Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

This project was a lot of fun.  It was fun for the kids and for me!  The kids helped by allowing me the usage of their cute little hands!  I found the inspiration for this project at Decorating with Dodi.

Materials Needed

  • Red and white construction paper
  • Red, white and blue paint
  • Paint plate, brushes, wash cloth
  • Contact paper
  • A picture
  • Patriotic ribbon (1 – 3 inch, 1 – 1 inch)
  • Patriotic burlap
  • Hot glue gun
  • Straw wreath (I used 14 inch wreaths)
  • Twist tie (you could use wire or a piece of pipe cleaner)

I split this project up into multiple days of work but if you have a solid chunk of time you could do it all at once – this probably took me about two hours total to complete two wreaths.

Day 1

First I had the kids help me with their portion of the project.  I painted their hands and they did awesome work for me.  Each kid did six handprints in red, white and blue.  They were very patient with me and did great taking turns.

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

After we finished with the handprints we left them to dry.

Day 2

While the kids were outside playing with my mother in law I got out the contact paper and used it to seal the handprints and picture I chose.  If I had a lamination machine I would have done that but I don’t so I used what I had on hand.  I only put the contact paper on top of the handprints but you could definitely do it on both sides.

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

After I pressed the contact paper down firmly I proceeded to cut out each handprint (this takes a while!).  Next I sealed the pictures in contact paper as well.  After I finished cutting I laid the handprints out in a circle to get an idea of the size wreath I would need to accommodate all of the handprints.

Day 3

I went shopping and picked up the supplies I would need to finish the wreath.  I got some awesome sales at JoAnn Fabrics and picked up the patriotic burlap, two different sized patriotic ribbons, and two 14 inch straw wreaths for less than $10!  Since I had all of the materials I used previously on hand each of the wreaths I created cost less than $5 a piece.

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

I unwrapped the straw wreaths (this is a messy project – do it outside!).  Next I opened my burlap and started wrapping it around the wreath.  I did one test run, unwrapped it and started wrapping it again using a little bit of hot glue occasionally to tack the burlap down.

Next I made a hanger for the wreath.  I used my smaller ribbon for this.  I cut off a piece of ribbon (roughly 8 inches).  I made a loop with it (make sure the printed side of your ribbon faces out) and hot glued the ends together.

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

While my hanger was drying I started to make the bow for my wreath.  This is the first time I had ever tried to make a fancy bow so I went to Pinterest and found a tutorial.  I found a great one at Small Home Big Start.

Instructions to create a Bow

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

  1. Cut a long length of ribbon – probably around 5 feet
  2. Fold the ribbon over 4 times – leaving a tail on both ends
  3. Use a twist tie to gather the ribbon in the center
  4. Cut a small piece of ribbon and fold it in thirds
  5. Wrap the small piece of ribbon around the center to cover the twist tie and hot glue on the back
  6. Fluff up the ribbon

After I finished the bow I set it to the side.  I hot glued my hanger to the back of the wreath at the top.

Next I hot glued the hand prints on to the wreath.  I started at the top center and worked my way down to the bottom leaving space at the bottom center for the picture.  I went back to the top and worked down the other side.  When all of the handprints were glued on I glued the picture on to the bottom center.

The finishing touch for the wreath was adhering the bow.  I attached this to the top center on the bottom of the handprint.

Finally I hung my wreath and was blown away with how awesome it turned out.

Patriotic Handprint Wreaths

I may just take up wreath making for every season (much to my husbands chagrin!).  Have a safe and happy 4th of July!  We will be headed to our family camp for a fun filled weekend of family, food, swimming, boating and fireworks!

 

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2 Comments

    • Shannon A July 6, 2015

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