Iron Craft Challenge #48 – Square Dowel Wreath

This week’s Iron Craft challenge was to make a wreath. I have a couple wreaths to make on my list, so I was looking forward to this one. The one I decided to try was based on one I saw recently at a Lowes.

Their’s was a bit bigger and had a lot more layers. Mine is 12″ across, a nice size for hanging in the house.

Since I was buying the dowels at a hardware store I was just going to pick up a small can of spray paint to paint the wreath. Then I noticed that you could get a test pot of any color of paint mixed up for you for just a few dollars. This was perfect, I could get the exact shade of red I wanted. The amount of paint you get here is a steal compared to a small bottle of craft paint for the same price.

Square Dowel Wreath

Supplies:

• 12 feet of 3/8″ square dowels (I found the dowels in 36″ lengths and bought 4 of them)
• saw
• miter box (optional)
• sandpaper
• wood glue
• grey paint (optional)
• red paint

Using the saw and miter box, if you have one, cut the dowels into 12″ lengths.

File any rough edges smooth with the sandpaper. Glue the dowels into tic tac toe board shapes. A cutting pad with measurements on it helps keep everything spaced evenly and straight. Let dry.

Paint the dowels, front and back. (You can paint the dowels before gluing them if you want, but I didn’t). If you’ve ever painted with red you know it can often take a couple of coats to get a deep color. When I bought the paint they suggested I do a primer coat of grey first. I just happened to have some grey paint left over from painting a room and it did the trick.

Stack the dowel tic tac toes on top of each other until you are happy with the layout. I started with one straight and the tilted the other two as evenly as I could in opposite directions. Glue them together and let dry. Hang and enjoy.