4th of July Ribbon Wreath

Ok so I've figured out what is going to keep my busy while Jim is traveling... well other than trying to plan every little detail of our lives ;) .....Doing crafts... I mean 2 wreaths in 2 weeks is pretty good right? I'm about finished with a ribbon wreath I made for the 4th of July. I figured I would start with this holiday because if I messed it up I could just hang the balloon wreath since it's Jim's birthday as well as America's. I found a tutorial online that I followed pretty closely... I will make some adjustments for my next wreath but overall I'm happy with it!

Here's what I used
- a styrofoam wreath
- glue gun
- pins
- 11 different types of ribbon in a variety of patterns coordinating with the theme (the spools were anywhere from 4-10 yards)
- about 8 yards of thick (2+ inches) ribbon in a solid color

These were the ribbons I used.  The first thing you have to do is cut the ribbons into 4-6 inch strips... I mostly stayed closer to 4-5 inch strips. I cut about 330 but for this wreath that was too many. If I had gotten a wreath that was round instead of flat I think I would have used them all. Next time I will cut less and just make sure i have some back up ribbon.

Next you use your hot glue gun and glue the ribbon into loops. Make sure to leave at least a 1/4 inch at the bottom so you can make a little flap to glue flat onto the wreath. I didn't take a picture of this but I will for the next wreath I make. The sheer ribbon will definitely leave you with a few hot glue burns but I like the way it looks on the wreath. The wire ribbons look really good because you can shape them into wider loops.

After I made all the loops I wrapped the foam wreath with white satin ribbon using my glue gun and pins. If I did it again I'd use red or blue satin ribbon instead just to make it pop more on a door. 

 Once the wreath is wrapped you can start gluing your loops. Open up the little flap you created and glue it flat. I just alternated ribbons in no particular order. 

Here is the finished product. I may g around the inside and outside edge to make it a little neater and I would make the ribbon hanger a little shorter but I already hot glued it so it's good enough for me. :) 

My husband initially thought I was crazy for doing this as he wasn't exactly sure how it would turn out but encouraged me anyways since he knows I enjoy doing little projects and I must say he loves the way it turned out. Next up... a Halloween wreath.