Better Homes & Gardens – Holiday Crafts 2019

HolidayCrafts 2019 109

Instructions

Viral S piral

shown opposite

MATERIALS

Three- or four-ply sport, DK, or
worsted-weight yarn in desired colors
French knitting spool with four pegs
Small crochet hook
Papier-mâché cones: 10 inches tall
(small) and 13^3 ∕ 4 inches tall (large)
100 feet of 12-gauge
galvanized-steel wire
Wire cutters
Yarn needle
Jewelry pliers

MAKE THE YARN CORD

Feed yarn tail up through bottom of
spool. Tie a slip knot in end of yarn and
place knot loop over a peg of the French
knitting spool.

With Bells On

shown on page 106

MATERIALS

1 yard of white linen fabric
Dressmakers pins
14-inch-diameter straw wreath form
Scraps of assorted white ribbons
Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
Small silver bells
^3 ∕ 8 -inch round beads: gold, silver, red
3—2- to 3-inch-tall bottle-brush
trees
1 yard of 2^1 ∕ 2 -inch-wide wire-edge
ribbon: coral

Cut white linen into 2×4-inch pieces. Pin
a strip to the wreath form through the
center of the strip. Lift strip ends and
pin another strip next to the fi rst strip.
Continue pinning strips, packing them
tightly together until the front and sides of
the form are fully covered.

Wrap the yarn clockwise around each

peg. When the fi rst peg is reached, wrap

yarn around the peg above the slip knot.

Continue wrapping the yarn clockwise

around each peg until each peg has

two wraps.

While holding the yarn tail taut, insert

the crochet hook under the bottom wrap

on one peg. Lift the bottom wrap over the

top wrap and over the peg so one wrap

remains on the peg. Work around the

spool, repeating the process for each peg.

Again, wrap the yarn clockwise once

around each peg, then lift the bottom

wraps over the top wraps and over the

pegs. Continue process. As you work,

an I-cord will emerge through the spool

bottom. Continue knitting until I-cord

is desired length. Note: The large tree

requires about 12 feet of I-cord, the

medium tree needs about 10^1 ∕ 2 feet, and

the small tree requires about 9 feet. Cut

the yarn, leaving a tail.

Cut white ribbon scraps into 4-inch-long

pieces and pin them onto the wreath as

desired. Hot-glue bells randomly into the

folds of pinned fabric.

Hot-glue beads to trees. Hot-glue trees

inside wreath center.

Tie coral wire-edge ribbon into a large

bow. Trim each ribbon end in an inverted

V shape. Hot-glue bow to wreath.

SHAPE THE WIRE

Starting at the base of a papier-mâché

cone, bend the 12-gauge wire around

the cone. For a large tree, wrap the wire

around the large cone eight times. For a

medium tree, use the large cone but begin

wrapping at the center of the cone and

wrap seven times. For a small tree, wrap

the wire around the small cone six times.

Cut the wire using wire cutters.

Remove the cone from the wire spiral.

Bend and shape the wire with your hands

to evenly space and round the wraps.

Carefully slide an I-cord over the wire

until wire is covered. The I-cord should be

loose-fi tting and not stretched thin.

Using a yarn needle, weave the yarn

tail at one end of the I-cord through the

four end loops; pull to tighten and tie off.

Repeat on opposite end.

Using jewelry pliers, gently bend each

cord-covered wire end back on itself

about 1 inch.

MAKE IT YOURS.

Fill the

center

WITH YOUR

FAVORITE HOLIDAY

SYMBOL.