Gothic Halloween Wreath!

Ok everyone!! I am soooo excited to share my new Halloween Wreath with you!

This year I’m going for a Gothic Halloween kind of vibe – and I shared my Halloween pennant for my mantel last week.
I have this giant mirror over my mantel and I wanted a fun wreath to hang in the center – and match the Gothic/Spooky look of the pennant.

I think it’s just the right amount of creepy and Gothic!

Isn’t my cameo fun? It’s a scary little skeleton! With curly hair. Of course.
I had seen some skeleton silhouettes before – and I knew that would be a fun addition to the wreath – I created this one and I think it’s a great touch!

Ready for a tutorial?

You’ll need:

Foam wreath form
Black fabric – about 1/2 yard
Lace and trims
White satin – about 1/4 yard
Buttons
Small Frame for Cameo (Mine came from Michaels)
Cameo image – click here to download

Begin by cutting your black fabric into strips, about 4″ each.
Knot the end of one long strip around the wreath form, gluing the short end onto the back.

Loop the fabric around back to front and pass the long strip through the loop in the middle to make another knot.

Continue to knot strips around the wreath, covering the entire wreath form.
You don’t want to tie them too tight – the knots should be loose – so they almost look like rosettes.

Glue two rows of lace to the back of the wreath – one white and one black. I think the black lace is 3″ wide and the white is 2 1/2″.

Add a strip of white braided trim on the inside of the wreath, just inside the knots.
I originally glued mine, but it wasn’t laying very nicely so I added some super tiny pins all around to help hold it on.

Make some fabric flowers for the side of your wreath. I like the a combination of rosettes and ruffled flowers – with different fabrics and trims.
You can find a tutorial on the rolled rosettes here. To make a ruffle flower, cut 12 circles out of white satin. The bigger the circles, the bigger your flower will be.

Fold the circles in half, then in half again. Glue the point to a felt circle.

Cover the rest of the circle with one row of folded circles, then add another two or three rows, depending on how full you want your flower.

Add a button to the center and fluff up the circles.

Make more flowers with other fabrics, trims and buttons. Glue the flowers onto the left side of the wreath. Add a fun vintag-y brooch too if you have one.

Print out your Cameo Skeleton. Isn’t she cute? Sorta?

Pop her in a fun scrolly frame. Cut two strips of sheer ribbon and some trim. Glue them to the bottom back of the frame. These will be the tails of your fake bow.

Loop more pieces of the sheer ribbon and pinch them together. Pin them to the right side of the wreath, towards the top.
Add more trim.

Glue the Cameo frame to the wreath so the top of the bow is covered by the top of the frame.

Now we need to age our flowers just a bit. No self respecting Haunted House has a New Wreath in it. ;)

Brew a smallish cup of tea and let the tea bag sit in it for a while. Dip a paint brush into the tea and blot it – you don’t want it dripping wet.
Brush the tea onto the edges of the flowers and lace. This will yellow the satin and fabric and give it that “old wedding dress” look.

It’s a little hard to tell in this picture – but it looks cool. I promise. ;)

Hang your wreath as desired – I used a small knotted loop of ribbon pinned to the back.
That finishes it off!!

I hung it in front of some gray mesh fabric I found at Party City for 99 cents. Score. ;)

I pretty much love my Cameo girl. . .

Isn’t it fun?? I’d love to know what you think!!

The whole Mantel Reveal is coming up in a few days – I can’t wait to show you!
**Update – you can see the Mantel Reveal here!**

I’m linking to Sunday Scoop, Today’s Creative Blog, Met Monday, Skip to my Lou, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday, Quilt Story, and the other fabulous parties on the sidebar – make sure you check them out!