It crossed my mind over the weekend that I hadn’t made any wreaths this year. Normally I would be swimming in DIY wreaths but with everything that’s going on, wreath making completely slipped my mind. I decided to jump into DesignSpace to come up with something seasonal and Thanksgiving appropriate. Since it’s the season of gratitude and thankfulness I decided to go with an ornamental ‘Blessed’ for the center of the wreath.

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I wanted the words to hold up on their own without the need for a backing so I decided to go with chipboard for the material. Chipboard is like heavy-duty cardboard and it cuts really well thanks to the Cricut Maker. I recently bought the knife blade (made exclusively for the Cricut Maker), which is the blade used to cut chipboard and other thick materials.

Because the material is thick, it takes a while for the Cricut to cut it. For this design, the cut time was about 90 minutes. I didn’t have to do much while it was cutting, just checked it periodically to {carefully} brush away any tidbits that came up.

Preparing the Cricut Maker for Chipboard DIY

There are a couple of things to do before you start cutting thick materials. The first was to make sure the chipboard was secured to the mat. It’s suggested to use the StrongGrip cutting mat (the purple one) and to tape down all 4 corners of the material with masking or painter’s tape. 

Another thing to do before you start cutting is to slide the four star wheels (pictured above) all the way over to the right of the bar. Just don’t forget to move them back before you cut thinner materials like vinyl and cardstock.

Once the design has started the cutting process you can start preparing the base for your wreath. I used a 10″ styrofoam floral ring as the base and wrapped it with leftover burlap. I secured each wrap in place using a hot glue gun to keep the burlap from sliding around.

I wanted to cut out leaves using the Maker but I wasn’t feeling the colors I had available. Instead, I used decorative leaves I had on hand and some fall appropriate embellishments. Creativity is your friend here!

Once I had the design cut out I started weeding it. There were a couple of places that felt wobbly so I decided that using vinyl on top would jazz up the look and add some stability. There was also a piece that detached on the bottom right so I held that together with tape while I was putting the vinyl layer on. 

I used the red holographic vinyl from the Cricut Berry Sorbet sampler pack because it’s perfect for fall and who doesn’t love holographic vinyl?! All I had to do was re-cut the same design using a different material. Be sure to change it from Chipboard before you load the mat! I used transfer tape to line it up perfectly and burnished it using the burnishing tool to get everything securely adhered. 

From there it was just a matter of using hot glue to attach the Blessed cut-out to the wreath. Get creative with your placement and embellishments because, after all, it’s your wreath! The only limit is your imagination and will to be creative. 

Blessed Fall Wreath

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Print

Materials

• Cricut Chipboard (1.5mm)
• Cricut Red Holographic Vinyl
• 10" Foam floral ring
• Burlap
• Decorative leaves
• Embellishments

Tools

• Cricut Maker
• Strong Grip cutting mat
• Knife Blade
• Masking or Painter's tape
• Hot glue gun + glue sticks

Instructions

1. Open the Blessed design in DesignSpace. Resize it if desired and click "Make It".
2. Secure the Chipboard to the cutting mat by taping down the four corners.
3. Make sure the star wheels are slid over to the right.
4. Select Chipboard as the material in DesignSpace and start the cut.
5. Periodically check the mat for stray bits and carefully brush them away so they don't interfere with the cut process.
6. Prepare the wreath base by wrapping the foam ring in burlap and securing it with hot glue.
7. Add decorative leaves and embellishments.
8. Cut the file again using the holographic vinyl. Use transfer tape to ensure a perfect overlap and burnish the vinyl onto the chipboard.
9. Add the Blessed cut-out to the wreath and enjoy your craftsmanship!

Notes

When re-cutting the design on vinyl, be sure to change the material setting before loading the mat.

I’m incredibly happy with how my wreath came out and love how easy the Cricut Maker makes this and so many other projects. I think I’ve gotten my wreath making groove back so look forward to more of those and other Cricut crafts soon. I’ve already started making DIY Christmas crafts and it’s killing me not to share those. BUT, in the spirit of not jumping the shark, I’m holding off until after Thanksgiving. It’s hard y’all, it really is! 

If you’re still on the fence, you can read about my first time using the Maker and a comparison with the Cricut Explore Air. If you’re ready to make the leap then you can use my affiliate link by clicking here. I also highly suggest buying the knife blade and scoring wheel to start a helpful Cricut cutting tools stockpile. 

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