After having our front landscaping, walk and cement pad redone, the bee theme wreath hanging on the door was looking pretty faded and shabby.

It was the first deco mesh wreath I ever made, as decor for the bee theme My Favorite Things Party. Now nine years old, the years and weather had taken a toll on the once vibrant wreath. Without an overhang, the bright sun had faded the once black color. Meanwhile, rain had caused some rust staining from the wire in the ribbon.

Until this past week, I couldn’t carve out a few hours to tear apart and refurbish the bee theme wreath. Between the big outdoor projects, travel, out-of-town guests, our nephew’s wedding, and eldest son’s upcoming destination wedding, there hasn’t been much spare time — including for blogging!

I’ve been busy as a bee crafting decorations, invitations, and more for the big end-of-summer event set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Highlands, NC. Come early fall, I’ll have a backlog of projects and party details to share.

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Easy Wreath Makeover

Shown above are the materials I used to refurbish the butterfly and bee theme wreath. Reused from the original Bee Wreath are the green wire frame, metal bee embellishments, and some of the butterfly canvas ribbon.

Step 1 : Deconstruct

First, however, I needed to take the existing wreath apart. Mom and I did that together, outside on the back porch, while she was visiting over the July 4th holiday.

Here’s what the bee theme wreath looked like originally.

We simply untwisted the pipe cleaner and separated the layers of ribbon and mesh. But, boy did the original tan and white stripe mesh shed all over the place! I think it was brittle from dry rot?

And, here’s what it looked like nine years later. Ugh! Now, I use the bee skep in kitchen vignettes and centerpieces.

Next, I discarded all that mesh, old pipe cleaners, badly faded yellow polka dot ribbon, and plastic sunflower garland.

Step 2 : Prep Wire Frame & Cut Ribbons

To anchor the new mesh base and attach ribbons, required replacing the old pipe cleaners with fresh black and golden tan ones. They are positioned around the wreath by simply threading the pipe cleaners between sections of the wire frame.

I’ve shared many, many DIY instructions for mesh and ribbon, grapevine, evergreen, and wine cork wreaths over the years. For more detailed tutorials, refer to the Projects: Wreaths section of Debbee’s Buzz.

To replace the yellow polka dot — and half of the butterfly ribbons — I purchased this duo set of ribbon rolls from Amazon (see link below). For the new wreath, the ribbons were cut in one-foot lengths. Then, I notched both ends for a finished look.

Step 3: Attach Mesh to Wire Frame

Next, I unrolled several feet of wide black and white plaid mesh. It was leftover from the DIY Dollar Tree Pumpkin Truck Fall Wreath.

Starting on the outside of the wire frame, I bunched and rounded about 10 to 12 inch lengths of mesh at a time. Working around the circle, I then attached the gathered mesh to the frame by twisting the pipe cleaners three times each. Next, I moved into the inner circle of the frame and attached the mesh in the same manner.

The mesh creates the foundation or base of the wreath.

Step 4: Attach Ribbons to Wreath

Four different types of wide, wire-edge ribbon were used to decorate the bee theme wreath; canvas butterfly, polka dot, bee, and black and white buffalo check.

In fact, it was this 30-foot ribbon roll that inspired me to finally refurbish the bee theme wreath. Found at Michael’s for 80% off in the last of a Christmas clearance bin, I originally planned to use it in centerpieces for my son’s rehearsal dinner.

The Welcome Party we are hosting is being held in a refurbished black barn. But now the event is more sophisticated than rustic. So, the buffalo check ribbon doesn’t work with the other decor I’ve created. That has left me with all this extra ribbon.

Each cut length of ribbon was placed in an alternating pattern around the wreath. Placed on the bottom layer is either polka dot or buffalo check ribbon. They are each attached by tightly twisting the pipe cleaner twice at each pinch point.

I had placed a piece of foam board (Dollar Tree) on the family room coffee table to use as a work surface, with the TV on in the background. All the smoke and high temperatures made it too unpleasant to work outside on the covered porch.

Finally, the butterfly and bee decorated ribbons were alternated around the wreath — on top of the the first layer. Here’s what the wreath looked like after all the ribbons were attached. I frequently use the interior door as a sorta work easel when crafting wreaths.

Step 5: Make Bow

With all that buffalo check ribbon, I decided to make a giant bow as an eye-catching element.

To make the bow, I first cut a length of three-feet for 18-inch tails. There are a total of eight loops, each made from a foot of ribbon and attached with pipe cleaner.

Here’s a close-up of the finished bow at the top of the wreath. I embellished the center of the bow with this cute bee.

It was one of two that decorated this lovely floral arrangement I received as a Mother’s Day gift.

See it incorporated into, Alfresco Bee Theme Tablescape & Florals as part of the Summer Tablescape Blog Hop.

Step 6: Attach Bee Embellishments, Bow & Finishing

Next, I took the three original bee embellishments and placed them at about the 3, 6 and 9:00 clock positions on the wreath.

They were also attached by twisting the pipe cleaners several times at three of the pinch points — on top of the ribbons. Instead, you could hang a cute bee theme sign (see some from Amazon below) in the center of the wreath.

Now it was time to attach the bow at the top of the wreath.

While the wreath was hanging on the door, I then shaped the wire-edge ribbons, bow tails, and remaining ends of the pipe cleaners.

Here’s how the wreath pops on the interior white kitchen door where I’ll likely hang it during the month of May. That’s when I usually decorate the kitchen area in a bee theme in honor of World Bee Day.

But once the patriotic July 4th decorations come down, the bee theme wreath moves to the front door through the month of August.

Busy as a Bee

In the next week or so, I plan to publish a post on our curb appeal projects that include new light fixtures, sidewalk, cement pad and landscaping. Like the children’s book, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” once you start one thing it leads to another lol!

Time to get back to watering all those new trees, shrubs and flowers!

In the meantime, see Buzzworthy Bee Theme Ideas for other bee theme tablescapes, crafts, party, and recipe ideas.

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I regularly participate in: Metamorphous Monday, Share Your Style, Tablescape Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Crafty Creators, Saturday Sparks, Happiness is Homemade, and Love Your Creativity.

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