Easy Chevron Wood Slice Fall Wreath

I kept our fall wreath pretty simple this year.

I started with a straw wreath form (the same one that I used for our Spring wreath) and wrapped it with chevron ribbon that I found at Hobby Lobby.  

Seth cut me some thin (~1/4" thick) wood slices from a dead tree in our yard that I drilled holes in and connected with jewelry wire.

I used a wood burning tool to burn the letters to spell "fall" onto the wood slices.

I added a simple burlap bow and called it done.

The front porch isn't 100% finished for fall yet, but I'll post pics soon.  

Have a great week!

Christmas Inspiration: Wreaths

I LOVE Christmas.  It is absolutely, without a doubt, my favorite holiday.  I've been immersed in Pinterest inspiration for the past couple of weeks and just made purchases at the local craft stores for some materials to start my Christmas crafting.  Here are some of the wreaths that I've fallen for.

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I love how Sarah kept things simple with her boxwood wreath by just adding some gold dots.

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I've been wanting to make a wood slice wreath since Laura from Finding Home debuted her first one this Fall.  There is a big branch sitting in our carport waiting for me.  I'm hoping I can start on it this weekend.

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I love the softness that this feather boa wreath brings to Chris' Christmas Mantel.  You can find the tutorial here.  

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Since I already have a grapevine wreath form, I thought this might be an easy (and cheap) way to change it out for Christmas.

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Virginia made this ornament wreath for only $10!!!  Her tutorial inspired me to look for inexpensive ornaments at our local dollar stores.

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For a modern take on an ornament wreath, look no further than these PVC pipe wreath tutorials.  I really like them but I'm not sure I'm going to take the time to make one this year.  Maybe I'll feel more ambitious next year.

I'm going to make two wreaths this year - one for our front door and one for our back door.  We always enter through the back carport door and I'd like to have something festive to look at when I'm going in and out.  I deserve that, right?

As for other project news, our shutters are assembled and sanded!  We hope to paint them (and maybe possibly install them???) this weekend.  So keep your eyes out for the second installment of our exterior facelift.

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?