Life as a LEO Wife

Today I made a nautical beach wreath using a grapevine form. That means that today is the blogger A to Z Challenge, letter N.

I found a cute beach wreath on Pottery Barn’s website. It had a white-washed look with seashells. The only problem is that is $108. So, I decided to make my own. I already had the grapevine wreath form, so I was ready to go.

To make your own beach wreath you need:

• grapevine wreath form
• hot glue gun & glue
• navy & robin’s egg blue 1″ satin ribbons
• scissors
• twine
• metal word “home”
• white paint & paint brush
• seashells
• blue glass gems

Paint the form

First you need to paint the wreath. I didn’t want mine solid white, so I dipped my paint brush in the paint, and kind of quickly brushed back and forth on the form. This made the top layer white, but some of the brown showed through slightly. You only need one coat since we aren’t going for a completely painted surface.

Prep the ribbons.

I didn’t have much of my robin’s egg blue ribbon left so I had to cut sections of the ribbon. However, if you have plenty you don’t have to do this. I cut about 8″ sections and placed a dot of hot glue on one end and wound it diagonally down and across the front then glue the other end on the back. If you don’t have to cut, even better. Just wind it around your wreath, allowing about 8″ of space between each part that shows on the front.

Make a plain bow with the navy ribbon, like you’d make when tying your shoes. Make 3″ tails for each side. Glue it at the top, center of the beach wreath. You may like my summer lantern decor where I use the same ribbon and shells.

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Glue embellishments on your beach wreath.

Spread your shells across the wreath to see where you like them all. I used a pack of solid white shells, and a few conch shells from a different pack. Hot glue them where you’d like them. I put two to three in between each wrap of the ribbon.

Next lay out your blue glass gems. Find out how many and where you want to place them. Once you have, put a dot of hot glue on the back, and then hold them on the beach wreath for a few seconds. That will help keep them on the wreath by giving the glue time to dry. Check out this tutorial for using the same glass gems to make a beachy topiary.

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Add the final touches.

Now it’s time to add the navy satin bow you made earlier. You don’t want to have a big bow with tails that are too long. You need to be able to see the word “home” in the middle. Put some hot glue on the back center of the bow. Hold it down on the top of the wreath while the glue dries. Find the tiniest shell you can to add to the middle of the bow. Add hot glue and press it down. You may need a different pack of shells because the Dollar Tree pack I got didn’t have tiny ones.

Finally it’s time to add the galvanized metal word “home” to your beach wreath. It comes with two holes on each end of the word. That’s what you’ll use to hang it in the wreath. Put some twine, yarn, or thin ribbon through each hole. You will use two separate pieces to hang it from.

The side the “H” is on will require a shorter piece of twine than the “m.” Feed the twine up and around one of the wood pieces on the back of the wreath. Look at the front of the wreath, and when the word is where you want it, tie the twine in place. Do the same on the “m” side. When the word is hung evenly, tie off that end as well. If you have any extra twine hanging, cut it off near the knot on the back.

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You’re beach wreath is complete!

It’s time to find the perfect place for your beach wreath. I am hanging mine in the center of my living room gallery wall… I think… It’s just so beautiful. Wish I could hang it up in every room lol!

Below is the Pottery Barn version of the beach wreath, alongside my own. Use the slide bar to compare each version. I like mine better, but I’m a little biased, ha!

This has been letter N of the A to Z Challenge. Stick around and read the other tutorials from the challenge. Most of the posts are DIY summer decor pieces. Come back for the rest of April as I give you a tutorial for each of the 26 letters in the alphabet! I didn’t find out about the challenge until it was time for letter E, but I hope to get to letters A thru D before the end of the month.

When you make your own beach wreath, please post a pic of it in the comments section below, or post it on our social media. Follow me using the buttons below. I’m on Parler, Gab, & MeWe too! If you’d like more great ideas for decorating your home this summer follow me on Pinterest.