Day 19 of the 24 Days of Christmas Crafting!
The goal for these 24 days is to give you ideas for hand-crafted Christmas decorations for your tree and home. Come back each day to try the next craft. 24 Days of Christmas Crafting!
These loopy burlap flowers are very easy to make. I remember making them when I was a kid with my mom. For this project, I made the flowers in red and green then assembled them into a Christmas centerpiece lit with LEDs.
Materials and Supplies
(This post contains affiliate links to some of the items I used in this project. It just means that you will help to support my blog if you make a purchase after clicking the links. There is no added cost to you!)
- Burlap 1 yard
- Red dye – Rit Dye “scarlet”
- Green dye – Rit Dye “dark green”
- Styrofoam Dome – 6″
- Florist Wire
- Flower Centers – I used these shiny Beaded Christmas Berries that I also used in my mistletoe project
- LED Strand
- Lace – Amount will vary depending on the type of lace and the density that you use. Assume you will need a handful of yards.
- Flat headed straight pins
- Tacky Glue
- Optional: Clips for holding things together as the glue sets
About the Burlap
The burlap I bought for this project is a pre-packaged 1-yard bundle and it has gold foil thread included in the weave, though I suspect this version with the gold thread is a holiday offering. I like this burlap because of the finer weave than the burlap I can find on the bolt in the local fabric store. Depending on what is available to you in your stores, you may or may not find this specific item. If you like the shiny burlap but can’t find it, you can always use a spray-on glitter after you make the flowers.
Dying the Burlap
I have never found burlap in the local fabric and craft stores in the rich colors I wish it would have. This meant I had to dye it myself for this loopy burlap flowers centerpiece project. Thankfully, burlap takes dyes very well.
My Test Dyes
I did some test dyes first. I cut three swatches. I put one in the red dye, one in the green dye, and one in bleach water. After bleaching one swatch, I cut it in half and added to the colored dye baths.
Bleaching first and then dying produced a color that wasn’t as deep and rich as dying the unbleached burlap. Thankfully, one step you won’t have to do. 🙂
Dying the Burlap
Cutting the yard of burlap into two pieces, I dyed the burlap in plastic tubs placed in a bathtub. I filled each tub about a quarter full with hot tap water and added the full bottle of dye. I then just let it set until I had time to get back to it. It was ready after about half an hour, though I didn’t get back to it for another hour or so.
Rinse the burlap until it you have most of the dye out. Since this project will never need to be laundered, I wasn’t so worried about getting the rinse water to run completely clear. Lay the rinsed burlap pieces across the empty tubs and allow to air dry. Do not put into your dryer. You do not want the fibers to shrink or cause the fibers to twist against themselves. This will make it too difficult to remove the fibers later.
After the burlap has completely dried, lay an old towel or rag on your ironing board and press the burlap flat. The old towel is just in case you didn’t get enough of the dye out. I used the hottest setting and heaviest steam to get the burlap flat again.
Cutting the Burlap
If you have burlap that has the gold in it, notice that the gold is only in the fibers that run in one direction. You need to be sure to cut the burlap pieces so that you are pulling out the fibers that do NOT have the gold. The long fibers that run along the 10″ length are the ones you want to remove, leaving the shiny fibers in place.
Cut the burlap into 3-3/4″ x 10″ pieces.
For this project you will need:
- 9 red
- 11 green
Once they are cut, you’re ready to start making the flowers.
Making the Loopy Burlap Flowers
In my first post about loopy burlap flowers, I walk through the individual steps. You can go back and read those steps or you can watch this sped-up video I made.
Assembling the Centerpiece
Set the styrofoam dome in front of you. Place eight (8) of the green flowers equally around the dome by inserting the florist wire into the foam approximately an inch up from the bottom of the dome. You may need to trim the wire.
Add a row of eight (8) red flowers above the green flowers. Off-shift this row so that the red flowers are over the spaces between the green flowers.
Start weaving the lace around the loopy burlap flowers. To give it the gathered look, pinch a gather into the lace then pin it into the foam. Use as much lace as you want to fill the gaps between the flowers.
Options instead of lace: If you have leftover greenery from another project, you could pin those leaves into the foam. Another option would be white or gold ribbons that you have tied into bows.
When you have filled in these two rows of flowers with the lace, add a third row using the last three green flowers then the last red flower at the top of the dome. Fill in with more lace.
Light up the Centerpiece with LEDs
You can be done here but I wanted to add some of the LEDs that I used in my paper stars garland.
Make “staples” from florist wire and use those staples to hold the LED wire in the centerpiece.
Use one of these staples between every couple of LED bulbs and press into the foam so that the LED is just inside the fabric of the centerpiece.
The Loopy Burlap Centerpiece is Complete
You can now use your new centerpiece to brighten your holiday decor.
Come back each day for a new project in the 24 Days of Christmas Crafting!
You can get my 5-page set of tips for working with burlap plus get the patterns to all my DIY and craft projects in my Resource Library by signing up for my weekly newsletter.
Remember to pin this to your favorite holiday crafting board on Pinterest!
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