When I first had the idea for to make a wreath, it was fall and there were leaves turning beautiful oranges, yellows, and golden browns. I envisioned an opossum in the midst of all of these beautiful colors. However, the best laid plans don’t always work out, and I ended up postponing the wreath until the spring. Obviously this needed a massive color shift in my designing to incorporate a little bit more fun and cheerfulness to bring in the new year.
In making my Opossum Wreath (free pattern available via Benzie Design) I was very inspired by all the beautiful pom pom colors that Benzie Design offers. There are many different options, but this collection struck my fancy as it featured easterly pastels with the early colors of our first spring flowers, crocuses, and daffodils.
When I finally sat down to design the wreath, I thought it would be rather simple. When I tried to make different shapes work within the wreath structure, I discovered that my job was a little bit more complex than I previously believed. Thankfully I like solving these kinds of issues. My instinct was to have him dangle from the wreath by his tail but this didn’t feel integrated enough with the wreath. After much deliberation, I decided to make the opossum sit inside the wreath and hold onto it from the back with its tail draped sweetly into the curve of the wreath.
In the end I was really pleased with how bright and colorful the wreath turned out. The pom-poms are playful and easy to glue on with a hot glue gun – no sewing required! Overall, I kept this project as simple as possible so that even a beginner could attempt the project for themselves. With easy stitches like the running stitch and a fill stitch like the satin stitch this project is simple to complete with only minimal embroidery or sewing skills.
This marks my fifth project in collaboration with Benzie Design and my next to last project as one of the 2025 maker team. I’ve had so much fun so far designing projects for this wonderful company. I love using their supplies and I feel like my creations have seen significant improvement in both quality and creativity since joining their team. While I am not looking forward to ending this current relationship I know that I will have many good experiences with Benzie in the future. I have saved a very special project for my sixth and final project for Benzie and I look forward to its upcoming release. (It is a bit magical.)
Cry The Bird 