2017 Penguin Wreath Tutorial

Supplies XX751126 - 24" Silver Pencil Wreath - 1 XB946-01 - 21" Iridescent Snowball Mesh - 1 RY810227 - 10" White Snowdrift Poly Cotton Mesh - 1 XC6094- Penguin - 1 RG01598W7 - 1.5" Red with White Chenille Edge Ribbon - 1 RG01545 - 2.5" Baby It's Cold Outside Ribbon - 1 RJ403002 - 1.5" Black Glitter Ribbon - 1 (available in kit only) RJ4031 - 1.5" White Glitter Ribbon - 1 (available in kit only) G3406757 - RAZ Snowball Garland - 1 Wreath Supply Kit: Sold out, some of the individual products may still be available. Please note that the tutorial will be left up even after some or all the exact supplies we used are no longer available, since the basic instructions can be followed and other choices of products made. Summary Wreath Form: We chose a 24" Silver Pencil Wreath for this project. Our 24" wreaths measure 15" across the widest ring, but with the addition of mesh and other products you wind up with a finished wreath 24" or larger. This finished wreath measured about 27" in diameter. You could also use other colors, or a work wreath style instead of the pencil, we simply chose from what had ample supply in stock. Mesh: We used two different styles of mesh on this project. The first was a 21" iridescent snowball mesh and then a 10" snowdrift poly cotton mesh. The 21" has iridescent foil strips and the poly cotton is more of a soft tufted mesh. We did 10" pouf around the outer and inner rings. Just grasp the mesh 3-4" from the end, fold it under a bit and attach in a twist on the outer ring. This is your starting point.

Measure 10" and gather the mesh up, and secure in the next twist. Just continue measuring, gathering and securing and work around the wreath. When you get to the last pouf, open up the twist at your starting point, making sure the previous mesh stays in place, and secure your last pouf.

Pull the mesh snugly and move up to the closest twist on the inner ring. Attach your mesh and continue to measure, gather and secure working around the inner ring. When you get to the last pouf, you can measure, gather and then cut the mesh away from the roll leaving about 3-4" Fold that raw edge under, open the twist at your starting point and secure the last pouf. Make sure your raw edges are hidden within your pouf and if they tend to pop out, you can secure them to the wreath form with a small zip tie.

After the poufs were completed, we added at 15" ruffles to each twist. Just cut 18 pieces of mesh, 15" in length. We cut our mesh using a Fiskars 60mm Stick Cutter and a Omnigrid Self-Healing Cutting Mat. These are items that we no longer sell on Trendy Tree but we can share our affiliate Amazon links for them so you can find them. They are very handy tools and I can't see making wreaths without them. The blade can also be changed in the 60 mm cutter.

Make a ruffle by smoothing out the ruffle on the table and gathering up through the center. Open a twist on the wreath, lay the ruffle down and re-secure. Work all the way around the wreath adding a ruffle to each twist.

This really gave more coverage and dimension to the wreath. Clip strings. All mesh ravels and the more you cut it and handle it, the more raveling you will have. Push your poufs and ruffles out toward the front by pushing on them from the back side, to open up the center. Penguin: The penguin parts have wires for attaching to the wreath. Hang the wreath so you can get a better idea of where you want to place your penguin pieces. Just barely attach them until you are sure, because removing the wires from the mesh can be difficult. The hat is wired also so you can shape it a bit and also the wings can be shaped. The wings are attached separately and have a little bit of wire in them for shaping. Once you have settled on your placement of the penguin, you can secure it better by working from the back and attaching the wires to the wreath form. We placed ours over to the right side, but you might like it better in the center, etc. Ribbon: Mil and Dil Designs We chose to make three bows using the ProBow and Terri Bow Style, or a version of it. I may not have followed her directions completely. Just watch the video above to see how I made one large and two smaller bows. The video below is just an example of my first attempt at this style bow. It's a fantastic way to use up your scrap ribbon! Here's a link to a previous video we did showing my first attempt at a Terri Bow. The Terri Bow was developed by Terri Marshal with and she has great tutorials on her business pages and YouTube. We made three bows one larger that we used in the middle on the left side and a smaller bow above and below the larger bow. Our ribbons were three 1.5" style and one 2.5" style. We used a combination of all the ribbons for the bows. Of course, you don't have to use the Pro Bow for making your bow. You can just make a simple loop bow, or if you had rather you can add ribbons strips to the wreath. Just whatever your preference is. In hindsight, if I were making this project again, I would use more of the red ribbon. It's so pretty! If you choose to do ribbon strips, be sure to measure a test strip before cutting up your ribbon. After the three bows were made, we still had ribbon left over. Also there was a little bit of each mesh left over. Snowball Garland: The RAZ Snowball Garland was our finishing touch))) We just bent the little wings enough to hold the garland. You could always secure this more by using a little floral wire or even clear fishing line. Once you're all finished, be sure to check the back of the wreath for anything sharp that might scratch. Make a hanger for your wreath using floral wire or chenille stems. If you use floral wire, double it. You can also use zip ties.