DIY Valentine's Day Wreath

If you were browsing Pinterest in the weeks before Christmas you likely came across a red-and-white pinwheel-shaped wreath. And if you're anything like me, you were so inspired to make this creation that you pinned it twice, once on your Christmas board and again on your DIY craft board, just to make sure you actually made. this. one. thing. But alas, the holidays passed me by and my front door remained without pin-striped cheer.

Until a few weeks ago when my sisters were in town for a bridal shower and we were hanging out in the dining room all cozy-like with the snow falling, when we decided to get a little crafty. I had the $5 box of paper straws from Bed Bath and Beyond and a hot glue gun at the ready, and figured it would make the perfect door decor for Kirsten's shower and could then double for Valentine's Day.

I love cheap projects, and this one does not fail. The straws cost just $5 and I already had everything else on hand, including the hot glue gun and sticks.

First draw a circle on a sturdy piece of cardboard the size you want the opening. If you have a protractor this is a cinch! Then draw a slightly larger circle (my second radius is about 3 inches longer than the first). Cut it out with an exacto knife, using a safe surface. I thought I'd need to make the wreath extra sturdy, hence the double cardboard in the photo, but I only ended up using one of those circles.

Begin gluing down the straws with just a drop of glue. Space them evenly apart and start with the 12:00, 6:00, 3:00 and 9:00, then move on to fill in the gaps in between, always placing the new straw halfway between its neighboring straws.

I made sure the straws poked into the middle circle just a bit to cover up the edge of the cardboard as much as possible. If I were to do this project again I'd consider painting the cardboard red to camouflage it against the straws. 

Once you've filled the wreath with as many straws as you can fit placed all the way to the edge of the cardboard, start a second row that is inched back just a bit. I found that if I kind of slid the new straw into place, I could nudge it up just a little more. The straws are flexible so they can squeeze together quite tightly. Nevertheless, this step was by no means perfect and I definitely have areas of my wreath that aren't perfectly symmetrical.

Starting to get dizzy yet?

Sarah was busy working on a wedding card for a friend

Now finish up with one final ring of straws. As you can see, these are placed about two inches back from the first two rows.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm not sure what I think of the finished product. It looks pretty much like the one on Pinterest, but because of it's size or the contrast against the blue door, it looks pretty ominous to me!

Watch out for the Pierson house, they've been marked!

Not gonna lie, it's kind of scary approaching the house at night. Hard not to look at that red eye pulling you in!

I hung the wreath by threading fishing line through one of the straws and attaching it to one of those window suction cup hooks.

How have you been sprucing up the front door this winter? Anything as scary as ours?