Upcycled Croquet Mallet Head Wreath
upcycle old croquet game pieces to make a charming & nostalgic wreath. here is the step by step how to.
Vintage croquet games have seen many years of fun, and often are looking a little worse for the wear. Random pieces of a wide variety of designs have found their way into my stash, and I was determined to create something beautiful and fun from these pieces of history! In true trash to treasure style, here’s a Upcycled Croquet Mallet Head Wreath that will find you digging through junky piles, too!
Today’s project is part of a “Summer Celebration” blog hop, coordinated by Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home. If you just came from Bluesky at Home, welcome! I’m sure you enjoyed Carol’s Sunny Summer Tablescape. Make sure you visit all the rest of the inspiration down below!
Trash to Treasure
Through my many years of repurposing projects, I’ve realized that sometimes the parts are more interesting than the whole. I’ve gathered so many partial pieces of croquet sets, I decided to enjoy these pieces of history in a whole new way! The brightly colored, striped balls look fun grouped in a bowl or basket as summer decor. The handles of the croquet mallets have been repurposed into candle holders for my container plants {“Repurposed Croquet Candlestick”}. All these fun pieces can be styled together with this last piece of the repurposed vintage game!
Upcycled Croquet Mallet Head Wreath
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To condense this post, I’ve created a downloadable, printable how-to with all the pics of our process. You can grab it for FREE in my Resource Library. To get access, simple sign up HERE to become an Insider.
Upcycle Croquet Games
You’ll need 20 old croquet mallets for this upcycle project. Un-attach the handles from the heads first. The wider variety of different designs, the better! Take off the white rubber ends; they’re not very cute;)
Find partial old croquet games when you’re thrifting. Flea markets, estate sales and the curb are the best places to find them. They’ll be more expensive if you find pieces at an antique store.
Purchase 2-18″ craft forms. You can find them HERE.
Purchase fake, realistic-looking grass to cover the wreath forms. You can find it HERE.
We used THESE screws, because we had them laying around.
Refresh the Paint on the Croquet Mallet Heads
My collection of mallet heads looked pretty sad, and I wanted this project to be bright and fun, yet still show off the time-worn character. I decided to bring the colors back with a little craft paint. You’ll need the classic croquet colors like in THIS set. And some small-ish craft brushes, like THESE.
Once all the paint was dry, I sanded them lightly, just so they wouldn’t look too perfect. To seal them and bring out the beautiful patina of the old wood, I brushed on 2 coats of my favorite polyurethane (found HERE). Yep, I use this stuff on everything!
See how beautiful they’ve become?
Now that the mallet heads are ready, prepare the wreath base.
Glue Artificial Grass to Wreath Forms
I explain all these steps more thoroughly in the tutorial, but basically you create a grass wreath! It goes perfectly with croquet, right? Use a hot melt glue gun to attach faux grass to the front of the wreath forms.
Decide on Your Pattern and Attach Mallet Heads Around Wreath
Lay out your mallet heads in a desirable pattern. Go every other with longer and shorter ones, being sure to spread out similar colors.
Pre-drill mallet heads in the middle before screwing into the wreath base. The full explanation (and more pictures) is in my tutorial.
Here’s how it looks from the underside:
Are you getting excited for the reveal? I think it turned out better than it did in my head!
Vintage beauty, upcycled, refreshed and repurposed! My favorite;) Such a fun and fresh new way to enjoy this classic, nostalgic game.
Become an Insider and get FREE access to all my helpful and decorative resources!
If you’d like to create your own Repurposed Croquet Mallet Head Wreath, you can grab the FREE tutorial in my Lora B Insider’s Resource Library. By becoming an Insider, you’ll get free access to all my helpful and decorative printables (and seriously…there’s a LOT!) and stay creatively inspired with my weekly newsletters.
Find more vintage-inspired DIY projects HERE.
Check out Le Cultivatuer’s Celebration of Summer next; Emily has such beautiful, romantic style!
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Summer Celebration Blog Hop!
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Such a clever idea, Lora! And it looks fantastic hanging on your door! I am sharing your post on my Saturday share, Sonata Script, tomorrow!
I appreciate that, Missy; thanks!
This is fabulous Lora, I’m going to share it on my blog this Saturday!
Thanks, Ann! That’s awesome:)
Lora
Best wreath of all time. I am in love!
xo Lisa S
Coming from talented you, that’s a huge compliment, Lisa! Gotta say it’s one of my favorites, too;) Thanks!
Such a creative and smart way to use vintage croquet mallets! This wreath is adorable! Pinned, and thanks for sharing at TTA!
Thanks for Pinning, Julie! We’re enjoying it these last of summer days.
This was a great idea!!! You were my favorite pick for Waste Not Wednesday this week
Wonderful! Thanks Deborah! I will pop over on Wed! Glad you enjoyed it!
I absolutely love this project Lora! Such a fabulous repurpose of those lovely mallet heads.
