DIY Paper Straw Christmas Wreath

Now that Thanksgiving is past, it's time to look forward to Christmas. The first thing I decided to do to get ready for the holiday was to make a new wreath. I decided to make a paper straw Christmas wreath to decorate my front door.

Last week I went to a craft warehouse and bought quite a few craft supplies that I thought would be useful. I saw these Christmas themed paper straws and immediately knew they would be fun to use to make a wreath. After all the cooking for Thanksgiving, I relaxed by making my wreath.

If you follow this tutorial, you should be able to put together this wreath in about half an hour. It's easy to make and is a thrifty project too. All of the supplies together cost about $7.

Supplies Needed

Foam wreath form - I bought this at the Dollar Store
Paper straws - I used almost 75 paper straws
Christmas fabric - you only need 4 inches
Ribbon - a piece for hanging your wreath
Wired ribbon (optional) - 1 spool to make a bow
hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Instructions

1. Most fabric stores don't sell less than 5 inches of fabric. You only need 4 inches for this, but if you buy extra you can use it for another project. You will need to cut the fabric into 2 strips that are 2 inches wide (they will be about 42 inches long). You will wrap the fabric around the foam wreath, slightly overlapping each time you wrap around. Use a bit of hot glue at the beginning and end.

2. Next I arranged my straws how I wanted to add them to my wreath. I trimmed about 1 1/2 inches from every other paper straw. My straws were in a pattern of red-green-red, so I trimmed every green one.

3. Next you will need to attach the straws to the fabric covered wreath, adding the straws to what will be the back of the wreath. I used a hot glue gun for this project. There are low temp glue guns, but the low temp glue doesn't hold as well. I applied a small amount of glue to the end of the straw, then placed the straw on the wreath. I held the straw there for about 5-10 seconds to make sure that it was firmly attached. Work all the way around your wreath.

4. Cut a length of your ribbon you will use to hang your wreath. My piece of ribbon was 16 inches and it was looped over in half. I used the hot glue gun to attach it to the back of the wreath.

 There you have your wreath. I like how this looks, but if you want, you can add a bow to it.

To make a bow, you will need a spool of wire edged ribbon. I use 2.5 inch wide ribbon and my spool was 9 feet long. I used the whole spool of ribbon to make my bow. I used a bit of floral wire to attach the bow to the wreath.

Now my door is ready for the Christmas season. We even had some snow yesterday so it was the perfect time to put up my Christmas wreath.

What is your favorite way to decorate for Christmas?