holiday project #1 - fluffy & fun, anthro inspired, winter wreath

It was a good weekend to finally cross a little craft project off my list.  A project I started way back in August when I was on vacation.  I had come across THE wreath on Pinterest... you know the Anthropologie "pom pom yarn wreath knock off" that everyone seems to be making... or maybe made since I seem to have caught on a year too late.

I stuck with the idea I found on Pinterest.  It suggested using a roving type yarn.

And now I see why.  The super, fuzzy, fluffy, off white roving yarn really worked well.

I found mine at Michael's... we don't have the luxury of a Hobby Lobby in these parts so I'm stuck with Michael's or Joann Fabrics when it comes to most crafty projects.  My wreath took two skeins/balls of this yarn.  At $6.99 it isn't the cheapest yarn, but fortunately for me wool yarn was on sale way back in the middle of August and I got mine for just $4.99 each.

 The directions I followed didn't call for anything other than my hand to wind the yarn around.  Super simple that way, just me and some scissors.  Each pom pom is made up of 40 wraps of my hand.

Slip it off and tie it in the center with a 6 or 7 inch piece of yarn.

And start cutting all those loops.

And voila.. a little bit misshapen pom pom!  The directions suggested a little tidy up trim, and I did.  Now just to wind up, tie off, cut and trim oh about 30 or 31 more of these bad boys.

 Michael's was also the place I found my wreath form.  I used the 12 inch straw wreath and T-pins, but you could use hot glue, Styrofoam wreath, etc.  The straw wreath was cheaper (at $3.99) and I had a coupon (40% off) to boot!  I did have to buy a package of T-pins since I didn't have any hanging around... they were $1.99.

 Now it's time to start adding on my pom poms.

I started with a circle around the top/front and then went back and filled in the center... then the outside.  I even left a small space to slip a ribbon through.

And here it is.  Hanging on my garden gate.  I'm loving how it looks but it may come down for the actual Christmas holidays and move to another spot... but the beauty of this wreath is the snowball pom pom look can carry on through January and February so I'm sure it will move back to this spot around New Year's Day.

And another, farther out view.

 I'm happy I looked for the roving yarn and didn't settle for a wool blend.  I like the way the cut ends of the pom pom are very blunt with the roving wool.

 Oh, and the ribbon?  A nice aqua-ish color... and free since it came wrapped around something.  A blanket I think... and it even had Velcro sewn on so I could easily loop it over my garden gate and hang it up!

Believe it or not, this project only took about 1 to 1/2 hours to complete.  Winding the pom poms went pretty fast and pinning them to the wreath form took literally minutes.  And at under $15.00 was a bargain as well.  Apparently the Anthro version is just a tad bit pricier.

 Why yes, it is as soft and fluffy as it looks!

And this project has really inspired me to get some other projects done...

Perhaps even another pom pom wreath with the addition of a few gray pom poms is in my future?

For a little gift to a new homeowner that I know.

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