Pussy willow heart wreath to make for Spring

Fluffy pussy willow branches are great decorating material. Sometimes I have plenty to play with and this year I had a bumper crop of catkins. You will need about 200 catkins for this project. I reserved the bent or less desireable branches for picking. Pick about 20 catkins and start glueing the first row, then as the glue is drying you can pick more catkins. When I pick the catkins off, I make sure to remove the brown bud cover at the base. I pick them off by squeezing them at the base between my thumb and forefinger.

MATERIALS:

catkins of all sizes
styrofoam wreath base, mine is 5 1/2″ tall
12″ of ribbon
common pin
tacky glue

Apply a layer of glue to the wreath for each row you are working on, and then press the catkins firmly in place. Begin by glueing the catkins along the innermost part of the wreath, in a single row facing the same direction. The tip faces toward the inside point of the heart as shown.

Put a dot of glue at the center of the ribbon and push the pin through the ribbon and all the way into the styrofoam at the top of the heart. Give the glue time to dry before proceeding. If the glue isn’t set up you run the risk of the pussy willows shifting or falling off.

Create a second row, glueing the catkins as close as possible to the first row, staggering them as needed to make them cover the foam base.

Continue glueing rows of catkins until you have completely covered one side of your wreath. Let the glue dry before flipping the wreath over and covering the second side. Use smaller catkins to fill small spaces. When your wreath is completely covered in catkins, set it aside to allow the glue time to completely dry.

I tied the ribbon in a bow, but you can use it to hang up the heart. This looks darling everywhere I put it.

I can see this in baby’s room, the powder room, the entry room door, or the covered porch. As an alternative you could try covering the styrofoam in fabric, and then covering some of the wreath with catkins. Experiment and have fun with this idea.

Celebrating the season ~ Karen