Easy, DIY Fall Plaid Wreath

Last year I saw a plaid wreath in a magazine which I thought would be perfect for our next fall mantel - plaid and cool weather just seem to go hand-in-hand, and though I haven't really used it much in the past, I love the look.

With some plaid fabric left over from making these scarves, which was neutral enough to go with our white and green pumpkins, I created this easy, diy fall plaid wreath that looks similar to that inspiration picture, and I love it how it turned out. I ended up having enough for this wreath plus a couple of matching pillows, adding a nice, warm, fall look to our living room.

It's basically a rag wreath - nothing difficult, but the wreath I saw in the magazine was being sold for $40. These are the kind of DIY projects I love! I reused a metal wreath hoop from a past holiday live-greenery wreath and 1 yard of plaid fabric which you can buy for about $6. And since I was actually using up fabric left over from a previous project, this cost me nothing- and you all know how much that makes me happy.

I'm pretty sure most of you could figure out how to make this, but I'll make it even easier by giving you dimensions and measurements - then all you need to do is find your fabric, some sort of hoop and get busy tearing and tying!

How to make an easy, DIY plaid wreath

1. Gather your materials: a 14" metal wreath hoop (or an embroidery hoop - you can size it down or up, just remember to adjust your fabric amount if you do), 1 yard cotton plaid fabric (mine is a brushed flannel that adds a nice texture and heft),  and scissors.
2. Cut 1-1/2 inch sections at the selvedge edge (the factory edge), and then tear strips the length of the fabric. You can cut all the strips, but most cotton plaid will tear straight and it goes a lot faster than cutting, plus adds the frayed edges.
3. Cut the long strips into two different lengths, about 5-inch and 8-inch - it helps to give the wreath fullness. To decrease waste, fold the long strips and use whatever lengths you get without waste (for example, when I folded one of my 23" strips in half and then half again and cut the ends, they were about 5 inches. To get the longer length, I folded in thirds).
4. Tie the small strips onto the hoop, alternating the short and long lengths. Tie as tightly as possible and push them all together along the hoop. The goal is fullness.
5. Finish tying the lengths and then add a hanger - either a piece of the fabric, a jute twine or a ribbon.

And that's it - couldn't be easier, right? It did take a couple hours, which actually surprised me, but I listened to an audiobook while I cut and tied so the time passed quickly. It would also be easy to do while watching television, especially if you got all your lengths cut and just needed to do the tying.

I think a wreath like this would make a great gift for people, too - you could personalize it to go with their decor, which would be pretty awesome - and a great way to use any leftover fabric! That's a win-win.

And guess what? I'm joining with a large group of bloggers through Hometalk to bring you more new fall projects I just know you're gonna love!!

Visit the other blogger's projects linked below OR click this link -> #homeforfall to see all at once on Hometalk, and let me know if you were inspired to create something for fall for your own home! (Don't know about Hometalk? You'll love it - so many inspiring DIY, crafts and projects there! See my Hometalk posts here.)