Fourth of July Star Wreath

Here is a fun and easy wreath that you can make to help decorate your home for the Fourth of July. This wreath works best for indoor decorating, since it is made from paper, chipboard and cardboard, but you could still use it outdoors in a protected area or for temporary display.

What you need

Heavy piece of cardboard (dimensions determined by the desired finish size of the wreath)
Several sheets of plain cardstock weight scrapbook paper in solid red, white and blue shades
Several sheets of patterned cardstock weight scrapbook paper in red, white and blue shades (stars and stripes patterns are especially nice)
Several sheets of chipboard or heavy cardboard
Craft glue
Glitter
Red, white and blue ribbon
Strong scissors
White tempera paint
Paintbrush
Star-shaped patterns for tracing in various sizes

Instructions

It can be a lot of fun to decorate your home for the Fourth of July. Wreaths always add such a nice touch, whether you put them on the front door, on the wall over the fireplace, or anywhere else in your home.

Step 1. From the sheet of heavy cardboard, cut a circle the desired size of your finished wreath. Using a container lid makes a good pattern. Then, draw another circle inside and cut out, so that you have a cardboard wreath shape that is about an inch and a half wide.

Step 2.  Paint the wreath shape with white tempera paint on the front and let dry.

Step 3. Meanwhile, trace star shapes of various sizes onto the chipboard or heavy cardboard sheets, and cut out. You will need enough to cover the front of the wreath.

Step 4. Using one star, trace it onto the back of one of the pieces of scrapbook paper. Cut the star shape out of the paper, and use the craft glue to adhere the paper to the cardboard. Repeat for all the stars.

Step 5. Arrange the stars in a pleasing fashion around the cardboard circle wreath. Don’t glue them down until you get an arrangement that you like. Try to cover as much of the painted wreath base as possible so that your wreath has many stars. The thicker and larger your wreath is, the more stars you will need to use. Be sure to alternate the colors of the stars so that there is a nice arrangement of colors. This method looks more attractive than having several stars of the same color too close together. Also, alternate stars made from the solid colors and patterned paper in an interesting way.

Step 6. Glue all the stars to the wreath, and let dry.

Step 7. Use glitter and ribbon to decorate the wreath. Glue a loop of ribbon to the back of the wreath as a hanger.

Step 8. Because this wreath is made of paper and cardboard, it is best to display it indoors or in a protected area outdoors (such as on a door under a porch or awning).

Step 9. This wreath also works well as a centerpiece. Lay the wreath flat on the table. Then, arrange several candles in the center of the wreath.

Jessica Ackerman of WallDecorandHomeAccents.com is an interior designer who illustrates how simple it can be to use wall decor and scroll wall grille.