Lima Bean Wreath

I have always had a strange aversion to wreaths.  I’ve avoided the round lovelies for most of my adult life, normally finding them to be 'a little bit country' for my 'a little bit rock-n-roll' taste. But, late one night while surfing the blogosphere, my wreath ill-will was challenged.  All Things Thrifty was featuring the most amazing and economical wreath made from simple Lima beans and Styrofoam! LOVE.



I made the decision to climb back on the wreath train and take a ride.  $5.99 for the foam ring, $1.39 for the baby Lima beans, and I was on my way.  One certainly cannot argue with the investment! I should have used a 40% off coupon for the wreath at JoAnn's and it would have been even less!  Note to self:  Keep all coupons in my handbag and at the ready!  I can't count how many times I've been out and purchased something I could have gotten almost half off had I been planning ahead.

This project was very easy, anyone old enough to manage a glue gun could attack it with ease.  My only warning would be the amount of time spent gluing!  The first wreath was an investment of about six hours.  I used a diagonal method for placement, and it did get crooked in certain areas, but once complete it looked great.  Crooked is 'artisan' right?

The foam in between the beans is somewhat visible, so I decided to lay on a coat of Krylon Ivory Gloss to even out the color.  Be sure to remove any leftover hot glue strings prior to spray-painting, as they become VERY noticeable once the paint dries.  Small imperfection, definitely not  enough to justify another six hour stint with the glue gun.  I used to coats of paint, but one would have been sufficient.

I've seen versions of this wreath made with nuts, kidney beans, marbles, etc.  I think any hot glue-friendly medium would work nicely!  I love how sleek and modern the Lima beans turned out, one could easily change paint color and/or ribbon color to fit the season.

Now for the bad news, I had to make a second wreath!  Unfortunately, I have double doors, one wasn't going to cut it.  For this wreath, my approach involved a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir, which seemed to speed up the process by at least two hours.  I think the less perfectionistic on this project, the better.

Two wreaths, ten hours of gluing...but time well spent.  I found some cute chocolate-colored grosgrain ribbon that I thought would blend nicely with my front door beautification efforts, and voila!  Done and done.  I think wired ribbon might work better, I'll probably change it out after Thanksgiving and see how that looks.