Craft Wars Inspired: Holiday Sweater Rose Wreath

True Craft Confession: I was pleased as wassail punch with my wreath from last week's episode of Craft Wars!  My tree...well...had some obvious issues, but the wreath was something I'd happily hang in my home.  Yes, there were a few glue strings and boogers, but I don't usually craft at the speed of light.  Glue strings and boogers are fairly easy to avoid or remove when you have the luxury of time. 

With the aforementioned luxury of time on my side, I present my prettier, lump, glue string and booger free, new and improved upcycled sweater wreath for your craftertainment!

Insert holiday trumpet flourish...here.

I love the idea of turning ugly old thrift store sweaters into a fabulous new wreath.  I scored the grey and a black and white striped wool blend sweaters at my Goodwill for $.25 each!  Cha-ching! I actually scored a third black and grey striped sweater, but my daughter snapped that puppy right up as a night shirt.  Bonus!

Without further pomp and circumstance, here's how you can make your own upcycled Craft Wars Inspired Sweater Rose Wreath.  Oh and check out the links at the end of my post to see what the other Craftacular Craft Wars Vets created inspired by last week's episode! 

Instead of using sweater arms for the base like I did on the show, I wrapped off-white yarn around a round wreath form.  I used a saw to cut the wreath in half which made it easier to wrap. To put it back together, some 16 gauge craft wire with Aleene's Foamtastic glue did the trick.

This red pom-pom yarn was recently on clearance at my local Michaels, and it gave a fun, whimsical, candy cane look that I'm totally digging!  Just wrap it around the reassembled wreath working about 1" apart.

You can use the Clover pom-pom maker to make fuzzy yarn pom-pom accents.  I made two, because I loves me some pom-poms, oh yes I do!

Use old sweaters, or get some at Goodwill like I did!  Cut the sweaters into triangular strips and rolled into roses.  Vary the lengths and widths.  A 2' length is a good starting point.

Cut two contrasting leaves as accents.  Hot glue the flowers and leaves into a solid shape and attach that to the lower left side of the wreath.  (Note: If you are using a sweater that might fray, try Aleene's Stop Fraying around the edges.)

Attach the pom-poms on top and bottom of the roses with hot glue.  Aleene's Super Thick Tacky Glue makes quick work of adding button and rhinestone accents.  It dries clear without boogers or strings, huzzah!

Traci Remley turns some old sheet music and cupcake wrappers into a charming vintage inspired wreath.
Nikki McGonigal shows you how to make wine twice as fun with her all season cork wreath!
Lisa Fulmer makes an a dor a ble ornament inspired by the vibrant colors on my holiday tree from the show!
Cheryl Burchett shares a divine postage themed baby announcement for her latest creation, her son Joshua!
Pattye Duffner repurposes some baby blocks as festive ornaments!
Angela Daniels soothes her 'guilt' with a Thank You card wreath!
Andrea Currie turns a truly awful sweater into a truly lovely year round wreath!

Tune into TLC this Tuesday at 8pm EST for a new episode of Craft Wars!  Join us on Twitter at #craftwars for live show tweets!  After the show, Stephen Brown and Nikki McGonigal host a fun show wrap up on Spreecast!