Jewelled, Heart Shaped Wreath

I’ve made another jewelled wreath, and might possibly like this just a touch more than the one I currently have on my front door, so perhaps I might do a little swap round!

The MDF wreath base  came from https://www.everycraftsabargain.co.uk/MDF-Heart-Wreath and for just £1.50 for a large and small one it would have been rude not too!

The large one measures approx. 10ins at its longest by approx. 9.5 ins at its widest.  The large ones I shall use for wreaths and the smaller ones, similarly decorated but in a shadow box frame(?).  They also have a round set for the same price, which I also availed myself of with other ideas/occasions in mind.

I started off by painting both sides of the heart with some spare emulsion paint, just in case any of the wreath showed when finished.  As per usual I placed the biggest flowers, i.e the roses on the base first ………

…… filling in the rest gradually.  The jewels, as I said before, come from bracelets bought on eBay.  The “shop” (https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/mypensionfund66) I have found gives me a decent discount, which works out a lot cheaper than any charity shop bits and pieces I can pick up, although I am always on the look out for any sort of flowers, which at present are few and far between. 

It means I can get a couple or three wreaths done without scrabbling about for bits, with a few left over to start another.  I have looked into broken bags of jewellery on eBay, but they are often quite expensive and you can’t guarantee what you get and I am quite specific in my needs, but hey ho, I am always up for suggestions.  Once I have the wreath covered, I let it dry overnight and then go round it again filling in the gaps and adding a top layer using smaller, single flowers etc.   In all I reckon it takes me around 2 hours to complete one wreath, over two sessions.

I have to remove all the loops etc. from each piece so that they lie flat on the base with pliers, but since they aren’t top end items this isn’t too a hard job. I then use B-7000 glue for a really secure fix.

I used a staple gun to put two staples in the back to then fasten a cobbled wire hanger.

I am not pretending these are cheap to make, I would say they might cost anything between £12 and £15+ but that’s including everything, wreath, glue, paint, extra bits from charity shops etc. but the finished result is a total one off. I am hoping to make at least 10 over the next few months which will then be used as presents for very special people.  I am also thinking of a Christmas one or two, but need to use something other than flowers ………

I often see this type of bracelet with lots of pieces (above) in charity shops, I am wondering if I could make some sort of circular, star burst mirror or wreath using them?   Hmmmmmmmm

Me thinks 2023 might turn out to be the year of the fiddle fart wreath!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/mypensionfund66