Mini Beaded Wreath for Xmas Tree - Tutorial

I've made another little decoration for my Xmas tree!  (yes, I know what time of year it is, hehe)  I love how it turned out, it's so cute! :D  It was actually inspired by THIS beautiful beaded wreath that I found on Brittany's blog, Sew In Love.

What made me try out this little creation is Crystal's Craft Spot Crafting With Crystal challenge! The inspiration for this month's challenge is this:

Remember my Totally Handmade Christmas Tree Decorations Pledge?  Well, this is part of it, and I'm starting early because there are a few things that I want to make throughout the year!

Grab my pledge badge in my side bar if you wanna join me! :D

I've decided to make a tutorial out of this one, so here goes:
What you'll need is this:

*gold beading wire
*3 colours size 11 seed beads
*beading pliers to help with twisting the wires (optional)
*beading wire cutters
*fabric ribbon
*craft glue (optional)


I started off with gold beading wire, and looped it 5 times around 3 fingers:

The ends should overlap a little:

And then twist them together:

 

Then bend it over and twist it around the circle to secure it:

(I added a loop ring at first because I had other ideas of how to make it dangly, but then I got another idea and just left it - so ignore that loop ring you see there!)

I then cut 3 strands of wire (each about 45cm long) and twisted them together at one end to secure them:

Then with the free ends, start stringing on the beads (1 colour per strand):

Once I strung on all the beads on a strand (I strung on about 30cm of beads per strand - it could have gone a bit more to give a fuller wreath at the end), I added prestik to keep the beads from falling off - I didn't want to ruin the wire by bending it...but do whatever suits you best - as it turns out, using prestik ain't such a good idea.

Once you've stringed on all the beads, start plaiting them together as you would an ordinary 3 strand hair plait:

Then take the twisted piece that you made before you strung on the beads, and wind that around the top (the part where you twisted together the end of the wires in the beginning and wound them around the wreath) of the wreath to secure it.  I used my pliars here because I wanted it to be properly secured.  Then you just carry on winding the bead plait around the wreath until you get to the end:

This is where I found out that using prestik wasn't the greatest idea:

Anyway, once I got most of the prestik off, I twisted the wires together at the end to secure the beads, and cut off the extra beading wire:

And then wound the twisted piece around the wreath to fasten it:

To decorate the wreath, I used green ribbon to make a teeny little bow.  You'll also need another piece of ribbon to make the dangly part:

I took the piece of ribbon and tied it around the wreath to my desired length, and cut off the extra ribbon:

I added some craft glue to the insde of the ribbon to help it stay in place so that it doesn't move around.  I glued it over the part where the beading wire ends were wrapped around the wreath, to cover all that up:

It had to dry in the hanging position so that the glue would have contact the whole time, so I constructed this in my pencil holder out of rulers and a paint brush to hang my wreath on (hehe):

And then I glued on the little bow!

If you decide to try it out, remember to send me a link of your project, I'd love to see it! :D

LINKY PARTIES linked to:

All Things Heart & Home                 Blue Cricket Design
The Little Birdie Blog                       Someday Crafts
The Trendy Treehouse                      Fireflies & Jellybeans
The Shabby Chic Cottage                 Beyond The Picket Fence
Truly Lovely                                     It's a Hodgepodge Life
I Heart Nap Time                             Under the Table & Dreaming 
A Vision to Remember                      Saturday Mornings
Just a Girl                                          Fingerprints on the Fridge 
A Few of My Favorite Things            The Shabby Nest
Making the World Cuter                    Hope Studios

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Crafting With Crystal                                            .