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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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Carved Styrofoam Holly Wreath

December 16, 2013 2 Comments

Carved Styrofoam Holly Wreath DIY at Hands Occupied

I’m so excited to be teaming up with a most excellent group of creative women from all over the world today to bring you EIGHT different wreath ideas for your Christmas home decor. We all got together and decided it would be fun to pick a theme and see what 8 different people crafting on a similar theme came up with. The results are super awesome.

My little wreath was really fun to bring to life and really pushed me creatively. Instead of thinking about how to construct a wreath working from a styrofoam ring base outwards, I decided to turn it upside down and work from the styrofoam ring base inwards. My first couple attempts at this concept were a total fail (one notable iteration of this project ended up looking like a ring of crab meat carved into a weird serving tray – picture a wreath form with a red outside and white insides, just like crab meat). Then, I started realizing that a subtler concept was not only going to work, but I think it turned out kind of elegant. I hope you do too! An as an added bonus, this can be whipped up pretty easily, which is great since Christmas is in nine days. Ack!

Want to see seven other amazing wreath DIYs from some of my favorite bloggers? Check out my friends at the Quarterly Collab!

Quarterly Collab: DIY is better together

Supplies

styrofoam wreath form
red & white straight pins
green acrylic paint
paint brush
styrofoam carving tool
twine (optional, for hanging)

Directions

Begin by painting your wreath form green with styrofoam-safe paint. Let dry completely.

Then, heat up your styrofoam carving tool and use the tip to cut holly leaf designs all over the front of your painted styrofoam wreath. The carving tool cuts (melts really) away the painted outside of the wreath, revealing the white styrofoam inside the wreath.

Carved Styrofoam Holly Wreath DIY at Hands Occupied

For tips on using the styrofoam cutting tool, which was provided to me by FloraCraft, you can check out this post.

Next, poke clusters of straight pins into your wreath where the leaf designs meet up. I used a combo of red and white pins, even though I’m not sure holly comes with white berries, for some variety.

Carved Styrofoam Holly Wreath DIY at Hands Occupied

To hang my wreath, I used a magnetic hook and some twine. You can hang wreaths more subtly than this, but I liked incorporating the natural look of the twine with the obviously not natural painted styrofoam.

Carved Styrofoam Holly Wreath DIY at Hands Occupied

This wreath is super fun & easy and adds a nice, bright pop of color to my super beige apartment hallway. You could definitely do more to add to this wreath idea too. I’m thinking about making a couple of needle felted woodland critters to perch on mine. What would you add to make this your own?

Carved Styrofoam Holly Wreath DIY at Hands Occupied

Don’t forget – 7 of my DIY blogger friends have some more gorgeous and creative wreath ideas for you today! Check them out at the Quarterly Collab!

Filed Under: Christmas, How-to Tagged With: carved, christmas, crafts, diy, holiday, holly wreath, quarterly collab, styrofoam, wreath, wreath diy

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. Rachel | 52 Weeks Project

    December 16, 2013 at 2:01 am

    This is beautiful Heidi! Part of me is still very interested in the crab meat wreath…

    Reply
    • Heidi

      December 16, 2013 at 8:11 am

      Here’s the photographic evidence, LOL: https://handsoccupied.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/crabwreath.jpg

      Maybe if it were another color or I painted the inside? I might have to play with my crabtastic serving tray, I mean “wreath”, to make it look better. :)

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer helping makers untangle various techniques with a blog & YouTube channel
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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts
Stitching around the Christmas tree 🧶 . Working Stitching around the Christmas tree 🧶
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Happy with how the mini Nightmare Before Christmas Happy with how the mini Nightmare Before Christmas sweater vest turned out! Now my dog and I can go on walks in matching seasonal fits 😂
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1. I knit this bottom up with scraps and ran out of black yarn. If the vest consistently drifts down her chest upon wear, I might extend the collar or redo the chest panel at a smaller size. If you’ve read this far, what do you think? As a designer, I so rarely get to improvise a knitting project, and I’m having fun working with fewer rules than usual. 🧶
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2. June has a grooming appointment this weekend. She’s currently the mayor of scruff town, I know. 🫡
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Pattern: Chart is from the Spiral Hill Sweater Vest pattern by yours truly in the official Nightmare Before Christmas knitting book 
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I finished June’s doggie version of the Spiral H I finished June’s doggie version of the Spiral Hill Sweater Vest & it’s so cute! 🥰
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Squeezing in some stitching on a selfish sweater t Squeezing in some stitching on a selfish sweater this Saturday morning 😋
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