Etsian Artists: Freaky & Fun Friday

How to Make A Monster Wreath

Things you will need:

Styrofoam wreath

Fun Fur
Ping Pong Balls or Small Foam Balls or Rubber Toy Eye Balls

Hot Glue Gun

Lots of Glue Sticks (for glue gun)

permanent marker

pins

Depending on the size of wreath you will want to make will determine how much of each of the items above that you will require. The wreath I made for this tutorial is just a small one, so the measurements I will give you are in accordance to an 8 IN diameter. If you decide to make a bigger wreath then just be sure to adjust your measurements for all of your supplies accordingly. Personally I would have made a bigger one had I more fun fur, however working on lack of time I had to work with what I had.

Your going to start by measuring out a piece of Fun Fur, for a wreath with an 8 IN diameter I used a piece of Fun Fur that was 12 IN by 15 IN. (I would have liked to use a piece 15 by 15 but like I said I was working with what I had, so I made it work lol)

Once you have the right size piece in front of you, you will need to mark it with your permanent marker on the back. Center your foam wreath in the middle of your Fun Fur and trace around the inside and around the outside of the wreath. Then draw a cross in the center of the wreath and finally an outer circle around the entire wreath that is about 3 inches (more if your wreath is much bigger) wider then the outside circle of the wreath. See the pic below to reference these markings...

Once you are confident that you have marked the Fun Fur properly you can start cutting it out. My rule of thumb is "measure twice and cut once!" Start by cutting the outer most circle out.

Now you need to create flaps in the center of the wreath and you do this by cutting along the lines of the cross in the middle.

Now using your permanent marker you can mark out all the eyeballs. How many is completely up to you or up to how many will fit on your wreath. I was able to fit 8 nicely. When you mark out the holes for the eyeballs you want to be very careful about how long the lines are that you are going to cut. If your holes are too big then your eyeballs will just fall out. You want the eyeballs to just go through about halfway and stop. If you are using Ping Pong balls for eyes then you will cut about an inch and a half. On the other hand I used smaller rubber bouncy balls that look like eyeballs and glow in the dark so I cut mine just under an inch.

You want to be just a tad smaller then the diameter of your eyeball. Once you know the size of the hole you will need you can start drawing your lines in the inner circle where you want your eyeballs to go.

Once they are all marked out you can cut along the lines creating your eyeball holes. Once you cut your first hole you should try to push your eyeball through it, if it pushes all the way through then the hole is too big. You want it to just go in about half way and stop.

Once you have them all cut out go ahead and push all your eyeballs into the holes. I find that pushing them in from the front of the Fun Fur works best so that the edge of the Fun Fur gets pushed into the inside of the wreath instead of the outside. Once they are all in place you can go ahead and glue them in using your hot glue gun.

I mentioned in the list of supplies that you will need LOTS of hot glue sticks and I wasn't kidding! lol Don't be afraid to pile it on here, you will need lots to hold them in place. You wouldn't want them popping out of your poor monster do ya?

Wait for the glue to fully dry then place your foam wreath n top of the eyeballs.

Now its time to use those pins. Start with the flaps in the center and fold them up over the edge of the wreath and pin them in place.

In order for the outside to fold up easily and smoothly you will need to put slices into it going around it in a circle. Your slices only have to go in about an inch, you don't want to go any deeper then that. The smaller the wreath the more slices you will need. I went about every 3 or 4 IN, the bigger your wreath you can spread them further apart.

You are now ready to pin the outside of the wreath. Fold the edge up around the circle and pin into place.

If you have everything in place properly and your wreath is covered fully in the front and all around the outside. If you see a little bit of foam in the back that is ok. You are ready to start gluing. Again don't be afraid to use too much glue. Start with the inside flaps by removing a pin then putting hot glue on the Fun Fur and on the foam and pressing together. Then work your way around the outside circle of the wreath removing each pin as you go. Once you finish gluing and turn it over you should be left with something that looks similar to this...