So, about two months ago my friend Katy messaged me with a picture of something she wanted to make.  Something along these lines...

 
But, Katy didn't know how to move forward.  In fact, she wasn't quite sure what this was made of.  I spotted that deco mesh in a heart beat.  And, but of course--simply throw in a 50% off cross from Hobby Lobby.  I wish I could craft with Katy, but she lives too far away.  Deep sigh.

So, a few weeks later, when my friend Lauren asked me to help her pick out wreath supplies at our nearby HobLob, I jumped at the chance.  Try as I might, I couldn't resist the temptation to grab what I needed to make my own deco mesh.   I blame it all on Katy, of course.  

Last weekend, our  Fugitive Lock-In 2K13 included some deco mesh wreath making!  Many thanks to Terri--the decomesh wreath queen--who taught Lauren and I all the tricks of her greatness.  
  
Here are my results:



I know you can't resist!  C'mon!  They look so cute.  (Even if my blogger account keeps moving my pictures to their side).   This burlap and zebra wreath cost me $26 total.  Not too bad.  The cross was $10 with the half-off sale.  If you wanted to omit that piece--even more of a bargain.

SUPPLIES:
--3 rolls of these 15 feet burlap ribbon (disclaimer:  they are actually NOT technically deco mesh)
 

--A wire wreath form:  I chose the middle one 
 


--1 roll of Zebra wired edge ribbon


--1 roll of this wire or jewelry wire
 
--Cross of your choice (optional)

--Scissors

--1 roll of  1" black grosgrain ribbon

INSTRUCTIONS:
1.  Take the roll of burlap and at the end, smoosh the sides together.  Secure them tightly with a small length of wire.  You will adhere this end to the outside ring of the wire form.  

P.S.  You may wish to cut a pile of wire lengths to use for your wreath, rather than cutting a length as you go.  These should be about 4-5 inches.  You could use pipe cleaners instead?

2.  Form a big poof/loop and then secure that poof to the wire form with a short length of wire.   For the outside row, you will be making 4 poofs per section on the wire form.  Continue until you've gone all the way around the wire form.

Here is an excellent tutorial I found that shows this "poofing and tying them down with wire" process more clearly!  It's sorta hard to articulate, and rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd bum off someone else's tutorial.

3.  You will repeat this same process on one of the middle rings of the wire form.  Use your zebra ribbon for this middle row of ribbon.  For this row, you will only do 3 poofs per wire section.

4.  Again, repeat the process on the inside ring of the wire form, this time using your burlap ribbon for the inside row.  This row also uses 3 poof per section of the wire form.

5.  I decided I wanted a little extra something to my wreath.  So, I dug up some black grosgain ribbon from my craft room.  I cut 7-8" lengths of ribbon, folded them in half, and tied them in knot in between every 3rd poof on the outside row.   Yes, it is a bit tedious to dig in between all that ribbon, but I liked the end result. 
 
6.  I found the best way to secure the cross to the wreath was to take some wire and use it to wrap the hanging bracket on the back of the cross to the wire form.  Wrap it around the bracket and wire form several times.

Listen, I hope this makes sense?  Some crafts, I've found, are a bit trickier to demonstrate through a blog.  And, truly, I wish I could have you all over for a crafty party and we'd whip some up together.  Minus the threat of an escaped fugitive that causes you to lock yourselves into one home, that is.  

There are lots of great video tutorials for decomesh wreaths, as well.  If you are a bit unclear, look 'em up!  I am too impatient myself to sit and watch a video, which is why I linked you to a picture tutorial.  But, please, press on and look up more instructions because these wreaths are so fun and so pretty hanging on your door.   Happy crafting, bloggy friends!  You can do it!