Autumn Wreaths

The weather is cooling down and I am waiting for the leaves to start changing. Ready for fall to arrive. Yesterday I put up the fall wreaths. It is September, so it isn't too early for that, right? One wreath I already had and the other was a quick make.

Here is the one that I made last night. It was super easy, quick, and cheap. Those three things go together quite well if you ask me. It only cost me a grand total of $4.00 + tax. All supplies from the Dollar Store. Here is the list of what I used:

• Round foam wreath form, now this is a bit small, I think it was 9", so if you want something bigger you will need to use something else.
• One spool of burlap ribbon, one spool was 3 yrds., and it exactly covered the whole wreath form. If you want a bow or more ribbon, you will need two spools.
• Two bunches of fall flowers, I cut them apart and rearranged them to give them a fuller look. 
• Small piece of leftover ribbon that I already had to make a loop to hang the wreath with. 
• Glue gun to attach the flower and secure the ends of the ribbon. 

There you have it. Wreaths are way overpriced in the store and you can make your own for much cheaper. The decoration that I put on the other door was something that I had made a few years ago, for FREE. I made it when I wanted something autumn decor-ish to put up, but didn't have extra money to buy stuff to make anything.

Here is what I used and how I made it.

• Small sticks that I picked up from the yard. just broke them to make them the right size. Bundled four together and secured them with floral wire. Then glued the bundles together at the corners, like a picture frame.
• Piece of a paper bag. Cut it into the size of square that I needed to fit inside the stick frame. Hand wrote our last name on it and then filled it in with a black sharpie. Glued the paper onto the back side of the sticks.
• Leftover fake fall leaves and a piece of ribbon. Hot glued the leaves to the sticks and the ribbon to the back of the sticks. 

Using leftover materials, it was all FREE!

Happy Fall Crafting!

Spring Wreaths

It is Spring. It doesn't feel like Spring here yet. Easter is one week away and we may all be wearing winter coats while hunting for eggs. I want it to be Spring feeling right now! I have noticed some cute Spring and Easter wreaths springing up (excuse the pun) on doors lately. I love the look of a wreath on a door. It makes the home look a little more put together, lived in, and welcoming. I didn't have any Spring wreaths for my doors. In fact all I have is Fall and Christmas.

Last night I decided to solve this problem and put together some Spring wreaths. Gerrit was gone and I had drank a big mug of coffee too late in the day, so I had plenty of energy and would be up for a while. I did a quick perusal of Pinterest for some inspiration. There are a ton of great ideas for wreaths on there. Then I pulled out my craft suicase. Yes, I have an old suitcase that is full of my crafty type stuff. I would prefer a sewing / craft room, but not sure where to fit that in my house. After looking through my stuff I just started putting together some wreaths.

The first one turned out really cute.

First, I took a thin old plastic wreath frame that I had and covered it with strips of paper from a brown paper bag. I just cut off the bottom of the bag and cut it into strips. Crinkled those strips up and then flattened them out and wrapped them around the wreath frame, gluing them down as I went. Then, I added some big flowers. It is was cute and simple as it was, but need something more. I think that garland pennant look that is popular right now is cute. So, I made some with ribbon and scrap paper. Glued that onto the wreath, added a bit of ribbon and a small bow to the top, and that was it. 

I have two entrance doors, so I needed two wreaths. Thus, the second wreath.

I need a base for the wreath, so I searched around and came up with a piece of cardboard. Cut it into an oval, could have made it round, but wanted something a little different. Covered it with some white felt. Then glued on some leaves, flowers, a bow, and ribbon to hang it. That was it. Pretty simple if you ask me. Funny side note, when I look at a picture of this wreath it sort of reminds me of a toilet seat with flowers on it. Oh well, it is staying on my door for now. 

 After making these wreaths I have come to this conclusion; you can make a wreath or door decoration out of all kinds of stuff. Just take a look around your house and see what you can find to use. Browse the internet for some inspiration, and get crafty. I think I will now challenge myself to make door decor for each season simply from stuff that I find around my house. These wreaths were basically FREE because that it what I did. I didn't buy any extra supplies. It was a fun, quick, and free project.