Friday, September 28, 2012

My Fall Wreath

I LOVE Fall!  It is by far my favorite season.  I love the chill in the air, getting to wear my boots again, the leaves changing color, the smell of bonfires, football (WAR EAGLE!), making & eating delicious soups, going to corn mazes - haunted or not haunted, baking apple pies (Seth's favorite), picking out pumpkins, going hiking, and roasting s'mores. What's not to love about all of that?

I also love decorating my house for my favorite season.  We still have many boxes that we haven't even begun to unpack and I am nowhere near the hanging pictures/art stage, but I can't let fall come and go without some new decor around the house.  I think I'm going to tackle a new wreath, a tablescape for the dining room, and something for our mantel (which we don't have yet, so I guess mantel decor will only happen if we make it and put it up before fall is over).  I started with the wreath.  I pinned this page of amazing Fall wreaths on Pinterest months ago and have been dying to make one ever since.


I especially love the yarn wreaths that everyone is making these days - like the first wreath on row #2.  LOVE IT.  I love the colors, the nod to argyle, and the all around look of it. So, I used this wreath as my inspiration.  

Supplies that I used:
  • styrofoam wreath form (the largest I could find was 16")
  • spray adhesive (already owned but probably could have just used the glue gun for the whole project)
  • jute twine (already owned)
  • orange yarn
  • felt in brown, green, and orange
  • felt in white (already owned)
  • faux acorns (already owned)
  • glue gun (already owned)
  • ribbon for hanging (already owned)

I thought my inspiration wreath was wrapped in twine and I had some on hand so that is what I decided to use for mine.  (Turns out she actually used brown yarn, but I like how the twine gives mine a bit of a rustic feel.)  I started by wrapping my wreath form with the twine, spraying with the adhesive every so often as I went along.  (Note: I would recommend purchasing a straw wreath form as they are thicker and more substantial than the styrofoam one that I purchased.  If you are going to wrap it, leave the plastic on otherwise the straw will probably go everywhere.  I wish I had done this, because mine looks a little thin and puny.  Oh, well.  You live and learn.)  Wrapping the wreath was the most time-consuming, monotonous part.  It took me around 1.5 hours.  I don't do well with monotonous tasks like that, so I did half one day and finished it the next day.  


When I was almost done, I ran out of twine.  So, I set out for Joann's and came home with more.  It was actually about twice as thick as my original twine, but it's not super noticeable.  As hard as I try, nothing I make is ever going to go as planned or turn out perfectly, so I'm learning to stop agonizing over it and just expect it and live with it.



I used the fun orange yarn to create my "X" or argyle-esque pattern (again, not perfect).



Then I got to work making some felted flowers.  I watched this tutorial first since I was a felt flower first-timer.  I randomly glued on the flowers and acorns (except I did make sure to cover up the small, odd-looking "X") and ended up with this.




Here it is hanging on our front door.  The door knocker, house numbers, and other yucky brass hardware will be gone one day - whenever we get around to painting the front door that is.  Now I can't wait to buy some pumpkins and other fun Fall things for the porch.



Is anyone else absolutely in love with Fall like I am?  Are you making any Fall decor for your home?

2 comments:

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions...