Make This Spun Cotton Antique Looking Wreath

This spun cotton wreath looks vintage but it's not folks. I made it yesterday!

      This little antique looking wreath is so easy to make and it can look very different depending upon the small embellishments that you have on hand to attach to it. 

      I picked up some wire mesh scouring pads in a dollar bin at my local grocery store in order to wrap some of my cotton batting ornaments economically. Dresden ornaments were often wrapped profusely with Bouillion wire and I wanted a similar look in some of my handmade crafts as well. But, how to save money on my ornaments was key. Then, I saw them, from across the isle; it was love at first glance. Oh scouring pads, how relieved my pocket book is gonna be this Christmas, hurrah!

Supply List:

• white cotton balls
• old recycled curtain ring 
• wire mesh scouring pads (new in package)
• tiny pine cones and red berries
• tiny burned out Christmas light
• white school glue
• white tacky glue
• silver wire for wrapping and hanging
• silver beads
• old dull scissors

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Glue and wrap the curtain ring with unraveled, white cotton balls. Let this dry.
2. Apply a thin outside coating of white  school glue to the surface of your wrapped curtain ring and let this layer dry before continuing.
3. Use tacky white glue to paste down the tiny pine cones and red berries around a vintage Christmas light bulb. Yes, I really do collect and save these for projects.
4. Make sure the all of the parts of your spun cotton wreath have dried. Then clip apart the wire mesh scouring pad. You will find that it unravels into a tube like shape. 
5. I cut across this mesh wire tube so that I could wrap it once around my cotton wrapped wreath. I needed approximately 1 1/2 inches of wire mesh for my wreath. How much you will need largely depends upon the thickness of your cotton batting. If you don't use older dull scissors for cutting this mesh, your new scissors will become older dull scissors, no joke.
6. Now wrap thin silver wire around the wire mesh in order to firmly attach it to the cotton batting surface. Twist the wire around itself to make firm connections that will not unravel. The wire mesh does unravel a bit while you are working with it but it still gives a lovely antique affect to the ornament if you will work with it. Be stubborn.
7. You could purchase Bouillion Crinkle Wire if you would prefer this to my economical solution.
8. Lastly, wrap more silver wire around the wreath and string this with silver beads to make an attractive hanger.

Fun Christmas Wreath Eye Candy:

• What? This is really an original looking wreath!
• Wow, that's a lot of Santa.
• Love this recycled newspaper wreath
• Christmas wreath for math minded people, very fun.