Thanks, Tuula! This might be one of my favorites;)
Wow Lora – this is simply genius! You always come up with such beautiful and creative wreaths. Thanks so much for sharing it at Farmhouse Friday and so happy to be hopping with you!
Thanks, Michelle! These blog hops just bring out the creative juices, don’t they? So fun to see what my creative friends come up with!
Such a cute idea for a wreath, Lora and creative repurpose of old croquet mallets!
Thanks, Marie! It just brings a smile to my face everyday;)
You are so creative! Your wreath is adorable and perfect for greeting summer guests! Enjoy these last weeks of summer!!!
This is so brilliant! I love seeing the imagination and creativity like this come to fruition in such a successful way! This is so wonderful, and perfect for celebrating all that is summer, including those special backyard games!
Thanks, Chloe! Kind of makes you want to theme a whole party around croquet, doesn’t it? Oooh, that could be pretty fun…;)
This is so creative and right up my vintage loving alley!! I agree with Amber that this needs to show up in a magazine.
Thanks, Paula! Well, if I could get my marketing and publicity hat on…;)
This is so creative and clever, Lora! I really love this. It looks like it was meant to be on that blue door, too. I always enjoy seeing your repurposed projects. They inspire me to think more creatively. I hope you’re sharing this at Tuesday Turn About. Pinning!
I’m so glad I inspire you to think more creatively, Crissy! I want to help people “See potential, so you can create the unique”. My heart smiles if that is happening! Thanks for pinning!
I Love this so much!! Such a great idea!!
Karin
Glad you enjoyed it, Karin! Thanks!
Lora, this is the cutest. I would have never thought of making a wreath out of croquet mallets. You are so darn clever! It’s a joy to see what you create.
Thanks, Carol! Hopefully it will save some vintage game parts!
That is just the most adorable wreath.
You are so clever.
Thanks, Carol!
Lora what an amazing door décor. I am loving this neat idea. How pretty and fun is this!!!??? I am so inspired to go find me some of those and make one. Happy August
Hope you can find some easily, Terrie! You totally have the skills to pull this one off!
Lora you never cease to amaze me with your creative projects, and this one is a real winner! I just know this will turn up in a magazine!
I love decorating with all parts of old croquet sets for summer. The wreath is fab! I love how you freshened the mallets up without taking away from the vintage appeal.
The garage area is just too too cute! Love it all!
Thank you so much for celebrating summer with us!
Thanks for your sweet compliments, Amber;) I’ve always loved the different varieties and designs of these old games, and this project really celebrates them! Guess I just can’t let these bits of history end up in a landfill! It would make a pretty cute magazine cover, wouldn’t it?? #goals
What an adorable and creative idea! Love it! Hope you are enjoying your summer.
Shelley
Thanks, Shelley! I am enjoying my summer, but am ready for a relief from the heat! Fall is definitely more my groove;)
If I could bottle that imagination of yours no telling what else we could come up with. Love how all the colors mingle together on the wreath. So perfect for summer!
Thanks, Michelle! Yes, if I could just bottle it up and make my millions, wouldn’t that be nice? Guess I’m more of a starving artist:( But I’m having fun creating, and hopefully inspiring others to do the same!
Just pinned it, this is one of the most fun vintage makeovers EVER! you’re so clever with vintage goodies, love your fun style!
Coming from your talented self, that’s a huge compliment, Debra! Thanks so much:) Vintage junk just calls to me, I guess. Everything, anything (and anybody) can be recreated;)
How cute is this?! I can see this on a cabin door just for the color alone. I love it. Hope you remember me when you’re on the cover of Country Living Magazine! Pinned.
Boy, would that satisfy a dream, Cindy! It would be adorable on a cabin door, but I’m not parting with it anytime soon;) Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for pinning.
This is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Genius and adorable.
You are too kind, Katie! This one’s been rolling around in my head for awhile; nice to get it out in the open;) This late summer hop was the perfect deadline!
Oh my word, how fun and genius is this. I love the wreath and the surrounds croquet display. This just screams summer fun to me.
You’re right, it does scream summer, Marty! Thanks!
You constantly blow my mind with your creativity, Lora! I love this repurposed wreath so much. Your entire back door area is so warm and inviting. I just love it! Hope you’re having a great summer. Hugs, CoCo
You’re too sweet, Coco;) And yes, this addition to the garage door makes the utilitarian space so much more bearable!
Lora I just luv this idea🙌🏻
Thanks, Ann!
As one who grew up playing croquet, I love this project and makes your area so unique! The green awning is icing on the cake.
Glad you enjoyed it, Connie! We grew up playing croquet at the cabin with all the cousins, so it holds fond memories for me, too;)
Lora, what a fun wreath! I love your whole back door entry! Blessings, Cecilia @ My Thrift Store Addiction
Thanks, Cecilia! Fun to get this one out of my head and into real life!