There’s no denying that PEEPS are an iconic family favorite for Easter. Chances are, if you’ve been in a grocery store around Easter at some point in the last sixty years, you’ve seen (and probably eaten) these delightful marshmallow candies. It’s safe to say that my sweet tooth is just as insatiable as a child’s, so when I was offered the opportunity to express my PEEPS-onality by taking my favorite Easter candy and turning it into a fabulous craft, I jumped at the chance.
In addition to plenty of the standard PEEPS chicks and bunnies, I received a package of the Party Cake flavored PEEPS, a Large Marshmallow Bunny, two chocolate-covered PEEPS, and a bag of the new Peepsters. I may or may not have eaten all of the Peepsters as soon as I got them.
I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making a wreath, so I figured creating a PEEPS wreath was the most fun craft I could create. This wreath is easy enough that kids can help you make it, and you’ll be able to finish it relatively quickly. Plus, you can easily remove the PEEPS from the wreath when Easter ends, keep the wreath, and add new PEEPS next year!
Want to make your own DIY wreath with PEEPS? Scroll down for my tutorial!
Easy DIY Wreath with PEEPS
Materials:
- 12″ styrofoam wreath
- One skein of yarn (I used Caron Simply Soft. You can use any yarn you like, but different weights and textures may give you a different outcome)
- Ribbon
- 2 packages of PEEPS
- Toothpicks
- Wooden sign
- Paint
- Hot glue gun
Instructions:
1) Tightly tie your yarn onto the wreath in a double knot. Cut the tail of the yarn relatively short so you can easily hide it as you wrap.
2) Steady the styrofoam wreath with one hand (you may want to set the wreath in your lap or on a table for extra balance) and hold your skein of yarn in the other hand. Holding onto the skein of yarn, loop your yarn around the wreath a few (3-5) times. Pull the yarn tight and gently push the loops together so that no white space shows. Repeat this step until the wreath is completely wrapped with yarn. Take care to hide all the white space and do your best not to overlap your strands of yarn as you wrap. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you will want your wreath to look relatively smooth when you’re finished. When your wreath is completely wrapped with yarn, simple tie a knot and tuck the tail end so it doesn’t show.
3) Insert toothpicks into your wreath. Make sure the toothpicks are arranged in a straight line so your PEEPS will look uniform when you place them.
You may need to test a few PEEPS on your toothpicks to make sure they will be close enough together. As you can see in the photos below, my PEEPS were too far apart on my first attempt. You want them to be very snug, like in the photo on the right.
4) Cut a small strip of ribbon (enough to wrap around the wreath once and have a little extra) and a long strip of ribbon. The long strip of ribbon will be used to hang your wreath. Place the longer strip of ribbon so that it is centered at the top of your wreath. Place the smaller strip of ribbon around your wreath, covering the longer strip of ribbon. Hot glue the smaller strip of ribbon so that it holds tight. Make to glue the smaller strip of ribbon at the back of the wreath so the ends of your ribbon don’t show in the front of the wreath.
5) Adjust the longer strip of ribbon so that you have an equal amount on both sides of the wreath. Fold down a small section of ribbon at each end and hot glue the ends together so that you form a loop. This is how you will hang your wreath.
6) Paint your wooden sign and allow it to dry. Once dry, add the “Welcome to our Nest” lettering. There’s no right or wrong way to do this- if you have naturally stunning handwriting (unlike me) you can easily freehand the saying onto your wooden sign. If you were not blessed with pretty handwriting, simply use Microsoft Word or a similar program to print your text, cut it out, and use those letters as a stencil. Once your lettering is completely dry, hot glue your wooden sign directly onto your wreath.
7) Hang up your hard work and get ready to celebrate Easter!
The great thing about this DIY wreath is that you can ultimately customize it any way you want. I like simple home decor, which is why I chose to use the classic yellow PEEPS for this project, but you could certainly use any color combinations you want. For extra charm, use a different PEEP for each member of your family or add a few Easter-themed embellishments.
When I was finished crafting my DIY wreath, I found a few miniature bird cages in my crafting room that were perfect for some of my leftover PEEPS! These little bird cages would be great for Easter brunches…especially because you can eat them for dessert!
Have you ever crafted with PEEPS?
