DIY Rustic Cotton Boll Wreath

Kathy R
by Kathy R
12 Materials
$20
5 Hours
Easy
I love the look of cotton bolls in home decor. Wreaths are also wonderful for home decor -inside and out. I created this DIY Cotton Boll wreath after seeing a style I liked. If you like this wreath, it does takes some time, but is pretty easy to do yourself. The inspiration wreath is pictured on the left and my DIY wreath on the right
I started by studying what a cotton boll looks like. There are four cotton 'bolls' per pod. I also noted the coloring and shape of the pods. For the inspiration I liked the light, airy look. I didn't have a thin grapevine wreath form, but I figured out how to use the one I had anyway.
The supplies. After I determined how to recreate the wreath, I gathered my supplies. Most of the items you may already have. When listing the price, I calculated the cost as if you didn't have any of the supplies.
I designed the cotton boll pod. The card stock I had wasn't the right color. So, first I traced as many of the templates as I could onto the card stock. I then painted each template first with a chocolate brown down the center and dry brushed a creamy white on the edges. After the paint dried I cut the templates out. Using the dull side of my scissors I curled the pods toward the center with the painted side on the outside. Be very careful, it's easy to tear. The card stock curls pretty easy.
Using dried out branches with all of the side stems cut off except for where I wanted the cotton bolls I then glued each boll to the stem - four or five each. I alternated sides where I placed the bolls.
To recreate the look of the wreath I 'deconstructed the large grapevine wreath I had. I cut off the parts of the vine that wrapped around the wreath to secure it. I then pulled away the outer few branches. When I came full round I cut off any that remained connected to the inner vine. I laid the cotton boll stems round the wreath and attached with natural wire. This helped in securing any looks vines on the wreath.
The empty Pods. I used coffee filters dyed in a combination of tea and curry powder. I didn't mix the two the resulting coloring was varied. After the filters were dried I made petals and created the pods with more stems, floral tape. The tape was bright green. The brown paint I used worked well to blend with the stem.
I placed the pod stems (17 total) around the outer and inner parts of the wreath sticking the stems through the grapevine. I secured these with hot glue. I also painted the dabs of hot glue brown to match the grapevine.
There it is my DIY Cotton Boll Wreath. If you like the inspiration wreath, I found it on antiquefarmhouse.com site. I've provided a step-by-step PDF at the end of the post.
Suggested materials:
  • Cotton balls   (drug, grocery store)
  • Card stock   (craft store (Hobby Lobby))
  • Grapevine wreath   (craft store)
See all materials
Kathy R
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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