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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 is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and 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), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the When it’s August & the crew has the day off, the only thing to do is a Knitflix marathon! I hadn’t seen the latest season of Stranger Things and had a TON of knitting to do, so we decided why not make a day of it? For non knitters, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what a dream day looks like for maker types. (Plus or minus a cranky but cute house pet.) 
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What does your dream knitting day look like? 
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Just making this for fun & to see how it feels to distill a yarn day into a short video like this. Big thank you to Jamie & Mariah for being my friends, even though they said “it’s okay if you don’t tag me in this.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 
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Are you looking for some late summer reading picks Are you looking for some late summer reading picks? Here are 3 fresh titles for makers of all ages - full reviews are on my bl0g, along with a giveaway for a copy of Knitstrips! The 🔗 is where you’d think. 😉
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) / Knitstrips by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar (@ik_knitstrips) / This Long Tread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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New on the blog today! This former Librarian revie New on the blog today! This former Librarian reviews three making-related books for kids, teens & adults. And there’s a copy of one up for giveaway too! 📚 
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To Make by Danielle Davis (@writesinla) with pictures by Mags DeRoma (@magsderoma) / Knitstrips (@ik_knitstrips) by Alice Ormsbee Beltran & Karen Kim Mar / This Long Thread by Jen Hewett (@jenhewett) 
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I’ll share preview page-through videos for these this week too, but for now the written reviews are at the top of handsoccupied dot com along with my search bar if you can’t find ‘em. All giveaway details are listed in the review post. 🤙🏻 
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I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitti I think about the wrong side of my intarsia knitting kind of like some embroiderers do: I get (probably too) excited when the back’s neat and tidy. Are you this way? Is it just me? 
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Pictured is the wrong side of a large primary color intarsia swatch I knit for an upcoming design in @brooklyntweed Arbor. When I pulled it from my studio, I thanked my former self for talking the time to knit, weave in ends, & block a clean swatch already. As critical as they are, I’m excited to not have to make one today. I’ll advocate for swatching all day long, but I won’t pretend it’s like the funnest step in the process! 😆🧶
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