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Nautical Compass Wreath for Summer

I love having a wreath on my door. And as we have been spending a lot more time outside I realized I haven’t updated my wreath for summer. I still had my Monogrammed Moss spring wreath on the door. I guess moss and butterflies are great for summer too, but I always love to go nautical for summer.

I guess since I can’t live on the beach, at least I can surround myself with beach inspired decoration and then I won’t feel so bad. Probably not, but I’ll keep trying. So this week I made this Nautical Compass Wreath for our summer door.

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I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

I love anchors and whales and all things nautical. I actually bought an anchor last year on clearance that I was planning on using for a wreath this year. But as I was looking at nautical stuff for another idea I came across a nautical compass and my brain just put it into a wreath. Ever since then, I have been wanting to make this wreath.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

I wanted to make it simple, a nautical compass has a ring around the compass so it was perfect for a round wreath. I had recently loaded up on pool noodles at the dollar store (I always buy 10 at the beginning of the summer because I know I can use them) and so I decided to start with a pool noodle ring for the wreath form. I love using $1 pool noodles for wreath forms, so much cheaper than buying actual wreath forms.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Then to make my compass to sit on top of the ring, I had some left over pieces of 1/4 inch plywood. It was nothing fancy, and 1/4″ plywood is super light so perfect for a wreath. Once I figures out the basics, it was time to get to work. I apologize for the dark tutorial pictures, I was crafting at night because we have been having too much fun doing summer things during the day.

I love nautical decoration for summer! You can make this fun nautical compass wreath out of a pool noodle, old t-shirt and some wood scraps! It's the perfect way to decorate your door this summer. | Housefulofhandmade.com

To make the compass shape, I made a template that was 1/4 of the design. You can download the template here if you want to make your own wreath. The 1/4 of the design fit on one piece of paper with just a little bit of piecing together so it worked nice. I printed it on cardstock and then cut it out. Then I traced it on the scrap of plywood 4 times so it was the full compass design.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

To cut out the compass, I used my jigsaw. I found it easiest to clamp the plywood down to the table so it didn’t jump too much. Then cut from the tip toward the center on each spoke of the compass.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Take it slow and then it’ll be all cut out and ready to sand. I sanded the edges by hand, the 1/4″ plywood is a little fragile so sanding by hand is best. And you can see here that I did not learn my lesson last year and am still using power tools while wearing flip flops… I’ll probably never learn!

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

After sanding I added a coat of stain to the compass. I just used some left over stain I had on hand.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Then it was time to add the nautical compass design to the top. I used a very scientific method to draw circles on it… bowls. I found a bowl that was about the size I needed and just centered it on the compass then traced around it.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Then I added another circle with a smaller bowl, and finally the smallest circle was made by tracing around a lotion cap. Nothing too specific, just sizes of items I had lying around.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

I also made lines from the center of each of the 4 large points to the middle with a ruler.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Then I painted the white design on top of the compass with a small paint brush and some left over white paint (the same paint I used to paint my baseboards). It took 2 coats, I thinned the second coat down a little bit so it would go on nice and smooth.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

While this dried, I made the wreath. I wanted to make the wreath navy because I love navy for summer and I knew it would look awesome on my green front door! The wood and navy would really pop on the green.

I had an old navy t-shirt of my husbands that was in the recycle pile in my craft room. I cut it into 8″ strips and sewed them together until I had one 60″ long strip. Then I sewed it together so I had a long tube. I turned the tube so the seams were inside and then I threaded it onto the pool noodle.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Once the knit tube was completely on the pool noodle, it was time to turn it into a ring. I prefer using the really fancy craft tool: packing tape. Just run a few strips around the seam and it’ll stay together really well.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Then push the tube back so it covers the entire noodle. Secure the two seams to the pool noodle with some hot glue. I secured the two open ends all the way around because I wanted it to be secure enough for me to attach the wood compass on top of it without it moving.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

I put the compass on top of the wreath and realized I needed something more to it. I had some rope left over from my Nautical Art Display Wall so I decided to add another layer to the nautical compass wreath.

I used #12 eye hooks I bought at the Home Depot. They were easy to poke through the knit fabric and then into the pool noodle. They don’t need to be able to hold a lot of weight, just a little bit. I added 8 of them around the center of the wreath.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Then I threaded the rope through the hooks and glued the ends together so the seam would be behind one of the spokes of the compass. Then I glued the compass on top of the wreath, centering it up nicely. And I glued a second piece of rope onto the back to hang the wreath while I was at it. I love myself some hot glue!

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Then all that was left was to hang it on my green door and admire my handy work.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

I really love how it turned out and it was super easy. Now I need to find some other way to use the anchor I bought last year.

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

I love nautical decoration for summer! Make this fun nautical compass wreath to decorate your door with this year. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Are you a fan of nautical inspired design? I think it’s just perfect for pool days and all things summer.

-Kati with picture of blog author Kati

 

 

I love nautical decoration for summer! You can make this fun nautical compass wreath out of a pool noodle, old t-shirt and some wood scraps! It's the perfect way to decorate your door this summer. | Housefulofhandmade.com

Dee

Friday 17th of June 2016

What a unique wreath -- love it! Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday. :)

Kati Farrer

Sunday 26th of June 2016

Thank you Dee!

Marie

Wednesday 15th of June 2016

I love nautical decor ideas and this is incredible! Adding the rope is such an inspired touch. Can't wait to make one for my house!

Kati Farrer

Thursday 16th of June 2016

Thanks Marie. The rope I think really makes it look finished. If you get a chance to make one, I'd love to see pictures!

Celeste

Friday 10th of June 2016

This is so super cute! One of the neatest wreaths I've ever seen! This is perfect for summer. I just love that compass in the center!

Kati Farrer

Tuesday 14th of June 2016

Thanks so much Celeste! It definitely makes me think of summer :)

Robin

Thursday 9th of June 2016

Kati, this is one of the cutest door wreaths I've ever seen! I am also a sucker for nautical decor. It really looks awesome against your green door. Love it!

Kati Farrer

Friday 10th of June 2016

Thanks so much Robin! I am ready to change my whole house to look like a beach house for the summer :)

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