DIY Owl Wreath Craft (Using Recycled Materials)

This charming owl wreath is made from recycled stuff you can find around the house. Grab an old grapevine wreath, old canning jar lids, and more to make your own one-of-a-kind garden art owl.

Love owls? There are 14 Owl-Inspired Garden Art & Craft Ideas here.

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How To Make An Owl Wreath

Greetings owl fans! This craft project makes use of materials you probably already have at home or can find at a thrift shop or yard sale.

It starts with an old grapevine wreath. While I have suggested various ideas for creating the owl face and body, I encourage you to use what you have—stuff that sits unused or is headed for the trash—and come up with your own design. There’s no right or wrong way—if it looks like a cute owl to you—go for it!

Materials & Supplies

Some of the links go to stores like Amazon to show you what I’ve used, but the goal (of course) is to make use of stuff already on hand that would otherwise go in the trash.

Eyes & Beak

• 2 canning jar lids (rims and inserts)
• 1 (18″) zipper (I used a navy-blue metal, open-end / separating zipper)

Body

• 1 grapevine wreath (the one I used is 15″ in diameter, measured at the outside edges)
• corrugated cardboard (for the belly)
• burlap (hessian, jute) fabric (enough to cover the cardboard belly)
• stuffing (wool or polyester)

Wings

• corrugated cardboard (2 wings)
• burlap fabric (to cover wings)

Details

• acorns (optional)
• small tree branch (optional)

Tools & Other Supplies

• Hot glue and glue dispenser or other thick adhesive (for eyes, beak, and attaching belly, wings, and acorns to wreath)
• Stapler (to attach burlap to back of belly)
• Mod Podge (to attach burlap to wings)
• Paint brush (to apply Mod Podge)
• Wire (to attach branch and hang wreath)
• Scissors (to cut cardboard)
• Pencil (to draw shapes to cut out)
• Tin snips (to cut notches in canning jar rims)

Related: 12 Practical Uses for Burlap in the Garden (plus craft & décor ideas)

Assembly

1Owl Eyes & Beak

• Cut a notch in each jar rim (this will hold the zipper end in place, forming the eye brows).
• Place the lid upside-down in the rim and glue it in place, dabbing glue where it won’t be visible.
• Separate the zipper into two pieces (you may need to cut off the end stop to remove the zipper pull).
• To form the eyes, place hot glue along the zipper fabric (except for the last 3-4″) and roll up in a spiral (working clockwise). Hold until glue dries. I used tweezers to hold it in place so I wouldn’t burn my fingers with the hot glue.
• Repeat for the 2nd eye but roll it counter-clockwise (so the eyes are mirror images of each other).

• Attach the zipper eyes to the canning jar lids with hot glue. Thread the zipper ends through the rim notches. You may want a dab of hot glue to hold them in place.
• Attach zipper pull (beak) to eyes with hot glue (or other adhesive).

2Owl Body

The owl body is formed by attaching a piece of cardboard with burlap and stuffing to the back of the wreath.

• Cut a round piece of corrugated cardboard slightly larger than the opening in the middle of the wreath.
• Cut a piece of burlap about 2″ bigger than the cardboard.
• Form a stuffing pancake slightly smaller than the opening of the wreath.
• Staple the burlap to the cardboard, leaving about 1/3 open on one side. The staples will be hidden by the wreath.
• Place the stuffing under the burlap (on the good side of the cardboard) and adjust so it looks like a nice, round belly. 
• Apply hot glue in globs around the front edge of the belly cardboard and attach to the back of the wreath (so the burlap / stuffing belly shows through the opening in the wreath).

3Owl Wings

• Cut out two cardboard wings in the shape shown. Make them a size that looks right on your wreath.
• Cut out two pieces of burlap, slightly larger than each cardboard wing.
• Apply a thick layer of Mod Podge to the cardboard and press burlap onto it.
  If your cardboard is different colors, be sure to choose the side that would look ok showing through the burlap.
• Cover burlap in more Mod Podge and allow to dry according to product instructions.
• When dry, cut off excess burlap, trimming around the shape of the cardboard.

4Wreath Details

Add embellishments to the wreath however you like. Ideas include seasonal touches, ribbons, bows, leaves, or leaves.

• I attached some acorns with hot glue and hung a branch with a piece of wire at the bottom of the wreath.

5Assemble Your Owl

• I hot glued everything together. Hot glue does have a tendency to lose its bond in extreme weather so keep this in mind.
• Alternately, you could use floral wire or GE Silicone II to hold all the pieces together (wings to wreath, belly to wreath, eyes to wreath).
• Add a hanger to the back if needed (wire loop or anything you have that works).

More Ideas

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