DIY Holiday Gift Set Guide: Christmas Door Decor

Living in an apartment, I don't have the luxury (or maybe burden?) of having an entire lawn to decorate for the holidays. However, I do love passing our neighbors' front doors and seeing the festive wreaths and decorations they have adorning them. So I thought I'd get in on the act and make a couple of options to hang from my own door this year to get in the holiday spirit along with some of my neighbors. The tutorial below will include two ways to use a burlap bow for those who love that classic rustic chic look.

Part 1: Burlap Bow

Supplies:

• 1 yard burlap fabric
• Craft scissors (don't wanna ruin your good fabric scissors!)
• Mod Podge
• Brush
• Parchment paper
• Hot glue gun

Difficulty: 

Easy

Time:

2 hours (not including waiting time for mod podge to dry)

LET'S GET STARTED!

1. To cut your burlap, find a thread running through your fabric from selvedge to selvedge and pull it out entirely. This will give you a guide for cutting perfectly on the straight of grain so that your bow doesn't wind up with odd edges. For your bows, you will need to cut out 4 pieces that are 5" wide x the entire length of your fabric and 2 smaller pieces that measure 2 1/2" x 8".
   
   
   
   
2. Lay out all of your pieces onto parchment paper and coat all of your raw edges with mod podge using your brush. It is very important that you use parchment paper. (Unfortunately, I used regular paper instead of non-stick and it wound up sticking to my burlap and was hard to get off.) Wait a few hours for your mod podge to dry completely.
   
   
   
   
3. Fire up your hot glue gun. Take one of your long pieces of burlap and fold in the edges to meet in the center with about a 2" overlap. Glue in place. ***Be extra careful as you press in place after gluing as the glue will seep through the burlap.***
   
   
4. Take another one of your long pieces of burlap and find the center. Hot glue this down flat to the center back of your piece from step 3.
   
   
   
   
5. Make a pleat in the center front of your bow and glue in place.
   
   
6. Take one of your small pieces of burlap and glue it to cover the center front of your bow. Wrap it around to the back and glue in place.
   
   
   
   
7. Repeat steps 3-6 for your second bow and set aside until parts 2 and 3.
   
   

Part 2: Wrapped Present Door Hanging

Supplies:

• 1 yard red wool fabric (or color of your choice)
• Burlap (should have enough left over from Part 1)
• Burlap bow from part 1
• Extra firm stabilizer
• Thread to match wool
• Ribbon

Difficulty:

Easy

Time:

2 hours

LET'S GET STARTED!

1. Cut two pieces of burlap that measure 5" x 18" the same way as you did for Part 1. Cut two pieces of your wool that measure 18" x 18" and one piece of extra firm stabilizer that measures 18" x 18".
2. Place one piece of burlap on top of one piece of wool. If your burlap is centered, you should have 6 1/2" on either side of it going all the way down. Pin in place and stitch down using a zig zag stitch.
   
   
3. Place the other piece of burlap on top of the same piece of wool from step 2 going in the opposite direction. Again, if your burlap is centered, you should have 6 1/2" on either side going all the way down. Pin in place and stitch down using a zig zag stitch.
   
   
4. Take your ribbon and pin it to the top center of the wool piece that you've been working on. I cut my ribbon to be 10" but you can cut your ribbon longer or shorter depending on how far down or up you want it to hang. Stitch in place.
   
   
5. Take your two pieces of wool and stack them with right sides together. Take your extra firm stabilizer and stack on top. Pin in place. Stitch using a 1/2" seam allowance all the way around except for a 4-5" gap at the bottom so that you can flip your piece right side out in the next step.
   
   
6. Clip your corners and flip right side out. Press all edges with backside facing up. Pin gap from step 5 closed and top stitch all around 1/8" away from the edge.
   
   
7. Hot glue your bow from Part 1 to the center top of your present.
   
   

Part 3: Rose Wreath with Burlap Bow

Supplies:

• Red Wool (should have enough leftover from part 2)
• Large embroidery hoop
• Hot glue gun
• Thread to match wool
• Hand sewing needle
• Burlap bow from part 1
• Ribbon

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 3-4 hours

LET'S GET STARTED!

1. Cut 1" bias strips out of your red wool. To cover my entire hoop, I needed 11 roses but this will vary based on the size of your hoop and roses.
2. To make your roses, have your hand sewing needle threaded and ready to go. Next, take one bias strip and roll the end in about 3-4 times. Stitch in place.
   
   
3. Continue by folding the long end of your strip back in on itself by about a 45 degree angle. Keep folding your strip back in this manner until you run out of fabric, stitching in place as needed as you go. Repeat steps 3-4 for each individual flower.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Grab the inner section of your embroidery hoop and lay out your roses on it along with your bow from part 1. Once you are pleased with the layout, heat up your hot glue gun and glue in place. (You can use the outer section to make another wreath if you'd like!)
   
   
5. Cut a piece of ribbon for hanging. I cut mine to 20" long but you can cut yours longer or shorter depending on how far down or up you'd like your wreath to hang. You can also hang the wreath as is and leave out the ribbon entirely. Tie the ribbon to the top of your wreath.
6. Finished!