Single Awareness (a.k.a. Valentine's) Day Wreath

...two whole days before Valentine's. Ha. :) But at least I'll have it for next year, too.

(yes, it's totally hanging on a light switch for picture-taking purposes)

You like?
It makes me happy whenever I see it.

Supplies:
Wooden hearts, like 39 cents each
Acrylic paints, brushes, and clear spray sealer: on hand
Ribbon for flower: on hand (I bought it to use on the Church bag I fancied up and made a lining for, and I still have some left)
Heart ribbon: $2 (50% off at JoAnn--this is why I waited until so near to the holiday to finish this project! I was so happy to find ribbon that matched the conversation hearts I'd already painted!)
Wreath form: $3 (after JoAnn 40%-off coupon, but next time I'll check the dollar store)


Process:

• I painted the conversation hearts one evening. It was so nice, mixing colors, getting paint on my fingers, experimenting, and just having fun painting.
• I glued one end of the ribbon to the back of the wreath, and wrapped it around the whole thing until it was completely covered, then glued the other end down on the back.
• Glued the hearts on. This whole project was done with a hot glue gun.
  

It took me awhile to get the flower right. Here's what finally worked:

• Cut out a circle of cardboard about 3 inches in diameter from any old place you can. This was once part of a box of fiber bars.
• Start gluing your ribbon around the outside edge, bunching a bit as you go along.
  

Keep gluing, winding around in a spiral shape, until you've gotten to the middle of the circle and covered nearly all the cardboard.

(Hehe. You can see my iPod cord there. I was bopping along to some oldies.)

Leaving a bit extra, cut your ribbon, and glue the end of it right in the middle.
You now have a flower.

Mine turned out a bit big for my taste, so I trimmed off a bit of ribbon and cardboard to bring down the diameter a bit.

I love recycling where I can!

For a nicer finish, you could cut out a circle of felt the same size and glue it to the back. I just didn't really care at the time. You will also want to use a small dab of glue on the end of the ribbon here in the back, gluing it about halfway down on the ribbon it's next to, so you don't have a square edge poking out of the back of your flower.

Before I stuck it on the wreath, I cut a length of ribbon for the hanger, wrapped it around the top of the wreath, and glued both ends securely to the back. Then I cut a smaller length to put inside the first, chain-link-like, so that it will hang on a hook without twisting.

Then I glued on the flower, and here's the finished result:

A cheery, totally original Valentine's decoration that I love. Mission accomplished!