DIY Deco Mesh Christmas Wreath

I made a bowsplosion* wreath! And sent a photo of it to my BFF in Ohio:

No response.

Considering she is very craft-supportive, this non-reaction ultimately means, “Uh… why did you make that exactly?” She is a wreath-hater.

The BFF is obviously NOT from Texas because in TEXAS we like EVERYTHING – including our wreaths – BIGGER. And this wreath is about as big as the Princess Cupcake.

Who — by the way — loved it.

While it seems a bit intimidating (there is a LOT of deco mesh on there), it is really quite easy. I’ve gotten a couple of questions about how on earth you can make this holiday monstrosity so here’s a quick how-to:

First you need the supplies. A friend of mine found hers in that magical monthly mecca called Canton. If you’re lazy like me, I surfed the web to find my supplies. I found everything I needed at www.mardigrasoutlet.com.

I ordered this wreath form which is basically a wire frame of a wreath with a few bendable branches on it. Hmm… makes you wonder, can you use a regular wreath? YES, you can. I’ve seen it online.

Then you need the amazing, fantastic, weather resistant, deco mesh and again, they have nearly every color you could imagine. I got green and red plaid. I also got the red and white stripe with the garland form to weave lights into but that’s a different project altogether…. I did plan ahead and get the gold with purple and green stripe for Mardi Gras. I heart Mardi Gras!

So they also have a half tree which is cool that you could hang on the wall, or put two together and make a 3-dimensional tree. But again I digress into infinite deco mesh possibilities…

I ordered on Monday morning. My package was on my porch Thursday morning. Shipping for all that was only $8.75 – way less than I’d spend on gas to get to Canton. I considered it fate.

FYI: After researching online, I believe that Hobby Lobby has a similar deco mesh but not sure it’s of the same quality. I’ll have to check it out.

Now, I did step out on a limb and pick up an extra roll of coordinating ribbon from Michaels when it was on sale. And okay, a few holiday flowers. And sprays. Which I found as I put it together, that many of the sprays I got were conservatively small. That just doesn’t work with a bowsplotion wreath! Those are going back.

Lay your wreath wire frame on a big table and unroll your deco mesh. If you’re adding ribbon, line it up with the middle of the deco mesh. They’re both 10 yards so it’s all good.

Smush the ends together and wrap the wire branches around the deco mesh and ribbon to secure it together. Fluff about 12 – 16 inches of it to the next wire branch and twistie tie it down. Go all the way around the inside of the wreath securing it at each wire twistie. Then when you’ve done that, start on the outside layer. Make your poofs a little bit bigger (Ha, ha, I know. EVEN bigger!) for all the outer layer using the same technique until you have completed all the twistable areas around the wreath.

I put the flowers and sprays in after I had poofed all the bows out. You can either twistie tie them down to each of the wire branches, or hot glue them in. I just shoved some in where the twisties are but I may commit and glue them down before I put this bad boy in storage for next year.

There you have it. A deco mesh bowsplotion* wreath. Let me know in the comments below where you’ve spotted supplies. And if you’ve made one, send me photos! We’ll add them here!

*”bowsplosion” is what my crafty friend Bianca called it. Isn’t she a genius? That’s exactly what it is!

Here’s one of the better videos I found to help you visualize how to put this together.

UPDATE DECEMBER 7: Deco mesh spotted at Sam’s Club for $6.98 for 10 yards. Also, TODAY’S Michaels Deal of the Day has wreaths for $1.99. You can also use a regular wreath to make this.