Saturday, January 21, 2012

Tutorial: Sunkissed Heart Wreath



Lo and I celebrated 15 years of togetherness last Monday. My heart feels like it's been kissed by the sun since I've known him. I dedicate this post, the result, and my very heart to him.

This wreath is inspired by those beautiful string wedding balloon displays, like THIS one, for example.


Tutorial ♥ A Sunkissed Heart Wreath

You will need:

  • 2 long skinny balloons (the type used to make balloon animals)
  • balloon pump (unless you have gorilla lungs)
  • white (PVA) glue
  • water
  • container for glue
  • yarn
  • pair of scissors
  • pin or sharp thing
  • length of ribbon (optional)
  • drop cloth or newspaper

Step 1. Using the pump, blow up the two skinny balloons. Try making them of equal size or as close to it as possible leaving tails a few inches long. Knot them.
Step 2. Gently tie the knotted end to the tail end to create two loopy balloons as shown.
Step 3. Cut up your yarn into several 2-3 ft (60-90 cm) lengths. Pour some glue out into the container. Add a little water to the glue to make it a little runnier than normal. Say 4:1 glue to water.
Step 4. Now to the messy part. One at a time, drop your yarn pieces into the glue, coating them fully and removing any excess dripping glue. Wrap your gluey yarn around a balloon. Continue in this way, wrapping your balloons with gluey yarn, criss-crossing over lower layers and building up a web of yarn around each balloon. Note that in photo 4, my balloons still require more yarn as they would NOT be strong enough to hold the shape if left as shown. However you do not want to fully cover the balloons either. You want the sun to shine through your heart (words of wisdom my friend)... Let these dry overnight on clean glass or plastic. Do not dry it on paper or you'll wind up with gobs of paper permanently attached to your heart. No no.




Step 5. The next day: Prick the balloons with a pin (or sharp thing) and gently pull out the balloon carcasses. It's cool how hard your pieces are, once dry. Now, you want to place your balloons side by side to see if they need to be trimmed or not, and to figure out the best way to join them into a heart shape.


Here's what I did: 

Step 6. I started with the bottom joint. I butted the two ends together as shown. No glue yet.
Step 7. And for the top joint, I cut away half the cylinder (equal in length to the diameter of the cylinder).
Step 8. This made a recess into which the other end fit nicely. Now I checked to be sure that with both sides butted together my heart was actually heart-shaped. I had to trim a little off the bottom of one side so it all looked hunky dory.
Step 9. I then strengthened both joints with several lengths of gluey yarn. Notice the many overlaps. Once dry, these joints are strong like bull. At this point, I also added a few lengths of yarn over the rest of the heart to make it extra robust. Allow your heart to dry out overnight on glass or plastic.


The next morning, find your heart ready to be hung up and admired!

String it up with a ribbon, place it in a window and let the sun beam through it. Just LOVE-ly!...


Happy anniversary Lo. My heart is yours. Let's keep up the good work, okay?

♥M

Oh! And speaking of wreaths, check out my latest project. It's a blog! I call it:



71 comments:

  1. GORGE-OUS!!!!! I'm going to give this a try (as soon as I can round up some balloons) I took a quick peek at The Wreath Blog, looks great! As always, thank you so much for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, Super great idea!!! it is lovely!
    Congrats on your anniversary.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is awesome Michele, How wonderfully you have done it :) cool ~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you so much June, Lisette, Daiga and Khadija for your sweet comments!

      Delete
  4. Crazy! In the best way! And pretty fabulous...only you could construct this idea. I am so impressed with the top joint - precise and wonderful!

    Happy Anniversary to you guys, you sound like such a wonderful, mutually supportive pair of lovebirds.

    The Wreath Blog - brilliant idea, I think it will be a huge huge hit! It's really beautiful...SOMEDAY I might need to come up with a wreath and hope you like it enough to give it a place of honor in your lovely new creation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michelle! I've no doubt that you will someday create some tiny wreath earrings or necklace. And when you do I'll be there!

      Delete
  5. Sigues sorprendiendome cada vez más! Una idea genial, un tutorial maravilloso y un corazón que es todo amor. LOVE LOVE LOVE
    Núria

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations - Happy Anniversary, what a milestone. I have figured out how to browse with google chrome so that I can leave a comment. I absolutely love this idea, fun to do with the kids too - balloons, goo, and string. Beautiful project, and happy anniversary again. (the newspaper shot with Mayor Miller made me smile too!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hee hee, I usually notice those types of things but Mayor Miller slipped by me this time, the sneaky guy!

      Delete
  7. the heart project is special... like you!!!
    Bye Clod

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw thank you Clod, that's very sweet of you to say!

      Delete
  8. happy anniversary... such a beautiful project to celebrate... ... and you know what.. .the next 15 will be even more fun!!
    Hugz

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow - that looks awesome. I will admire from afar because I know myself well enough to know that my own version would....not look like this. At all. Whatsoever. happy anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is a gorgeous wreath Michele! Congratulations on your anniversary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 15 years went by like a flash... It's crazy!

      Delete
  11. VRaiment très joli coeur ! Votre idée est géniale, merci de nous en faire profiter !
    Isac

    ReplyDelete
  12. C est une très belle idée.Le résultat est plein de charme!

    A bientot!

    Pascale

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merci Pascale et Isac pour ces commentaires encourageants!

      Delete
  13. Very beautiful.
    Thank you.
    Wanilda

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congratulations Michele! A tremendously beautiful project to mark the day!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Michelle. Your wreath is cool (and very pretty)! I have to say that I am amazed it keeps its shape so well after the balloon has been popped. Good old PVA eh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's quite amazing how like a rock it is. I'm pleased with that. :)

      Delete
  16. Just beautiful! I'm off to see your new wreath blog!!


