land of cotton

I wear my years spent living in the Mississippi Delta as a badge of honor. I never thought I’d like it. I spent my first few weeks there bored, lonely and homesick, but after getting to know some great people, my entire outlook changed. There’s no place like it in all the world – the music, the food, the people and the parties make it truly “the most Southern place on Earth.” And I love to get my hands on any and every reminder of it I can find.

Enter my most recent craft project! I’ve been wanting to make a wreath from cotton for a long time, and thanks to my sweet MIL (again!), I got the most important of supplies – real, genuine cotton from a Delta field! I finally sat down on Saturday and completed my newest piece of Delta nostalgia. Here’s how it all went down:

What I used:
Foam wreath (I got mine from Michaels, but Wal-Mart has them, too)
Dark brown spray paint
Hot glue gun + glue sticks
A big nail
Plenty of cotton – still in the bolls
Floral wire
Wired ribbon

How I did it:
I spray painted the foam wreath with the dark brown spray paint so that any open spots wouldn’t be noticeable. I had to do several coats to make sure it was well-covered. Next, I went through the cotton I had on hand and cut the stems short and hot glued any loose or wayward cotton back onto the star-shaped part that holds the cotton itself (I guess a farmer or an expert could tell me exactly what it’s called, but a quick Google search didn’t). I used the nail to poke holes in the foam so the stem would go in easily. Squirt a little hot glue into the nail hole, and insert the stem. Hold it in for just a few seconds until the glue cools a bit and repeat until the whole wreath is covered. (I didn’t put the bolls as close together as I could have because I wanted to be able to see a little of the brown leaves peeking out). Make you a little bow from the ribbon and wire it to the wreath. Voila!

What do you think of the finished product? Do you love the Delta, too?