Mardi Gras Wreath

I was lucky enough to be selected to host a Zatarain's House Party for Mardi Gras. I was already planning on decking out the house, but this gives me more motivation! The first thing I always think about when decorating for anything is a wreath for the front door.

As always, I try to envision the best possible choice for the smallest amount of money. My parents have been in Fairhope, Alabama a few times for Mardi Gras and have brought back a ton of bead necklaces. Because my mom can't pass up anything she can get for free, she has too many for you to imagine! I bought a 12 inch wreath form (my front door has a narrow window, and I like my wreaths to fit inside it.), but you can get whatever size you want. I bought this at Hobby Lobby, so I made sure to use my coupon app to get a 40% off coupon to use at checkout. I also bought a mask at the Dollar Tree.

To make the wreath, I began by using floral wire that I formed into U-shaped hooks to pin the necklaces into the styrofoam. Those began popping out, and once I finished my first layer of necklaces, I couldn't fit them in anymore. That's when I pulled out my trusty hot glue gun! 

I continued to wrap necklaces around until the gaps were all pretty much filled. With the glue gun, I attached at the beginning and end of the necklaces unless they were bigger or I wanted it to lay a certain way. I tried to keep from layering the same colors over each other, too. At the end, I began cutting pieces to get them to fit in the gaps. In all, I think I did about three layers. 

Once I had the necklaces the way I liked, I wrapped a ribbon around the top for hanging and hot glue gunned my mask onto the side. 

It was a little on the heavy side, so I cheated and pushed it onto the Command hook I already have on my window in addition to hanging it from the over-the-door hook. This also keeps it from swinging anytime someone opens the door.

Stay tuned... I'm working on the inside decorations!