Baby Shower Wreath

Since I'm sure that everybody would like to know how to make the absolutely adorable wreath that I made for some decoration for Jessica's shower, I thought I'd share the instructions with you. Want to hear a confession about how I found this wreath? The mail person accidentally left our neighbor's Woman's World magazine in our mailbox a few weeks ago. I decided to flip through it before taking it back to her. Totally illegal, I know. But that's how I stumbled across this little gem. (And don't flame me, I would never open mail or anything, and I usually take it right over to the neighbor's house, it just happened to be raining this day.) Anyways, I knew right away that I just had to make this for Jess's shower.

So, I used all of these blankets and toys. Well, most of them anyways.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• 16" Styrofoam wreath
• DecoArt acrylic paint in Taffy Cream (I didn't use this exact brand, and I used a greenish color since the nursery is sage green and baby blue.)
• String (I didn't use this either, I rigged up some ribbon to hang it with.)
• 1 1/2 yds. 1 1/2"-2" yellow printed ribbon
• Strong, fast-drying glue, such as Beacon Fabri-Tac (You don't need this if you make it the way I did.)
• 3 receiving blankets, about 30"x40" (I used four just for symmetry.)
• Corsage pins; straight pins
• Assorted baby things - soft toys, rattles, toiletries, brush-and-comb set, pacifiers, lullaby CD
• 3 yds. 5/8" yellow dotted ribbon
• 2 yds. each 3/8" pink, blue and green dotted ribbon
• Scotch double-sided tape (I didn't use this either)
• 1 1/4 yds. each 1" pink, blue and yellow ribbons
• Soft animal for top center
• 12-15 flat faux flowers and 1/2" pompoms (I didn't use these either.)

Note: As you can see in the above picture, I didn't follow the instuctions for the ribbon, I just bought a couple different options and in the colors of the nursery.

1. Paint wreath.
2. When dry, make hanger: Poke two holes through wreath, 2" apart, front to back. Thread string through and tie. This is the top. Glue printed ribbon around wreath's outside edge. (I didn't do this. See step 6 for my instructions.)
3. Fold blankets lengthwise; roll tightly. Place first blanket on wreath along inside edge; center at bottom. Pin on; ends may overlap at top. Place second blanket next to first; pin on. Add third blanket near wreath's outer edge. Ends probably won't meet at top. (This just didn't work for me. So, I wrapped the wreath with the blankets. I folded the blanket lengthwise, picked a starting spot, and wrapped the blanket around the wreath. I pinned the blankets in multiple spots and was able to use the pins to create a smooth finish with the blankets.)
4. Tie toys to wreath with ribbon. (I even used pins to pin the ribbon so that it wouldn't slide and would hold the toys in place.)
5. Pin flowers to empty spaces; glue pompoms to center
6. Here is what I did to hang the wreath. I wrapped thin ribbon around the wreath on either side of the large toy on the top and used pins to be sure that it would stay in place. I then threaded large ribbon underneath those thin ribbons to create the way to hang the wreath. Worked like a charm!

I am so proud of this project! What do you think? Will you be making one soon?