wreath firmly.

On the other side start the same with a new pin running the string over to the pushed down pin every pass. After you’ve gotten quite a bit of thread so that you feel it will hold the weight of the wreath, push both pins in nice and tightly to hold in place. Trim excess string if necessary.

Now would you check that sucker out? How pretty is that? If you snag your ribbon on sale it’s super cheap.

Now, for the most part, this guy is doing well with high humidity (meaning the curls aren’t falling out) but when it gets wet, all bets are off. I’d keep it either indoors or outside only if it’s shielded from the rain.

Is this the quickest possible wreath to tackle for Valentine’s Day? Probably not BUT I think it’s cute enough to warrant a little extra effort!

Allison

A crafter since her earliest years, Allison spends a little time every day making something. She crafts, sews, paints, glues things onto other things, and is a firm believer that a life spent creating is a life worth living. Visit Allison’s blog, Dream {a Little} BIGGER.