How to make a teabag wreath (courtesy of A. Marie)
Recently, reader A. Marie mentioned making teabag wreaths with her Jane Austen group, and several of you asked for photos of the process.
A. Marie wanted to add the photos to her comment, but there's no tidy way to do that! So, I figured I would just put her photos into a post, and then they'd also be easy to find in the future if any of you want to reference them.
The wreath-making process begins with colorful clothespins, which this group leader found at a dollar store. The cheapest wooden ones I found at Amazon are about $0.13 apiece ($13/100) so I'm guessing the dollar store might be cheaper.
You'll also need wire wreath forms; these ones are from Michael's. These 10-inch forms are under $2/apiece at Amazon.
And of course, you will need individually-packaged teabags, plus some ribbon to make bows.
The teabags can be attached to the wreath forms in different ways; A. Marie says one of the beauties of this project is that there's no right or wrong way to do it.
Clothespins on the inside:
Clothespins on the outside:
Here are some photos of the finished wreaths.
Since this was a Jane Austen society activity, they added Jane silhouettes, which they ordered off of Etsy. But obviously, you do not need to do that unless you so desire!
And here's our own A. Marie with two of her wreaths.
The clothespins in that last photo look like pretzels to me, but maybe that's because I am very hungry right now. I think they're actually glittery and festive!
And on that note, I should go make myself some breakfast.
Happy crafting to you! And if you have any questions, I'm sure A. Marie would be happy to answer.
P.S. A. Marie wants to mention that her group's leader, Lisa Brown, took all the photos and should be credited. And she wants you to know that all the ladies gave permission for their pictures and wreaths to be published here. 🙂
I got a tickle thinking you could've named this post "Meet the Teabag Wreath." Thanks to you and A. Marie for sharing.
That is a great idea. Very simple too.
What a cool idea! My mother-in-law is a tea drinker and I think this might be great as part of a Christmas gift for her. Thanks for sharing!
Love this idea! A lot of the crafty supplies can be found at thrift stores too. Thanks for sharing these pics.
Very creative. I love that the tea bags can be used and the wreath can be reused/refilled over and over again.
Thank you A. Marie and Kristen for sharing. This is a neat off shoot of the Meet A Reader series.
Such a cute and thoughtful gift for someone. And you can get the wreath forms at The Dollar Tree for $1.25 each.
@Maureen, I got the original spec wreath at The Dollar Tree for $1.25 but when I went back to get more they were all gone. Darn it!
Lisa
It is lovely to see how they turned out! I am rather taken with the Jane Austen silhouettes. They seem very appropriate for the holidays somehow.
Thanks for sharing, A.Marie, JASNA and Kristen!
@J NL, the silhouette came from this etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1250448925/women-writers-ornament-set
Love it!!! A great gift for the tea drinker. I really love Jane’s silhouette on the ribbon.
@Bee, the silhouette came from this etsy store. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1250448925/women-writers-ornament-set
Nice to meet you, Teabag Wreath! It's not only a great craft but also an excellent gift for those of us who need to have a tea bag or a dozen at the ready. Thank you, A. Marie. So nice to see your wise and kind face.
The wreathes are so cute and would make a great, frugal Christmas gift for the tea drinkers in our lives.
Wonderful idea. Thank you and your friends for sharing it with us, A. Marie! I may have to concoct a cocoa version of this.
@N, Great idea, a cocoa version!
What a neat gift idea!
I was one of the persons asking for photos. Thank you for posting this, Kristen and A. Marie!!! Love love love this idea.
What a lovely Monday treat! Thank you for sharing, A. Marie! It is so nice to have a face to put with your delightful comments.
Kristen, thank you also for the daily grace that your posts are. It's been a week of heartache, with so much more to come, and your faithful joy in the midst of sorrow are more of a blessing and encouragement than you can know. Thank you for the continuing reminders to look UP when it seems hardest. God has used you often to remind me of His daily grace, and to not lose hope.
It seems odd to say that to someone you've interacted with only online, but I'm grateful for you and your family is often in my prayers.
Grace.
Such a cute and easy project, but I'm most excited to finally put a face to A. Marie's name!
@Katy @ The Non-Consumer Advocate, Me too! A. Marie, it was just a big bright spot in my day to see you; thanks to you and your group for sharing. This is my favorite kind of gift - pretty + edible treat.
@Katy @ The Non-Consumer Advocate, that was my second thought, too! A. Marie looks as kind as she writes....
Ah, now I get it! I was wondering how to fasten tea bags so that they could be used later. I like the idea of the clothespins, and I had no idea that dollar stores had such snazzy clothespins. The things I learn here...
Thanks for the explanation, A. Marie! Thanks for posting, Kristen!
Oh, how lovely! My mother-in-law would love this gift! I will make one for her soon, thank you for sharing!
