Books and Things: Naughty or Nice Blog Tour: Andrea Lawrence

Oooh! Crafts! I love crafts and I want to welcome Andrea Lawrence to the blog! Welcome!

I know you’ve seen them. Whether you’ve eyed them at the local arts fair or a craft store, you’ve no doubt come across the recent deco-mesh-ribbon wreath trend. Beautiful and customizable to any trend or theme, they’re a perfect decoration for the holidays. At least until you look at the price tag. I’ve seen them on sale for more than a hundred dollars. No way. Today I’m going to tell you how to make your own. The process is deceptively simple and only limited by your own artistic eye.

At a minimum, you need:

1 16″ or 18″ metal wire wreath frame (floral department)
1 large roll of deco mesh ribbon (Christmas or floral department)
1 small roll of deco ribbon mesh (Christmas or floral department)
1 package of chenille wire stems (art & fabric craft department)
Scissors
Optional items include wire ribbon in a coordinating color and decorative ornaments (Christmas or floral department)

The craft stores will normally have the deco mesh, ribbon and decorative ornaments on sale with their Christmas crafts. You also have the option of purchasing wire frames that have chenille ties already attached in the Christmas department. They typically cost more, but come in colors like red, green and gold, which may blend better with your ribbon.

Here’s my craft supply stash from a recent wreath making binge. You can see it’s best to have it all together and ready to go. The process moves pretty quickly once you get started.

Step 1 – Cut the chenille stems in half, then twist them around the wreath like bread ties to secure them while leaving the ends free to twist around the mesh. Alternate between the inside ring and the outside ring of the wreath. I typically try to use three ties per section for a nice, full wreath.

Step 2 – Open the roll of large mesh. Gather the end in your hand and secure it to the inside ring of the wreath with any tie. Tuck the ends out of the way and make sure the tie is tight enough so the mesh doesn’t come loose.

Step 3 – Beginning with the end affixed to the wreath, make a generous loop of mesh (the size of the loop depends on the wreath) and pinch the end together so you can secure it to the nearby outside ring of the wreath with a chenille stem.

Step 4 – Gather a similar size loop of mesh and secure it to the inside ring of the wreath with another chenille stem.

Step 5 – Repeat this process, going all the way around the wreath in a back-and-forth pattern until you’re back where you started. Trim the excess ribbon and secure the ends with a chenille tie.

Step 6 – Open a small deco mesh roll and secure it to the wreath with a tie as you did with the large roll. Repeat the process using additional chenille stems, alternating the smaller ribbon with the larger ribbon, filling in the gaps.

Step 7 – If you opt to include additional ribbon, you can add it at this point. You can either run it back and forth as you did with the mesh to fill in gaps, cut notched pieces and attach them in small sections like the trailing ends of bows, attach curled sections of ribbon or deco mesh...whatever looks best to you. Play with it. The best part of this is that everything is attached with the chenille stems, so if you don’t like it, you can remove it and change it.

Step 8 – Now attach any decorative elements such as poinsettias, holly and so forth to the wreath, using the remaining chenille stems.

Step 9 – Once everything is attached the way you want it, turn the wreath over. Tuck away the ends of the chenille stems so they aren’t visible from the front and make sure everything is secure and tidy.

All done! Below is a collection of a few of the wreaths I’ve made. Once you’ve made one, the process gets much easier. I have a lot of fun putting together combinations of colors and decorations. You can see below that I’ve made wreaths for not only Christmas, but for fall, Halloween and even a baby shower. The options are limitless.

Good luck making your own ribbon wreath. If you get stuck or confused, check out any of the several videos on YouTube that show the step-by-step process.

Happy holidays!

Andrea

Andrea Laurence loves Christmas. Her December release, A White Wedding Christmas, combines her love of the holidays with her love of weddings. It’s a winning combination available December 3 at all bookstores and online booksellers. I know you’ve seen them. Whether you’ve eyed them at the local arts fair or a craft store, you’ve no doubt come across the recent deco-mesh-ribbon wreath trend. Beautiful and customizable to any trend or theme, they’re a perfect decoration for the holidays. At least until you look at the price tag. I’ve seen them on sale for more than a hundred dollars. No way. Today I’m going to tell you how to make your own. The process is deceptively simple and only limited by your own artistic eye.

Find Andrea Laurence:

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White Wedding Christmas

by Andrea Laurence

Goodreads
Amazon | B&N

I do—two words wedding planner Natalie Sharpe will never utter. The cynic in her doesn't believe in love…but the woman in her believes in lust! When a last-minute Christmas wedding reunites her with the bride's hunky brother—Natalie's teenage crush and star of all her fantasies—Natalie wants a second chance for their first time…

But Colin Russell isn't a teen anymore. He's all man. And his every touch has her thinking about the F word—forever. Working with him on the wedding is more temptation than she can take. Will one long, hot kiss lead this reluctant bride down her own wedding aisle?

Giveaway Info:

One grand prize winner will receive:

1 print copy of The Harder You Fall by Gena Showalter, White Wedding Christmas by Andrea Laurence, A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Wrapped in Red by Nana Malone and Sherelle Green
1 eBook copy of A Copper Ridge Christmas by Maisey Yates and Under the Spotlight by Kate Willoughby
100,000 Harlequin MyRewards points
2 Harlequin Classics limited edition notebooks
1 Brenda Jackson Westmoreland limited edition notebook