# 1

Poke your wreath onto a long skewer or dowel and put the dowel into a heavy vase or glass to hold up your wreath. This will allow you to reach all sides of your wreath at once so you can paint the Mod Podge on and apply the paper.

# 2

Before you begin putting the map paper on your wreath, paint a light coat of Mod Podge over the entire wreath base with a sponge brush to help seal the porousness. Allow the wreath base to dry. While this base coat is drying, tear your map paper into strips that are approximately 2” wide by laying a ruler down on the paper, holding the ruler with one hand, and tearing the paper up toward you with the other hand. I used about 6-8 sheets of 8.5 x 11 atlas pages.

# 3

After your map strips are torn, use a sponge brush to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the back of the paper pieces (the sides you don’t want to show) and carefully apply the map pieces to the wreath, wrapping them as tightly as you can so that they fit closely onto the wreath base.

# 4

Continue to apply the Mod Podge to the paper strips and overlap them slightly as you wrap them around the wreath so that all the foam is covered. Periodically remove the dowel from the foam base, rotate the wreath, and place the dowel elsewhere to allow easier access while applying the paper. After the wreath base is covered with map paper, allow the Mod Podge to dry, then paint a light coat of Mod Podge over the entire wreath. I used the glossy Mod Podge to give the wreath a little sheen, but if you prefer, you could also use matte finish Mod Podge.

# 5

To make the ribbon banner, you will need to download the pattern available on my blog page (www.itcomesfullcircle.com). I had some leftover mat board from this project, which worked perfectly for this project. You could also use foam board. Cut the pattern out and trace around it onto your foam board or mat board, then trace around it and trim carefully with an exacto knife.

# 6

Trace over the letters on the pattern with a pen or an embossing stylus to leave a slight indention in your matboard or foam board. Then use a paint marker to trace over the letters. Outline the edges to highlight the shape of the ribbon banner.

# 7

Apply the banner to the wreath with hot glue. To hang the wreath, attach a ribbon around the wreath and secure to your hanging surface with a small nail. To make the ribbon hanger shown in the photo, I used a scrap piece of canvas from a drop cloth and cut it into a long strip, about 3 inches wide by 48 inches long. I attached a piece of 1” brown grosgrain ribbon to the middle of the canvas strip with a single stitch (I chose blue thread to match the map print). I also frayed the edges of the canvas a little and then stitched down each edge so the fraying wouldn’t just keep going on forever. I made a quick little rolled fabric flower for the middle of the bow, and secured it on with hot glue. Note: I did not actually tie the ribbon into a bow, I just folded it to look like a bow and glued the layers together with hot glue, then glued the flower to the middle.

# 8

To make the flags, cut your aged scrapbook paper, newsprint, ledger paper, or whatever you have available into 4 inch by ½ inch strips. Fold the strips in half and use hot glue to attach them to the pins. (Be careful – the paper does not insulate from the heat very well!) You could also use tacky glue for this, but the hot glue is faster. Trim triangles out of the ends of the flags. Use a fine point sharpie or felt tip pin to write what you’re thankful for on the flags, and pin them to your wreath. The fun part is watching your “world of thanks” fill up with flags!