Hanging Wreath

Use old jewellery for this Hanging Wreath

Penelope Quinn gives unloved gems and tea cups a new lease of life with her charming hanging wreath project

What little girl wouldn’t love to have this whimsical hanging wreath in her bedroom? We love upcycled craft projects and Penelope Quinn is the queen of reusing materials in new and inventive ways. This hanging wreath, decorated with delicate silk flowers, costume jewellery and a tea cup, is no exception. “If you don’t have any jewellery to use, ask friends or visit your local bargain or charity shop – sometimes you can get lucky and buy a bag of broken jewellery at a low cost,” she says. Hanging wreath

Kit List

Embroidery hoops: 25cm diameter, 20cm diameter

Ribbon: 1-2cm wide, white, gold, 2m each Cord, white or gold, 5m Key ring

Silk flowers Second-hand costume jewellery Hot glue gun Tea cup or pot Bead fairy lights Pliers Wire 1 Wrap white ribbon around the large embroidery hoop, and gold around the small hoop. Secur e with hot glue. 2 Cut five lengths of cord 1m long.

Tie all lengths together around the key ring. Measure and mark 30cm down from the knot, and tie each strand around the large hoop, ensuring they are spaced evenly. 3 Once the hoop is sitting straight, mark 8cm down from each knot. Tie the smaller hoop here. 4 Decorate the large hoop with silk flowers and the small hoop with old jewellery using a hot glue gun to fix in place. Broken earrings, necklac es, brooches, buttons and costume pieces all work. 5 Measure 20cm down and tie the strands together in a knot, ensuring they are even. Ba lance a tea cup or pot inside and secure with a small amount of hot glue. Wrap bead lights around the bottom hoo p to finish. Try this instead

“If you don’t like the idea of hanging crockery, then swap out the teacup for feathers. Wrap a piece of doubled-sided tape around the base of the feather, and wrap a gold string around so the feather hangs down. Either trim the excess string, or leave it as it is. Repeat for each of the five strings” PENELOPE QUINN, DESIGNER

SKILL LEVEL 33

Fab Stash Buster

Helping HAND X To avoid tangles, hang

the wreath on something as you work.

X Use cord or ribbon that

can easily be unknotted, as it might take a few tries to get your wreath balanced.

X If you are finding it hard

to balance your hoops, try tying the first string on with a double knot as a guide, then tie the rest in single knots that can be adjusted until you get it perfect.

X If you are concerned

about your teacup falling out, simply tie all the strings together about 20cm down from the smaller hoop, leave 10cm and tie another knot. Place your teacup inside; it should feel snug and safe. If not, tie your second knot a bit higher up.