Small Snowflake Wreath for HOME Sign
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I love how this one turned out, but boy was it a journey getting here! I’ll share what I did, what I shouldn’t have done, and what I would do differently. We’ll call this part tutorial, part cautionary tale. I do think it has a happy ending. 😉
Here’s how simple this tutorial was supposed to be.
Step 1
Paint the wreath form.
Step 2
While the paint is drying, cut out your snowflakes—either by hand or machine.
Step 3
Glue the snowflakes to the form.
Step 4
Attach Command strip to back and hang it up!
Read on to find out how it really went… and what not to do.
Supplies:
Glitter cardstock
White paint
Tacky glue
Optional:
Cutting machine (like a Silhouette Cameo)
My original intention was to cover the wreath form completely with snowflakes. I painted the wreath form just in case any of it would show through. I chose sheets of blue and white glitter cardstock from a paper pad I’ve had for years, so I was going to layer them and cover the wreath form completely. All you’d see were blue and white sparkly snowflakes.
First of all, I found images of snowflakes online that I traced in Silhouette Studio to cut out. I couldn’t decide which I liked best, so I used 7 that I thought were the prettiest and filled the 12×12 page with them. I figured I’d cut way more than I needed so that even if some of them didn’t cut cleanly or peel off the mat intact, I’d hopefully have plenty for a wreath and maybe some other projects.
This is where I went wrong. The snowflakes I found—while beautiful—were entirely too intricate. I should have chosen something less delicate. The ones that survived the process truly are beautiful, but I would strongly suggest using something more substantial.
Once it came time to cut them out, I had a heck of a time getting the blade to cut all the way through. I still don’t know why my cardstock didn’t cut. I’ve used it before—recently, in fact. (It’s what I cut the word “thankful” out of for my thankful tree.) I suspect I may just need a new blade. I know cutting cardstock is a good way to dull a blade, so I’ve probably done that.
How did I get the snowflakes to finally cut? I gradually increased the blade depth. By default the glitter cardstock setting was already cutting with maximum force, so I didn’t know what else to do. By the time it cut about 10 times and we were finally up to blade level 10, it finally cut all the way through! I don’t know that I have ever been so excited for a successful cut!
Once I finally got the blue snowflakes cut all the way through and had peeled a few of them off of the mat, I decided I was good with blue. I didn’t need to mess with the white cardstock. After hours of listening to my machine cutting, that was a very freeing thought. As it was, I was still hearing the cutting sound in my head when I woke up this morning.
The snowflakes are also so intricate and pretty that I didn’t really want to layer them. Fortunately, I had painted the wreath form white, so it made a nice backdrop for the blue snowflakes. Peeling them off the mat was a challenge, so I peeled off as many as it took to go around the wreath and decided to call it good for the moment. They overlap a little, but I think it looks pretty.
To attach the snowflakes I used my clear gel Tacky glue and brushed it on the back of each flake with a foam brush. It worked well!
Once it was dry, I flipped the wreath over and attached a Command strip (backwards… not that it matters). It is now hanging on my home sign and looking pretty!
Variations:
Consider what else you could make snowflakes out of. Regular cardstock? Felt? Make some paper snowflakes by hand? I briefly considered using resin to make some, since I’d made three with a little bit of UV resin and glitter. I decided that would be too much hassle. Hindsight…
Anyway, what other ideas do you have?
