White wreath

There are a few things that mean Christmas to me, and a wreath is at the top, right under the tree of course.

I have tried my hand at some wreaths in the past, but this one just struck me when i had finished painting the white trees I was making.

A big fan of the paper straws, they can inspire a lot of creative projects. All you have to do is find some old magazines, take a few pages that strike your fancy (I have stuck to whites) and roll them into straws. You start from one of the corners and using your thumb and forefinger just roll smoothly across, making sure you keep it tight. Use the last corner to seal your straw.

For this project you'll need:

A bunch of paper straws (depends on how dense you want your wreath)

Some paint (I used white), you can also choose to keep the original paper colours

Glue

Round piece of cardboard

Tissue papers

Bread wire

Paintbrush

A sharp object to piece the cardboard

Beads or spangles to decorate

Paint the paper straws the colour of your choice and leave them to dry. I used fabric colour, it's thicker, gives a matte finish and does not add to the weight too much. Perfect for my low maintenance attempt.

While the  paint  dries, you can craft the next element - the tissue pompom. Layer up at least 4 sheets of tissue paper of your choice. Keep the printed side up. I've used a combination of plain white and red striped ones, to add a dash of holiday cheer.

Now fold the sheets gently into an accordion (like a fan). Make sure the sheets are sharply creased before you move onto the next fold. Once done, take the bread wire and wrap it around the center and twist the wire at the end to hold the fan in place.

Begin giving your pom pom shape by gently opening folded shape up until it resembles a bowtie.

Until you get all the petals gently up to look like a pompom.