Ho Ho Ho and it's only October!

Is it just me or does Christmas come earlier and earlier every year?  We are still days away from Halloween, but the stores have had Christmas stuff out for at least 3 weeks.  Crazy!  I guess I shouldn't judge these merchants.  You see, I already made a Christmas wreath (hanging my head in shame).  As a child, Christmas could never come soon enough.  Now that I am a parent, it seems to creep right up on me! 

Don't misunderstand me.  I LOVE Christmas!  It is my favorite holiday!  I love that you get to spend time with the ones you love....and there is great food during this season.  But what I also love about the season is the decorating!  I love wreaths, candles, big bows, decorated packages, snowflakes, deer, Christmas displays and lights.  Speaking of wreaths.  Since we married in 2005, we have had a different wreath on our door each year.  Maybe it's because I haven't found the perfect one, or I just like making a new one.  Like I have mentioned before, I am addicted to Pinterest.  Recently I saw pins that had a wreath made from rags (maybe burlap...I didn't click on the blog, just the picture).  It was made to look like Santa's belly and belt.  I loved it, but let's face it, I am not a rag kind of girl.  It's just not my thing, but I wanted a wreath like that Santa belly.

This year, my best girlfriend Tina started making wreaths.  She made the cutest Halloween and festive fall wreaths out of deco mesh.  Have you used this stuff?  It is a Christmas DIY'ers dream!  She gave me the run down on how to manipulate the material and turn it into a masterpiece!  She said if you can make a bow, you can make a wreath with deco!  I also jumped on YouTube and watched several how to videos.  So, I am going to be the sweet girl that I am and save you the time watching all these sweet ladies craft away.  Below you will find a quick and easy way to make those beautiful full mesh wreaths.  It took me about 45 minutes total.  The one that I made is a simple design that can be built upon.  So, tuck the kiddos in bed, grab you a glass of wine and get your wreath making on!

What you need:

• 1 14" Styrofoam wreath (mine was pale green)
• 1 21" x 10 yd. roll of deco mesh, red
• 1 12" x 10 yd. roll of deco mesh, black
• 1 sheet of glitter foam in gold (I got mine at Michael's.  I think it was 8x10)
• 1 package of floral pins
• Gorilla glue or hot glue gun

OK, here we go:

• Take your red mesh and gather the free end of the roll.  With scissors cut the frayed edges off.  Bundle the clean edge and pin to the back of the Styrofoam wreath.  Secure it tightly.  You will want to start toward the inside of your wreath form.  We are going to make an inside and out run around the wreath.
• Move your hand down the mesh about 12" from where you made your first pin.  Gather and secure it to your wreath form about 3" from your last pin.  You should get a nice fluffy "loop". 
• You will continue around the wreath.  Once you have made a full turn around the wreath, don't cut the mesh, just move to the outside of your wreath form.  I used the whole roll of red mesh.
• Once you have completed securing your red mesh, set it to the side.  It should look something like this...  

•  Next, pour yourself another glass of wine and check on the little ones.
• OK, grab your black mesh.  This is going to be Santa's belt.  Unroll approximately 22-24".   I gently held it around the wreath to get my exact measurement.  It doesn't need to go all the way around; just long enough to be able to pin to the back of the wreath form..
• Now that you have cut the length of your belt. Fold it in half width wise once, maybe twice depending on how wide you want the belt to be.  I am going to warn you.  It doesn't stay put easily.  I had to lay it out on my kitchen counter and hold it down with water jugs and wine boxes.   
• Once you have it folded, bring in your red wreath and flip it over.  Take your floral pins and secure the belt to the back of your wreath.  I used two pins on each side.

• For the buckle, measure your belt width and cut a square to fit the dimensions (also round the corners).  Next, I moved in about 1.5" and used a razor blade to cut the center square out.
• Next, adhere your piece of cut foam to the center of your black belt.
• Confession time....I didn't realize the foam was sticky underneath the backing (DON'T LAUGH!).  So, I used Gorilla Glue (and a dab or two from my hot glue gun) to stick it on the belt.  I don't know how secure the backing is, but I do know it's not going anywhere with my Gorilla Glue and hot glue gun!

Voila!  You now have a cute Santa Belly Wreath! Ho! Ho! Ho!