cremation urn wreath

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angelalovesart

angelalovesart

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Oct 3, 2006
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help!! i have seen this done before-its from Teleflora, but I dont remember exactly how to actually create it.
we broke a wreath in two but how do i reinforce the joint?
we are going to put in some cowee picks into the foam and thru the paper backside-but dont I need to put something on the back?
please help this leaves our shop Monday AM!!!
(of course it was just ordered sat)
thanks!
 
You don't break it - you put 2 candles in something to hold them up then you melt and bend it 90 degrees, after cutting the foam part so it doesn't break you melt the plastic to bending temperature, moving it back and forth over the candles. (obviously this doesn't work unless your wreath ring has a plastic back, not mache like some are.)

We make them all the time and wow are they beautiful!

I do believe we learned this from our good friend J Schwanke.
 
Angela, if it is a "standard" single person urn about 12" square or so we don't break our wreath, we use an 18" mache backed oasis ring and set the urn in the center. If it isn't a tall urn, we put a piece of 2" green styro in the center for the urn to sit on. I have a picture of the one I did for my mother in law's service last August in the members photos area. It was done with alstromeria as that was her favorite flower but I have done them with many things (even the teleflora wooden decoy duck).
 
I'm confused.... I have done a lot of these wreath/urn things... but you lose me when you say your broke the ring..

Please elaborate
 
Someone makes the 1/2 wreath rings, possibly this may be what you would need if you don't want to "embrace" the urn.
 
ugh, i wish i could draw you a picture

it would be so much easier...
i snipped the sides of the mache ring thinking i could just bend the back (the mache support) and it would just hang but alas, the mache was not as strong as i thought it might be.
now i am left with two seperate half rings (24" ring) and im at a loss to how i will reconnect them. (of course it was the last oasis wreath in house)
the urn/box sits on the edge of a table-one side of the ring "sits" behind the urn and the other half swags underneath the table, it is supposed to look like an uninterrupted "soft" wreath.
thanks for all of your help!
 
angelalovesart said:
it would be so much easier...
i snipped the sides of the mache ring thinking i could just bend the back (the mache support) and it would just hang but alas, the mache was not as strong as i thought it might be.
now i am left with two seperate half rings (24" ring) and im at a loss to how i will reconnect them. (of course it was the last oasis wreath in house)
the urn/box sits on the edge of a table-one side of the ring "sits" behind the urn and the other half swags underneath the table, it is supposed to look like an uninterrupted "soft" wreath.
thanks for all of your help!
Click to expand...

First why didn't you just glue a block of styrofoam to the under side -- the back side of the wreath.

Second you could have built up the arrangement by using the flowers. You could start low at the center and front of the ring and gradually work your flowers up and around to the back, thus creating a backdrop.

Now, all is not lost. I assume you only have one ring. If so make sure the rings are well saturated with water. Then arrange your flowers around the front half, keeping them low. The back half ring can be elevated -- angled forward by gluing some styrofoam underneath it.

or

You can leave the back half lie flat on the table and build your flowers up and around

Don't sweat it that you broke the wreath in half.... MOX NIX

Just do it

Joe
 
k-looks like im going to stick to the cowee picks thru two foam pieces and then attach a piece of heavy (fabric) to the back and staple it a million times to keep the two halves together.
unless someone has a better idea....?? :hammer:
 
Probably too late for this, but how about construction adhesive? Comes in a tube like caulking, could maybe be used to reattach mache pieces at "hinge". Not sure if it would stick to the wet areas though. If you are stapling fabric to the back of the mache, don't forget to put some pan melt glue over the staples to prevent water leaking onto the mortuary's table. My sympathies are with you. I hope this all works out OK!
 
angelalovesart said:
k-looks like im going to stick to the cowee picks thru two foam pieces and then attach a piece of heavy (fabric) to the back and staple it a million times to keep the two halves together.
unless someone has a better idea....?? :hammer:
Click to expand...

I think I missunderstood what you are trying to accomplish with my earlier posts.

If you are placing one half 90 degrees to the other half, you need to make some ribs.

Take some heavy wire, like a coat hanger or something even heavier, and hot glue them to the bottom of the mache. The heavier the better.

Turrn the wreath upside down, and reattach the two halves with 6 pieces of heavy wire. Straddle the wires across one half of the broken heart and hot glue the wire to the paper mache form. Bend the wire 90 degrees. Repeat this process for the other half.

Then take 3 hyacinth stakes and place them parrallell to the wires on the oasis side of the wreath. The hyacinth stakes are only as long as your broken half of the ring. Do not extend them beyond the broken part. Repeat this step for the other half.

Then wrap thin oasis tape around the diameter the wreath, hyacinth stakes and glued wire. That wreath isn't going anywhere.

For added insurance, place the form on a piece of styrofoam and anchor the horizontal half of the wreath to the sytrofoam. Then place the vertical piece of wreath on the styro and now anchor that piece down using bamboo stakes. Drive the bamboo (or hyacinth stake) into the styro. The bamboo stake will act as a back rest for the vertical part of the wreath.

Hide the mechanics of the sytrofoam with fabric or angle the greenry down.

HTH
Joe
 
Just one more word of caution about this kind of design. Be careful that the weight of the hanging part of the wreath does not outweigh the sitting part. That was a problem that we encountered once. We used a wreath with a papier-mache back, but I cannot remember exactly how we bent it without breaking it in two. Very carefully and slowly bending and bending after cutting slits into the sides, rims, of the papier-mache.
 
It's so funny this question was posted recently because I just had to do one of these yesterday. I used the plastic backed wreath form, took out the foam, snipped the sides and hubby used a candle flame to heat the plastic and bend it 90 degrees (torch was at home or else he would have used that). I had about 2/3 of the wreath on the table and 1/3 hanging over. It sat perfectly balanced. Of course, it didn't turn out as beautifully as the pix, but I think it was OK. I wasn't sure how I was going to trasport it though. Luckily I am within walking distance of the funeral home but it was a bit cold for the flowers so I was actually able to have them ride on the front seat of the van like a passenger! Worked great! Thanks to this post I had the confidence to make this piece. HOWEVER, next time I might just suggest we use the wreath flat and just make the flowers taller in back--I don't know if the customer really studied the mechanics all that well anyway.
 
thanks joe!

i just thought i would write in to let you know how it went...
i put three holes thru the mache backing two of them held hyacinth stakes and the other i bent a piece of wire (per joe's suggestion) at a 90 degree angle and that held the bottom (swag) in place without it bouncing around. then we put a ton of waterproof tape on it in a figure 8 shape around both "arms." it was delivered and it held up!!! (I hope the family wasnt wanting to transport it) just wanted to let everyone know how it went if, god forbid, you must make one.
 
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