We had two snow days, this week, where one day was technically a "cold day" where they called off school for low temperatures and wind chill. There's nothing better than receiving a call at 5:45 am, or even better the night before telling you that you don't have to go into work tomorrow and can sleep in. You feel a bit of childish glee combined with only very slight teacher guilt that everyone else has to work.
I used those two days this week to relax, read some books, enjoy some hot chocolate and make some Valentine's Day Crafts. Of late I've had an obsession with wreaths. I used a lot of pre-made boxwood wreaths in my Christmas Decorations, but wanted something more seasonal for Valentine's Day.
I've made my own book-wreath before, from book pages, but haven't tried my hand at any other type of wreath. From what I've seen on Pinterest, people make wreaths from all kinds of crazy things, from marshmallows, to acorns, driftwood, and peppermint candies. I was inspired by this wreath from Anthropologie that costs $128--not something I really wanted to pay for.
Here is a picture of the same wreath from Anthro on the blog Dreamy Whites. 
Thus, very cute but expensive. I decided to re-create the wreath for cheaper using a pom pom maker from Amazon and some thick Lion Brand Yarn from Michaels. To make the yarn you need 3 1/2 skeins.
I used the green pom pom maker that is 2 1/2" in diameter). There are steps included in the instructions, but basically you open one side of the pom pom maker it has two prongs with it. You wrap the yarn around both of the prongs.
After wrapping the yarn around one side a number of times (I did three times), you close one end of the pom pom maker and open the other end (it also has two prongs that you wrap the yarn around).
After wrapping the second side (3x) you close the pom pom maker and cut the sides with some scissors. I used sewing scissors that were pretty sharp.
Then pull the ends apart slightly. Tie an extra piece of yarn around the middle to secure the pom pom.
Last you pull the green sides of the pom pom maker off and fluff your pom pom. I made about 48 pom poms for my pom pom wreath. This translated to roughly three Netflix-movies-worth of pom poms.
I used a hot glue gun to attach the pom poms in three layers with an inner layer covering the inside of the green foam wreath base, a middle layer and an outside layer.
The yarn is very soft and makes a nice wreath. I bought extra yarn because I'm also thinking I will make a scarf out of it because it is so cozy. I hung the wreath from an old window with some leftover red and white ribbon from Christmas that also seems to work for Valentine's Day.
All in all it was $24 for the yarn and around $8 for the pom pom maker. The wreath form I already had but is pretty inexpensive as well--you can get one at JoAnn's for around $6. So the wreath costs around $38 to make--much more inexpensive than the Anthro version. Plus now I have a random pom pom maker and can make additional pom poms for other crafts, such as attaching pom poms to a throw blanket or a scarf.
Stay warm this winter and don't begrudge the teachers you know some time off in the winter for a snow day or two--they are recharging to better teach your kids. That's what this wreath was for me, a fun day of resting and crafting.
Anne with an E