Creating a Christmas Wreath Using a Dried Flower Hoop
Creating a Festive Wreath with Foraged Materials and Tulle
In the world of DIY crafts, Olga Prinku's flowers-on-tulle technique has gained a significant following. This unique approach combines the soft texture of tulle with natural floral elements, creating an elegant, organic-feeling festive wreath.
To create your own flowers-on-tulle festive wreath, gather foraged materials and supplies. Collect small flowers, leaves, twigs, and other natural elements from your surroundings. Prepare a wreath base, such as a wire or grapevine wreath. Obtain strips of tulle fabric, cut into roughly 8cm wide by 20cm long strips as a starting point. Have micro tweezers ready for precise handling of small floral elements.
Prepare the tulle base by cutting it into strips and tightly weaving or tying them around the wreath base. This forms the "background" for your flowers.
Using micro tweezers, delicately pick up and position small foraged flowers and leaves onto the tulle wreath. Fix them securely with fine thread or a hot glue gun, ensuring the attachment is secure but doesn't damage the delicate materials or tulle. Position flowers evenly or clustered based on your design preference for a balanced and festive look.
Once all flowers are attached, gently fluff the tulle for volume and shape. Use tweezers to adjust any petals or leaves for neatness and detail. For added texture and dimension, consider creating small tulle flower shapes (pom-poms or simple gathered flowers) beforehand and combining them with your natural foraged flowers.
Choose a color palette that complements your natural materials and the festive occasion. Handle delicate flowers gently with micro tweezers to avoid crushing or damage.
Olga Prinku's book titled "Dried Flower Embroidery" provides more inspiration for creating hoop artworks. Her unique flowers-on-tulle technique was inadvertently invented while making a festive wreath. Miniature rosehips, coniferous Thuja, Leyland cypress, yew, white petals of everlasting flowers, and ivy are some materials that can be used in Olga Prinku's hoop creations.
Dried flowers mentioned in the article can be found at driedandfloral.com, where Olga Prinku's DIY hoop kits are also available. For drying foraged materials, they can be hung upside down, left to dry in vases, or placed in boxes of silica granules.
When foraging for botanical specimens, it's important to leave some for the birds. The large hoop's screws are tightened after the small hoop's screws to make the tulle taut. Olga Prinku's festive wreath hoop is large enough to be hung on a door or window. Her craft has expanded to include a range of beautiful designs, and the embroidery process combines weaving and glueing to create a varied naturalistic effect.
In winter, Olga Prinku's palette is dominated by the white of snow, reds, and dark greens. The tulle is secured in the centre with a 15cm embroidery hoop, and to create a hoop artwork, 40cm of tulle is stretched onto a 30cm embroidery hoop. The technique involves embroidering with delicate branches of miniature rosehips, foraged conifer foliage, and highlights of white flowers.
- To achieve an organic-feeling festive wreath, consider incorporating plants and flowers into your design, as demonstrated by Olga Prinku's unique flowers-on-tulle technique.
- To gather necessary materials, seek small flowers, leaves, twigs, and other botanical elements from your surroundings for a touch of nature in your home-and-garden lifestyle.
- Outdoor-living spaces can benefit from the beauty of gardens, as well, with Olga Prinku's craft expanding to include various designs that complement the natural world.
- To emulate Olga Prinku's festive wreath, select a color palette inspired by the world of nature, such as the snow, reds, and dark greens often found in winter gardens.
