Holiday DIY - Yarn Wreaths

I've been making these yarn wreaths this holiday season, and I have to say, I've loved the way they've turned out.

Plus - they're a great way to repurpose random yarn from your stash that you're not sure what to do with (you know the balls of yarn that aretoo big to discard, but aren't big enough to make much of anything?), as well as random craft supplies and ribbon.

If you want to make your own yarn wreaths (or the felt flowers), you can click here for a tutorial... but I bet that some of you crafty types canfigure out how it's done just from the picture.

Now, when I was teaching, one of my rules when we were doing any kind of project was: "simpler is better." You see, when kids are faced with baubles and beads, they want to use ALL of them.

Of course, "simpler is better" is not true all the time, but in crafting, it quite often is. Just Google Image search "yarn wreaths." You'll find lots of inspiration. You'll also find some wreaths made by people who never had a teacher who told them:"simpler is better." When designing your wreath, remember this simple axiom.

One way to green this craft: If you can find old wreaths at a thrift store, you could take off the decorations and use the form as a base for your wreath. My thrift store didn't have

anything appropriate, so I had to buy the wreath forms, which are very ungreen. Also, some craft stores (though not mine!) have straw wreath forms, that will be better for the environment than floral foam. If you try this craft, hopefully you can find greener craft supplies than I did!