Tea Wreath Tutorial

This awesome Tea Wreath gift idea is brought to you by Kirstin of Kojo Designs.

Hello there Sawdust and Paper Scraps friends! I am Kirstin, half of the sister team that blogs over at kojodesigns and I am loving this Handmade Christmas Series. We love Sandra (she’s our power tool inspiration) and I’m just thrilled to be over here today!

Tea Wreath Tutorial

Today’s Handmade Gift is for the tea lovers out there. This Tea Wreath, which I like to refer to as a “little circle of goodness,” allows house guests to easily see each kind of tea on hand. Plus, it’s just pretty. Function + Form = My Favorite Kind of Present!

To make a Tea Wreath with pom pom trim, you’ll need:
-two pieces of 12x12ish cardboard (I used the back covers to two scrapbook paper packs)
-patterned paper that compliments your kitchen decor (one whole piece and some coordinating scraps)
-clothes pins (I used sixteen)
-hot glue
-pom pom trim (about a yard)
-ribbon for hanging

1. Hot glue your two pieces of cardboard together (this is to give your base a little bulk since it’ll be holding a bunch of clothespins eventually).  Cut the doubled up cardboard into a generally wreath-like shape (a circle, or if you’re adventurous, a square).  Make sure the ‘wreath’ part is about as thick as a clothespin.

2. Cover your circle with patterned paper.  I traced my ‘wreath’ onto the back side of the patterned paper and then cut outside of my lines by about half an inch to give myself gluing margin.  I then notched the margin up to my tracing lines and glued the little tabs around the outside and inside circles.  I’m sure there are other ways to cover a cardboard circle- that’s just what I did.

3. Add pom pom trim around the outer and inner edges. Secure with hot glue.

4. Cover your clothespins with patterned paper.  I just cut long strips of paper about the width of the clothespin, hot glued the long strip on, and trimmed the ends.

5. Start hot gluing your clothespins to your wreath.  Continue until the whole wreath is covered in evenly spaced clothespins.  Make sure that the ‘mouth’ of the clothespin faces the outside of the wreath (otherwise you’ll have a whole jumble of tea bags in the center of the wreath and people won’t be able to see which kinds you have).

Add tea and a ribbon (for hanging) and your Handmade Tea Wreath is ready to be wrapped up in a brown paper package, tied up with string, and given to that Tea Lover on your list!

Thanks again for having us Sandra. And happy Christmas in July! Come on by kojodesigns anytime and say hi.