Inside: A tutorial on how to make a yarn wreath made from scraps that you’ll want to hang on your front door.

One American tradition I have discovered since blogging is that you guys have a wreath for every holiday. After a bit of Pinterest browsing, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found a wreath for every day of the year.

In the UK, wreaths tend to be just for Christmas. It’s rare to see a door wreath any other time of the year. I’m bucking that trend. I believe wreaths aren’t just for Christmas. I make both fall and spring wreaths for my front door every year.

Last year I made a natural egg wreath for Easter; the year before, I made a Marimekko spring wreath. This time I’ve delved into my scraps pile and have made a yarn wreath with a scrap fabric birdhouse.

As with most of my adult crafting, I prefer to use my existing resources. I try to avoid going to the craft shop as much as possible. For example, my denim wreath with felt flowers was made from repurposed fabrics I already have.

Using Repurposed Materials For A Yarn Wreath

I used the stash of wool and fabric scraps from other projects for this DIY yarn wreath. I have a good friend that is a punch needler. Every so often, she passes me her bag of yarn offcuts. She knows I’ll do something fun with them, like one of these cool adult yarn crafts.

I use these scraps to make decorative tassels or colourful pompom flowers. This time, I made a colourful spring wreath. The mini birdhouse on the wreath was made with fabric scraps and cardboard packaging.

So this is a very affordable DIY yarn wreath to make and is very simple. Even the birdhouse is a lot easier to make than it looks.

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What You Need

• Scraps of yarn of any length will do, from 20cm to 2 meters. Use a variety of colours in spring hues. If you have any knitter or crochet friends, ask them if they have any ends of yarn balls you can use.
• Polystyrene wreath
• Scrap fabric – This is for the birdhouse. Use material that complements the colour of the yarn, then that’s good. You only need a minimal amount of fabric. Old printed shirts and blouses are good to use. Small printed patterns work best.
• Thin batting and wadding -To pad out the birdhouses. You can make them without the wadding, but they do look better, slightly padded.
• Cardboard – Use some old Amazon packaging.
• Embroidery needle and thread
• Decorative clip-on bird
• Glue

How To Make A Yarn Wreath

Step 1: First, wrap the yarn scraps around the polystyrene wreath ring. Start by tying the yarn in a loop around the ring, then wrap it around. Secure the end of the yarn by tucking it under the wrapped yarn loops.

Add one colour of wool at a time. Carry on until the whole wreath is covered. I like to use yarn scraps of different lengths. This is so that I end up with a striped yarn wreath with stripes of colour in different thicknesses.

How To Make The Fabric Birdhouse

I made a cute mini fabric birdhouse to decorate this wreath. I’ve made large fabric birdhouses to decorate the walls in my house before, and these mini ones were made in the same way but on a smaller scale.

Check out the original fabric birdhouse tutorial for more comprehensive instructions.

Step 1: First, download the template pattern for the birdhouse here and print it out.

Step 2: Use the template above to cut out the cardboard pieces for the birdhouse. You should have seven pieces in total. Make a round hole in the front panel of the birdhouse.

Step 3: Glue wadding to the birdhouse’s front, back, sides, and roof.

Step 4: Next, allowing for a 1cm margin, cut out a scrap of fabric for each template piece. Wrap the fabric around the cardboard template. Glue it in place on the back of the cardboard.

I used fabric in three different patterns—one for the front and back of the birdhouse and another for the roof. The third patterned fabric was for the sides, top and bottom.

Step 5: Next, use embroidery thread to stitch the birdhouse together. Start by hand sewing the front of the birdhouse to the sides. Then stitch the back to the sides to form a simple box shape, hand stitch to join the pieces.

Next, pop the top and bottom pieces into the house. They should fit snuggly. Don’t forget to stitch around the hole in the front of the birdhouse.

Step 6: Finish off the birdhouse by adding the roof. First, make the roof pitched by bending it in the middle. Then, glue it to the top of the birdhouse. Use pins to keep the roof in place as the glue dries.

Finishing off The Spring Wreath

All that is left is to add this cute fabric birdhouse to the handmade yarn wreath. The wreath is made from polystyrene, so attaching the house using some long pins is easy. Stick the pins into the back of the birdhouse through to the wreath ring.

The bird on the top of the wreath was added using pins. I used pins instead of glue, which made it easy to change the decoration on this yarn wreath when I fancied something different.

The Orla Kiely fabric used for the birdhouse and the colours of yarn used for this wreath make it a mid-century craft.

If you liked this simple tutorial on how to make a yarn wreath, then you should check out my equally colourful felted acorn wreath.

I’ve used the polystyrene wreath ring to make a map leaf wreath for fall.

You can see more spring crafts here.