Kristen, I'm honored that you've devoted an entire post to these! Thank you. I've passed the link on to Lisa, who I think will be pleased likewise.
I should note that I've tweaked both my wreaths a bit further since bringing them home. I've removed both of the Jane silhouettes and tied them to knobs on the rolltop desk in my living room (my primary holiday display area, since it's well away from the fireplace). I've also transferred the green Stickley bow from the red and green Twinings wreath to the red and purple Taylors of Harrogate wreath.
The Twinings wreath, with only the pine cone "corsage" for decoration, is now also hanging from my rolltop. And I've added a purple ribbon for hanging to the T of H wreath and presented it to the Bestest Neighbors, as a thank-you for their hosting Thanksgiving.
Finally, Kristen (and everyone else), please do not eat the clothespins!
@A. Marie,
I'm delighted with your photo credits and making sure you have permission to post the pictures. I work for a non-profit and I am always asking our team, "Do we have permission to use this photo?"
This is a delightful idea and I have friends who would love it.
@A. Marie, thank you & your group for the photos! I can see this expanding into cocoa (as another commenter mentioned), possibly coffee, even seed packets for spring; and I’m sure this group can come up with even more ideas! Thanks to Kristen also for posting. I’m always looking for great, simple & frugal gift ideas.
Awww, nice to "meet" you, A. Marie! I love that this project happened in your library.
Today, I am craving my favorite seasonal tea, Celestial Seasonings Cranberry Vanilla Wonderland. I couldn't find it on their site (it's there, just in a wonky spot) so I tried Amazon. Six boxes for about $21.00, which is cheaper than in the stores or on the CS site. I think if I'm careful, I can make them last all year.
@Dicey, the location was actually the community room of a suburban Barnes & Noble in the next city over to the west of me. But I can see how it looks like a library in the second photo of me.
@A. Marie, A Barnes & Noble with a community room? What a wonder!
@Dicey, We are so lucky and grateful that we can use the B&N community room for free for our JASNA meetings. We have been meeting there for over 15 years. Other JASNA groups have to charge a fee for their members to attend meetings because they have to pay for the meeting space.
Lisa
The dollar tree has all those supplies right now.
My work wife is a huge tea drinker so I know exactly what I am making her.
This is so cool - thank you! I think I’ll have kids make one for their tea drinking Grandmother. She would think this was neat. I wonder if you could do it with hot chocolate packets…
This would be a super cute thing to hang by the coffee station at work...also liked the cocoa wreath suggestion...those along with a treat will be a perfect happy holidays to everyone at work...love it!
@Anonymous, I often score hot chocolate in fancy flavors and festive holiday packaging at Grocery Outlet, if you have access to one. Occasionally Winco, too, but more hit and miss there. I just checked, the few I have left over from last year are Swiss Miss brand. I think they would look great on a wreath (Now that I know how they're made, thanks to A. Marie!).
I'm so glad this was posted because 1) Jane Austen, 2)A. Marie, 3) tea, and 4) I just wasn't visualizing it well at all. But what a great gift idea for the person who doesn't really need anything. I have several friends who love tea, and wrapping a box of tea isn't nearly as cute as those wreaths.
Well, that's pretty brilliant. Thanks, A. Marie.
If you get a large wreath frame, you can make an Advent Tea Wreath. The frames we used were 12 inches but the spec wreath I experimented with was 14 inches. You can certainly fit 25 teabags on a 14 inch frame.
@Lisa, SO brilliant!
Lisa has weighed in with a few corrections about her sources. (And, BTW, Lisa deserves the credit for making this whole project happen. All I did was pass it along to you all.)
"Some of the glittery clothespins came from Oriental Trading. The original spec wreath came from The Dollar Tree for $1.25. But when I went back to get more they were all gone. That's why I had to get the rest from Michael's. Some of the colored and plain clothespins also came from The Dollar Tree. The rest of the colored clothespins came from Just Artifacts (https://www.justartifacts.net).
"I think the key points are that you could get the wreath frame for $1.25. You can color and glitter the clothespins yourself. You can use teabags and ribbon that you have on hand. It can be done a lot cheaper than I chose to do because I was doing it for a group."
When I first heard the idea I thought it was iffy, at best. But I love the results. And nice to see A. Marie's face! Thanks for going to the trouble of making a post out of this.
That is darling, A. Marie, thank you for sharing this.
also those wire wreath's can be bought at the dollar store.
Simple, cool idea. We do advent wreaths in our house and this could have worked for that.
Pretty cool! I like the tea bag’s holiday colors, which could be modified for any occasion, or a person’s favorite color paper could be used in a variety of ways.
It could be sort of an Advent wreath or another occasion count-down. Instead of JA silhouettes, another cut-out or something else could be in the middle. Thanks, A. Marie & Kristen!! I couldn’t picture it before!