Pom Pom Wreath how to and a few Valentine touches...

Whenever I return home from traveling, I always come back in nesting mode.  

Sometimes I'm still unpacking suitcases while I'm simultaneously 

changing the centerpiece on my dining room table, or rearranging things on my shelves or mantel.

When we got back from last week's trip to Missouri,

I came home ready to add a few Valentine touches around the house.

What I wasn't ready to do was to put away my homemade pom pom wreath that I made before Christmas.

It's one of my most favorite craft projects I've ever done,

and I'm proud that it's every bit as plush and luxurious feeling as Anthropologie's very spendy pom pom wreath.

{To make a Pom Pom wreath-

The secret is to use Lion Brand Woolease Thick and Quick Yarn.

I learned this from my friend, Jill Hinson.

I've seen this yarn at JoAnn's fabric as well as at Walmart.

I bought a pom pom maker and ended up returning it when I found out that making the pom poms 

using the hand method worked better for me.

(Here's a you tube video link on making pom poms using your hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kAsGImDaV0

With the Thick and Quick Yarn I used four fingers and wrapped the yarn around 40x per pom pom.)

It will take about 4 skeins of yarn to make a nice, full, large wreath.

Then I hot glued the pom poms to a wreath form.

I started by gluing a pattern of two pom poms side by side,

then one pom pom centered between the two 

working my way all around the front of the wreath in that pattern.

Then I filled in the outside and inside edges.

This gave the look of the pom poms being randomly placed instead of in rows.}

Anyway, I decided to leave the wreath up and to add some other simple Valentine touches to my mantel, including the simple "I love you a bushel and a peck" banner I made a couple of years ago.

Next,  I traded my crocks of winter branches and pinecones for the boxwood topiaries,

and hung some galvanized hearts from the branch above the mirrored window and I was done.

Simple and easy!

 Are you starting to think about Valentine's Day yet?

still following,

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

Also linking to All Things Heart and Home