Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Cowboy cuteness (LISA! DON'T LOOK!)

Ben's cousins Andy and Lisa are delighted to be expecting twins this summer. They are decorating their nursery in a cowboy theme and I took the opportunity to make a diaper wreath in coordinating colors and style. I'm thrilled with the results. Here's the finished product.



Here are a few close-ups.






Items needed to make this wreath:

- Metal wreath base and wreath hanger.
- 30-32 size 2 diapers (depending on how tight you roll them)
- Two rolls of approximately 1/2 inch ribbon to tie diapers to base
- Stuffed animal for the top of the wreath (I bought a set of two in the toy section at Target)
- Two pack of pacifiers
- One baby hat
- One rubber piggie
- Two pairs of baby socks
- Two bottles
- Two small cowboy hats (I found these in the doll section at Hobby Lobby)
- Two personalized bicycle license plates
- One page of cowboy themed scrap booking stickers
- One roll of twine to tie on embellishment
- One roll of ribbon to tie on embellishment

Instructions for wreath assembly. This method can be used for any wreath. I recommend taking a couple weeks to look for items to go with your theme.

- Do not open the diaper to roll. Leave the diaper folded and tightly roll from the top down. Guide the ribbon through base so the ribbon holds the diaper to the inner two meatal strips. Roll each diaper and tie to wreath base with alternating colors of ribbon. Roll and attach diapers one at a time rather than rolling them all then attaching.

This is the blank base



This is what the back will look like after you have tied the diapers to the base.






- Cut each bandanna in half, then in half again so you have four equal square small pieces of both red and blue bandanna. Then cut each of these squares into 4 strips approximately 1.5 inches thick.

- Tie strips of bandanna between each diaper in alternating colors. Do not knot the ribbon, just tie once then spread the top and bottom of the strip open so it shows on either side of the diapers. These strips should be too short to make a knot, and less of the bandanna would be visible.

- Once base is fully covered with diapers and bandannas determine which point will be the top. I recommend attaching the stuffed animal at first (at the 12 o'clock position) so you can symmetrically distribute the rest of the embellishments. Use either twine or additional ribbon to decorate with a bow. I used an additional smaller stuffed animal in the 6 o'clock position, tied and decorated with a bow.

- Next embellish the bicycle license plates with cowboy themed scrapbook stickers.

- Tie the embellished name plates at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions using twine.

- Desribute remaining embellishments evenly. I used two pieces of twine to tie on each additional embellisment, and leftover strips of bandanna to attach the pacifiers on either side of the stuffed animal.

- To attach the doll hats I poked holes on each side of the hats and used twine to attach.

Please let me know if my instructions are confusing or if you have any questions. Happy crafting!

4 comments:

  1. A friend of mine is planning on doing cloth diapers - have you ever made one with those? I'm worried about the expense...

    If I put enough embelleshments on it, would you be able to notice they were disposable?

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  2. I would still use disposables! I was given a diaper wreath at my shower and I never took it apart, it has stayed on her nursery door as decoration. I plan on passing on the beautiful wreath I was given rather than taking it apart.

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  3. Ok, I will do that! I didn't think she'd want to take it apart, but I wasn't sure.

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  4. Where did you get the personalized license plates and the rubber piggie?

    ReplyDelete