Welcome everyone! Today I am excited to be participating with several talented blogging friends for “The Thrifty Chicks” February challenge: “Something I Love.” Since I absolutely love making wreaths and Valentine’s Day is on the way, I decided to share my DIY Neutral Farmhouse Heart Rag Wreath for the challenge. You can find links to each of the Thrifty Chicks’ posts at the end of this post.
This pretty farmhouse rag wreath is perfect for Valentine’s Day, but it will also work year round since it is neutral.
A few years ago I shared the DIY Shabby-Farmhouse Heart Rag Wreath that I made using red ticking stripe fabric, muslin, crocheted ribbon, lace and knitting yarn. It was a very popular post! I enjoyed making the wreath so much that I was inspired to make a neutral one to use throughout the year.
Have you ever made a rag wreath? They are so easy! If you can cut fabric in strips, cut ribbon, and tie a knot, you can make a rag wreath too!
How To Make A Heart Rag Wreath
I used a 12 inch wire heart wreath form that I purchased from Joann Fabric for around $4.00 after coupon. The next day I discovered that Dollar Tree has the same forms for only $1.oo. (*The red ticking stripe heart wreath was made with a single heart wreath form so it isn’t as full as the neutral wreath.)
I am not sure of the total cost of materials since I already had muslin and some of the ribbon in my stash. I had previously purchased three types of neutral ribbon at Dollar Tree (Floral Garden brand) for $1.oo each, and I had found the yarn on clearance at Joann Fabric for $2.00 last winter. I bought the buff colored satin ribbon, lace decorative ribbon, and wide crocheted ribbon at Joann Fabric using coupons. I paid around $12.oo total for the wire heart form and ribbon. If you purchase the heart wreath form from Dollar Tree you can easily make a similar wreath for $10-15 dollars or even less depending on what ribbon, lace or fabric scraps you already have on hand.
I cut the ribbon, yarn, lace and muslin in 7 inch strips (I just realized I had cut the small crocheted ribbon too small for this picture, but for the wreath I used 7 inch pieces). The lighter muslin is about 1 inch wide and the darker is 3/4 inch wide. (I tea stained some of the muslin for a darker color variation.) I started this wreath on a whim and was already well into the project before deciding to do a post, so I didn’t count the exact number of strips of fabric or strips of ribbon I used. At the beginning I did cut about 50 strips of muslin and if I needed more strips I just cut them as I went along. *Fold the fabric in half to make multiple cuts at the same time.
To tea stain the fabric, I placed the strips in a bowl with two tea bags and hot water and let them sit for a couple of hours. I have had this this vintage Pyrex bowl for a while but this was the first time I had used it. I think it is super cute!
I used a paper towel to squeeze out the excess tea and then placed the strips on a dry paper towel to dry.
I began by tying the light and dark muslin on the three different individual wires evenly around the wreath.I didn’t worry about tying the muslin or ribbon in an exact pattern or any particular order. I used mostly the lighter strips and filled in with some darker strips here and there before adding ribbon. I only used a few pieces of yarn.
As you can see here I just tied the strips on in random patterns. If things looked uneven I just “eye balled” it and added a different material where needed. It was easy to separate the ties apart and squeeze in a piece of ribbon or lace where needed.
I added the buff satin ribbon, sheer ivory ribbon, and crocheted ribbon, lace and yarn to fill in the gaps and to add interest and texture. After all of the green of the heart form was covered I was finished! I took two days to make the wreath, but it could easily be made in a couple of hours or less.
I just love all of the varying textures!
I made the wreath in January and first styled it in my music room with some of my winter decor.
For my Winter Home Tour I dressed up the wreath with a pretty free graphic from The Graphics Fairy.
For Valentine’s Day I moved the wreath to the dining room where it is hanging on the doors of a corner cabinet filled with vintage ironstone and some winter treasures.
Rag wreaths are so easy and inexpensive to make. Of course you can make a round rag wreath using spring colors, patriotic colors, burlap and denim or whatever strikes your fancy. I have had several readers share that they were inspired to make a wreath just like my Shabby- Farmhouse Heart Rag Wreath and they all loved how theirs turned out. That makes me so happy! I hope this post has inspired you to make a rag wreath too! If you do, I certainly would love to hear from you. If you have any questions about this DIY, feel free to leave me a comment or email me anytime.
Now it’s time to check out the other posts in this month’s challenge Thrifty Chicks Challenge: “Something I Love.” This was a sort of “free style” challenge so I can’t wait to see what everyone shares! Simply click the thumbnails below to view each post. Enjoy them all!
Thank you so much for visiting today!
Amber
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