I made a flat Advent \”wreath\” for my kids. The first one I made was created with felt material. I added magnets to the back so it could be hung on our refrigerator during the Advent Season. After my 10 and 8 year old daughters saw it they wanted to make one, too! So we made another, this time with paper! Below are the instructions for both the paper and felt projects. These both include removable flames so they can be used year after year! 
You will need:
  • black or dark blue paper or felt (we used sparkle dark blue on our felt version)
  • purple paper or felt
  • pink paper or felt
  • green paper or felt
  • red paper or felt
  • yellow paper or felt
  • glue:
    ~hot glue if you are using felt
    ~glue stick of you are using paper
  • tape (optional)
  • purple crayon or oil pastel  OR a  purple Sharpie marker for felt
  • pink crayon or oil pastel OR red Sharpie marker for felt
  • orange crayon or oil pastel for paper OR orange Sharpie marker for felt – if you don\’t use glitter paint
  • black pipe cleaner (aka: chenille)
  • scissors
  • glitter glue if you are using paper
  • fabric paint if you are using felt (we used: gold glitter, metallic gold, and glitter red) 
First cut out your three purple candles and one pink candle. They are just simple rectangles. If you feel extra creative, add a curved top to each. 
Add glue to the back, but try not to cover the \”no-glue\” area – shown in the picture above. This middle area will need to be loose/free so you can add the \”stick\” which will hold the removable flame. This \”no-glue\” area is important for both the paper and the felt versions. 
After attaching all four candles to the background, (I used black for the paper version and dark blue with sparkles for the felt version.) Cut out a green wiggly oval to make the base of the green area.  Glue that down so it covers the bottom for the candles.
Using crayon or oil pastel create a dripping wax look to the paper version of this project.
If you are using felt, use markers to add this wax detail. I cut out a few extra felt pieces to make it look more 3-D-ish, but you could just draw on the wax drips with the markers, if you like.
Now, cut out some holly leaves. Fold a green paper or felt rectangle in half and cut out the shape that is shown in the above image on the left. If you feel that\’s too complicated just cut out long pointy evergreen-like needles and glue those on the green area below the candles. 
If you are using paper, glue down one half of the holly leaf and don\’t glue down the other half. This will make a leaf stick out and look more interesting. 
If you are using felt, glue down the center of the holly leaf and not the sides (as pictured above).

Now add a few holly berries among the greens. 

We added glitter glue as a boarder around the paper project. 
I used metallic gold fabric paint to the border of the felt project. I also used gold glitter and red glitter paint to the flames and stars which I\’ll talk about below.
Creating the Removable Flames
If you are using paper: Cut out flames from yellow paper and color them with an orange crayon or oil pastel. 
Tape or glue a small strip of black paper to the back of each flame. You may want to fold the black paper in half to make it stiffer. 
If you are using felt: I used a short piece of black pipe-cleaner (AKA: chenille) and glued it to the back of the felt flames. After that I covered the flames with red and gold glitter paint.  They look MUCH better in real life than in these pictures! 
Now you can add the flames to the top of the candle by pushing the black strip of paper into the top \”no glue\” area of the candle….
…or push the pipe cleaner into the top of the felt candles.
I created a small pocket on the back to store the flames when they are not being used. I also added magnets so it can be hung on the refrigerator. 
Above is the finished paper project.
Above is the finished felt project. I created the stars by cutting out the star shapes from yellow felt and covering them with gold and red glitter paint like I did with the flames. 
There you have it! A piece of artwork perfect for the season. The felt version could be a great heirloom!
Enjoy!
May God bless you all with joy!
~Jennifer

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3 Comments

  2. Loving!My kids are \”too old\” for this, but I'm pinning in case I ever need it in the future…for a religion class or whatnot. It's perfect, pretty and easy. And cheap!Thanks friend…hope things are going beautifully for you as advent gets underway!

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