The local assisted living facility, Brookdale Absaroka, is raising money for the Wyoming Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association by auctioning off holiday wreaths, centerpieces and Christmas trees. I decided that a bit of publicity would be good for Purple Monkey Manor and the cause is a worthy one so I’d donate a vintage Christmas wreath.
Supplies:
1. Old wooden window
2. Grapevine wreath
3. Vintage book pages
4. Tea-stained gift tags
5. Burlap ribbon
6. Vinyl stickers (for corners of the window)
I went into my stash in the shop and found this old window that the previous owner had already added vinyl gold scrolls to in two of the corners. She’d also put wall hangers on the back making it well on its way to becoming something awesome. It was a great find.
I grabbed a grapevine wreath, some burlap ribbon, a pair of scissors, and glue and scheduled a play date with my favorite designer, Kathy. We sent the boys downstairs to dismantle the play room, got out the glue guns and got to work.
The night before assembly, Kathy soaked some box-store gift tags in tea to give them this gorgeous aged look. We glued each tag closed, then stacked the tag, a piece of burlap, and a page from a vintage book and glued them together. Then, we tore the book pages down to size to frame the tag and burlap.
The book pages we used behind the tags were so brittle that we were unable to roll them into scrolls so we used a different book for those.
Finally, I added more burlap ribbon so that I could attach it to the back of the window frame. I used a screw-in hook so that the wreath could be removed after Christmas and replaced with other seasonal wreaths.
Kathy is so creative. I don’t know that I would have ever come up with this and, of course, her idea turned out gorgeous. I also love that the grapevine wreath came from a earlier project, the window was repurposed from an old house and all the supplies, except for the gift tags, were in one of our stashes. I like that this amazing piece was made from things that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill somewhere.
I’ve got a few more windows, grapevine wreaths and vintage books in my stash. If you’re local, come check it out and I’ll make you a deal. If you’re not local, I’ll ship to you, but shipping might be pricy.
Please link to your latest wreath or holiday project in the comments. I’d like to see what you’re up to. I’m always looking for inspiration for my next project.
