Saturday, December 17, 2011

"Redneck" Wreath Tutorial

My oldest brother has just moved into a new home, and in light of the season and my AWESOME sense of humor I decided to make him a beer can wreath.. I think it turned out awesome, and would work with a multitude of colored cans!
So here's the How To;
You're gonna need to start with a LOT of empty cans. Make sure you wash and dry the well to avoid having a STINKY wreath.
Again, for the gag gift I went with beer cans (some great friends contributed to the stack), but any cans would work.
 
Take a heavy duty wire and curl one end into a hook, and the other end into a swirly ring. Make sure your ring is big enough that the tab of the can cannot slip over it. This step will not only help with building your wreath, but also putting it together.
 
Next take your clean cans, a rubber mallet, and a cutting board (to protect your work surface).
 
Hammer your cans until they are a good height to you, I made all my cans just a little under half the size. WATCH OUT FOR SHARP EDGES!!
 
After all your cans are smooshed, it's time to start placing them on the wreath. Gently pull the tab up, and slip the hook side thru the large opening on the tab. The more you put on the wire, the wreath will pretty much just fill itself out.
 
I did try to make a wreath with out smooshing the cans first, but it pretty much just looked like a jumbled mess. After a few different idea trials, I found smooshing the cans produced the best look.
 
After your wreath is full, just hook your hook side of the wire to your loop. This really is way easier said than done, and in the end it took the most time, and adding and removing cans. But with a little bit of patience it came together in the end!
And then just finish off with some ribbon or another piece of wire for hanging.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

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9 comments:

Heather said...

Where do you get the heavy duty wire from?

Heather said...

Where do you get the heavy duty wire from?

Heather said...

Where do you get the heavy duty wire from?

Anonymous said...

How many cans did you end up using?
I don't drink beer so I need to put a call out to friends for them and need to know how many to ask for.
Thanks!
Jen Woodruff :)
jhurd731@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

About how many cans did you used and how long was the wire?

Leslie Shurtliff said...

The wire came from Home Depot, it has been in my crafty stock forever. I think you can get heavy duty wire at most craft stores also. I really didn't measure the length, i just kind of eyed how big I wanted the wreath. I think I did have 100+ cans, and made 3 wreaths with some to spare. The amount of cans will really just depend on your wreath size. Hope this helps.

Unknown said...

I just made this wreath! It's perfect for our family's annual trash to treasure holiday party! I used a heavy wire hanger and a mixture of approximately 50 regular and mini sized beer cans! Turned out fantabulous! Thanks so much for posting your idea and directions!

Unknown said...

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Anonymous said...

A wonderful gift in mind.