    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  17. And thanks for your kind thoughts, everyone. I am so glad you like my anniversary wreath!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Girl. If I were wearing a hat right now, I'd take it off to you. You're a dang genius, that's what.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Beautiful Michelle! This is certainly going to make the bloggy rounds! :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Michelle, you never cease to amaze me. This is beautiful. We'll have to meet up and craft together someday, maybe I can absorb some of your genius through sheer osmosis.

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a fabulous Michele creation. :) Only you would take balloons, glue, and string and make something incredible.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love that you used skinny balloons to make this, so clever! And the wreath is just lovely. I really like the simplicity of it.

    Happy Anniversary.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You guys are making me feel like a champion today. Thanks so much Diane, Patricia, Melissa, Chris and Jessica!

      Delete
  23. Simple and magnificent! I love this wreath and in red or strong pink it will be a great gift for Valentine day! Thank you for sharing and good luck with your new blog!
    love, xxx Alessandra

    ReplyDelete
  24. Serious?! What a great idea. Blow my mind whydontcha?!

    ReplyDelete
  25. PS I just popped over to the wreath blog and WHOA! Blow my mind again! You go girl!

    ReplyDelete
  26. WOW! Def. gonna try this. ♥ Thanks for the awesome tutorial. :)

    {love}
    Roudi @ c-is-for-craft.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. I wonder if you really appreciate the excellence of your engineering skills! You continue to amaze me.

    I have seen so many "glue and wrap string" crafts, I have grown tired of them. But THIS ! Brilliant! Beautiful! And if i hadn't already made two heart wreaths, I would make this one!

    ReplyDelete
  28. PS! Thanks for the heads up on the Wreath Blog! OMG. Like I need another wreath. But OMG! How can I not be inspired!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I love your heart wreath !!! It's gorgeous!! Congratulations to you and Lo!!!!! You two are so good together!!! Love you both!!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. This is beautiful. I shall definitely have to give it a go! Thanks for sharing it. http://fiddlyfingers.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  31. Beautiful work Michele and congratulations to you and Lo! I love the wreath blog idea. I have a fondness for wreaths as well and haven't made any in quite awhile. I will be looking for inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks for the sweet words everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hello Michele,
    I am getting married in May. I am making yarn balls that look like this. I know this is a bit of a strange request but I was wondering if you would be able to make me two of these hearts with purple yarn for my wedding. I will be willing to pay the shipping, cost of materials, and a some for your troubles. Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kimberly,

      If you email me directly at michelemademe (AT) gmail (DOT) com, then I'd have your email and we could discuss this further.

      Until then, have a great day.

      Michele

      Delete
  34. Well, you'll be happy to know that I audibly GASPED when I saw this. My husband was worried. And all I could say was: "it's so beautifulllllll........"

    ReplyDelete
  35. I'm trying to make your heart right now! I've wrapped the balloons and set them to dry overnight. It's morning, and they aren't quite dry yet, but I made them last night, so I think they need a few more hours. Do you mind if I ask what kind of yarn you used? I used just a cheap acrylic and now I'm a little worried that it won't soak up the glue well enough. Did you use wool or cotton or acrylic or something else?
    Thanks! Robin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Robin,

      Oh, so excited that you're giving this a try! I used some thrifted yarn I had... so it didn't have a label but I'm almost 100% certain there's a good amount of cotton in the yarn. However, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It does take a while to dry completely. And different yarns will probably dry at different rates. So let it do that, and I bet you it will get nice and hard once done. Fingers crossed for you that all goes well!

      Have a great evening Robin. :)

      Delete
  36. Wow, it's great and very beautiful! I like it so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My angel :) http://podelki-doma.ru/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/angeln.gif

      Delete
  37. I like all your works...but this one.....pure poetry.......

    ReplyDelete
  38. Michele, Your words and your art actually made me cry (in a good way. I love all of your work, and my granddaughter is into recycling, and my daughter throws a wonderfull Halloween party every year (spiders), so we will be doing a great many of your wonderful tutes.Happy Anniversary you two love birds.

    ReplyDelete
  39. this is so gorgeous thank you for the tutorial I so want to try this x

    ReplyDelete
  40. AWSM AWSM! Ive done the baloon chandelliers for my sister's baby shower and been wanting to makesomemore and hire out for weddings ....how awsm this variation would be!!! gonna try it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  41. a gorgeous idea! fabulous! fantastic!
    will try asap!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Thanks so much for sharing such a great idea! Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  43. DIY Craft Projects on Facebook is stealing your project, removing your watermark and posting without crediting you.

    Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=671066999580029&set=a.560239393996124.1073741826.560229000663830&type=1

    I thought you might want to know.

    Kim

    ReplyDelete
  44. I can't view the wreaths at the "wreath blog". :(

    ReplyDelete
  45. This s d most beautiful thing I have seen!!!thank you...ur creation s gonna hang in a house in india...(Ie if m successful makin this):) :)

    ReplyDelete
  46. Is Elmer's glue the same thing as PVA glue? When I popped the balloon the yarn did not hold it's shape at all. Wondering what I did wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jay,

      PVA (poly-vinyl acetate) is a strong variety of white glue. I think Elmer's is probably diluted somewhat for kids so I would advise against using it in this project.

      Michele

      Delete
  47. I started on this project yesterday and when I popped the balloons this morning the yarn held the round shape of the balloon, but it was really flimsy, like a slinky. If I put it into the shape it looked fine, but it wouldn't stay in the shape when I moved it.

    ReplyDelete
  48. This is awesome! It would also look pretty if after it were dry, you spray painted it pink or red! :)

    ReplyDelete

I want to know what you think... :)

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...