Valentine’s Fabric Wreath

I don’t remember where I first saw a fabric yo-yo being used, but I remember being intrigued. It was a long and lovely garland of yo-yo’s hung from an archway, and it looked so festive and perfect. I quietly set the idea into the back of my mind, and now a few years later it has slowly come to surface.

I recently found myself with a very overstuffed fabric scrap bin, and decided that I had enough scraps in coordinating colors to put a few yo-yo’s together. You realize that I said a few. A word of warning, when you decide to make a few of these, you will inevitably find yourself buried in a mound of yo-yo’s for which you can not escape. It becomes a bit addicting, and the idea of “just one more” plays like a broken record in your mind.

Over the holidays I fell in love with Maya’s pinecone wreath construction, and I made a few to adorn our house and doors (one thing we do not lack around the holidays is pine cones and cardboard). As my fabric yo-yo collection has grown and grown, a heart wreath for valentine’s day seemed like the perfect way to use up my pile, and to give the house a bit of decoration for the upcoming holiday. Thank you to Maya for the idea of using basic cardboard as a wreath form for this project.

This is a great project to have help from the kiddos, as pulling the strings on the yo-yo’s allows for endless joy, and they are the perfect helpers for gluing each yo-yo to the form itself.

Simply start with a piece of cardboard in any size that fits the wreath that you want to create.
Draw your heart shape, and then using about an inch difference, draw another heart inside of the first.

Using an Xacto knife, cut away both drawn lines to create a thin wreath form.

Using your form as a guide, decide on the placement of your yo-yo’s, then simply set them on the outside of the wreath form.

Using an all purpose glue, glue each yo-yo to the form and allow to dry completely.

Hang wherever you would like and enjoy.

To give some life to my mantle, I glued patchwork pieces of fabric left over from the yo-yo’s to mason jars and lit tea lights inside. They are a fun way to create some soft light while bringing in the fabrics and colors from the wreath below.

Resources for making yo-yo’s
Heather Bailey (making them on your own)
Pat Sloan’s Video for making them with a Clover Yo-Yo maker (my method of choice).