Thanksgiving Wreaths

 I'm kind of picky about the crafts my kids do while at school. Since they are adults, I want them to do crafts that adults would do. In my 10 years of teaching I have never had a crayon in my classroom. Now, we have markers and colored pencils, but there's just something about having them coloring that I feel is doing them an injustice. I want them to feel like the adults they are when they are in my room, and even though I do enjoy an occasional coloring with my granddaughter, I would prefer we keep them out of the classroom.

I found this idea to make these autumn wreaths from another teacher in my program and decided it would be great for my kids to do. I went to Walmart, where material is around $2.50 a yard and bought 2/3 of a yard of 5 different fall colored materials and some wire hangers (10 for $1.58). All together I spent about 15.00 dollars which included the burlap for the bows. Pretty cheap right? I cut all the material in 7" by 1 1/2" strips and helped the kids bend the hangers into a wreath shape. They figured the pattern they were going to use and we got going putting them together.

Unfortunately, 2/3 yard of 5 materials is only enough to do 5 wreaths, so I did have to head back to the store and buy more. So much for this being a cheap craft, huh? All of my kids except for one was able to do the tying with zero help. One of my boys just couldn't seem to do it so I had him following the pattern and handing the right colored strip to his aide and she tied them onto the wire. We had the kids help make the bows, glued and tied them to the hanger, and sent them home to hang! I love the way they turned out, and the kids were so proud of their work! All together I used 1 and 2/3 yards of 5 different material. This was enough to make 12 wreaths.