H Marks the Spot

We've reached the end of the wreath-building marathon! It was a close one, but I think I came out on top.

Here's a look at the final wreath - made for Tom's aunt Bev.

This monogram was almost the death of me. Do you know how many times I painted it? No? Well I'm going to tell you. 6 times. SIX.TIMES.

The letter started out from the store a plain black.

I gave it a thin coat of spray primer and then painted it green (like the house numbers on the first wreath). But I was planning on using green flowers, so I thought, too much green. I decided I'd rather have it yellow, so I sanded the green off and painted it by hand.

But it still wasn't quite right. On to navy blue. Two coats of spray sealer. But no, the blue was too dark.  I went back to yellow. But not the same yellow as before - oh no - this time a pale yellow spray paint. So another coat of primer and then the paint. Whew!

After all that I sanded down the edges to give it a worn look. The extra layers of paint were a bonus because different colours show through depending on how hard I sanded.

Prior to painting (the green coat) I wrapped the crosspiece of the H with twine vertically. I wouldn't suggest wrapping before painting, but when I started I wasn't planning on painting it at all. This means I had to cover the twine each time I sprayed it. Once it was all painted, dried, and sanded, I wrapped the center two-thirds of the letter in more twine, but going in a horizontal direction this time.

I glued the letter directly to the wreath. I had originally planned to hang it from the center (like this wreath), hence the two holes at the top, but because of the size of the letter I think it's more secure this way.

I then just played around with the flowers I had on hand until I found an arrangement I liked. Once they were in place I glued each down. I have some grosgrain ribbon with green, red & yellow in it, so I wound it through the back of the wreath to give it a hanger.

How about a recap of the wreaths I made? (click on each picture to go to the post)

And if you're interested, the wreath that started it all.

Do you have a favourite? Mine is still the layered picture frame wreath. 

Now it's time to get a wreath on my own door! 

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I'm linking up here this week!