When I saw this cute burlap “ribbon” in the fabric section the other day, my wheels started turning.

I grabbed two rolls of pink at $3.47 each (from Walmart, go fig).

Then last year’s Valentine’s wreath got sliced and diced so I could easily reuse the wooden form.

I used the burlap ribbon, the wreath form and some floral wire (pictured here is fishing line because I couldn’t find the wire. But it’s pictured later–it’s basically just a flat spool of really fine gauge wire).

[And here is my very professional blogger shot of me sitting on my bed working on this the other night. So just ignore my blue ruffle pants and paisley duvet in this and the next shot, m’kay?]

Anyhoo, I threaded the wire though the center of one end of the burlap ribbon, then kept on threading it through every 2-3 inches or so, alternating folding the fabric back and forth as I went.

So basically it ended up looking like a piece of old-fashioned ribbon candy.

Then I turned and turned the length of the burlap ribbon, so it became a sort of spiral and looked nice and ruffled. [I repeated these thread-and-spiral steps for the second spool of burlap ribbon, so I’d have enough to cover the entire wreath form, not just half.]

Then I used wire again to “sew” it to the back of the form, catching a bit of burlap ribbon right at the edge of the wooden wreath form all the way around the inside and outside of it.

Then add a torn piece of fabric to hang and call ‘er done. [I like the way torn edges look better than cut for this application, plus it’s FAST and you always get a straight line. You can read about the therapeutic quality of ripping fabric in this post on how to make a scrappy tu-tu here.]

Que me standing back and tilting my head and squinting my eyes at this. It still needed tweaking.

So I tied the fabric hanger on the outside of the ruffles rather than tucked in and more hidden, and I added a “C.”

This white wooden “C” cost $2.40 ($4 minus 40% off coupon at Michael’s), and I covered it with a sheet of 20-cent scrapbook paper. The “C” is hung with a command strip–I just colored the pull tab black with a sharpie.

The initial is polka-dotted, which I love. But you can only see the pattern when you are close to it. Kind of like a little secret only for those friends who come to my door. I love that too. I traced the letter onto the scrapbook paper and then glued it straight on, sanding all around the edges (with a nail file, actually…) once dry.

And unlike last year, I have [thus far, knock on wood] gotten away with leaving our DIY topiaries up on the front porch. I just took off the Christmas lights and toppers… I mean, really, if they WERE real trees, you wouldn’t toss ’em out Jan 1st, now would you?

But the wreath adds some much needed color to a porch that–confession–has been wreathless for a month. And the pink is a nice nod to Valentine’s without me feeling like I need to change it again in a couple of weeks.

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If it’s Valentine’s inspiration you seek, read on!