Summery Popsicle Wreath

I love wreaths.  I really, really do.  It makes me so happy to come home to a dressed-up front door.  I had a hankering for a new summery wreath, but wanted something different, so I started thinking about special things that say summer to me.  Flip-flops are cute but I wasn't feeling it.  Flowers - boring.  Butterflies - maybe, but I would need a butterfly punch and I wanted to try to make this from things I all ready had on hand.  I also wanted to use an embroidery hoop as a base rather than buying a new wreath form.  Popsicles?  YES!  We always have craft popsicle sticks around.  I could make them out of felt that I had on hand.  And they would be big enough to cover an embroidery hoop but not too heavy to weigh it down.

Step one was making a pattern for the popsicles.  I folded a piece of card stock in half and trimmed it into a rounded rectangle.

Then I cut out the felt, 2 pieces at a time.  I went with bright, fruity colors - orange, grape, watermelon, mango, lime.  Using a strand of embroidery floss in matching colors, I ran a seam around the sides and top, leaving the bottom open to stuff.

I didn't have batting to stuff them with and give them some dimension, so I filled each with a folded scrap of fleece and it worked nicely.

After stuffing, I inserted a popsicle stick and used it to push the fleece filler up to the top.  Then it was time to seal the bottom with the stick included.  Just another quick seam and done.

The embroidery hoop was wrapped with a colorful strip of fabric.  I didn't fuss about the raw edges - left them as is.

Arranging the popsicles on the hoop was the most challenging part.  I was afraid to commit to gluing until I was sure it was OK.  I ended up overlapping the popsicles slightly, which meant that I had some exposed hoop at the top, but I liked it that way.  I think that if I had filled all the way around, it would have needed some more support to keep the top of the wreath from pulling forward.

Finished with a skinny ribbon bow to hang and voila!  An original, fun, free(!), colorful homage to the cool queen of summertime treats.