Welcoming Fall

Oops!  Didnt' mean to take a blog-y break!  I have a big project stealing all my time, but I can't share just quite yet ;)

I did get some of my crafting mojo back today though.  The change of seasons always means a change of front door decor, and big project or not I couldn't let Fall arrive with a Summer wreath on my door!

I went onto Pinterest and found this wreath which became my inspiration- http://pinterest.com/pin/207024914093883744/.  I love this wreath, but when I got to Joanns and was looking at the flowers the green and cream suddenly seemed to say Spring instead of Fall, so I changed it up a bit.

 

I started off with a wreath form from Walmart, and wrapped it with some burlap from Joanns.  Just a little hot glue on the backside of the wreath to (hopefully) make the burlap stick.  Those grapevine wreaths are tricky- so many holes between the twigs make attaching things hard.  Oh, and I trimmed all the little bits off the wreath.  What can I say, I like my natural twig wreaths to look nice and uniform :)

 

Next up was to trim the hydrangea blossoms off the long stalks so I could attach them to the wreath.  I just put a bunch of hot glue on the stem and shoved it down into the wreath.  So far it seems to be holding/working.

 

Ta-da!  The finished (I think) wreath!  Of course, it is too heavy and pulls the hook off my door, so I can't put it up until I buy a real wreath hook tomorrow (I have been getting away with using a command hook with magnets glued to the back for the last year).  I say I "think" I'm finished because I am very tempted to add our last name initial to personalize the wreath a bit.  On the one hand I like the flowers just on one side... but on the other I like things symmetrical (and the hubby definitely likes symmetry).  I think the letter on the other side would balance it out a bit.  



Rag Wreath (tutorial)

Easter is over and therefore my Easter tutu wreath needed to come off the door.  I have a board on Pinterest of wreath ideas and decided that a rag wreath would be my next project.  I pulled out bunches and bunches of fabric scraps with the plan to make a pink/purple/green/yellow/orange/summer-y wreath but as I looked at my fabrics my plans changed.  I spotted a stacks of nautical fabrics instead- red, white, blue, navy, gray, perfect for summer and for the patriotic holidays during this time of the year as well. 

I started by cutting my fabric strips into 4"x1" strips (mostly because my fabric was already cut into 4" blocks).  Sorry, no photos of this part, but I'm sure you can manage it without photos :)

 

I grabbed two strips and made an X, then put a pin in the middle.

Insert the pin into a foam wreath form and push it into the form- it will help the fabric stand up a bit.  Also, on my last wreath I cut my wreath form in half to get two for the price of one- don't do that with this wreath (unless you have very short pins).  My pins were poking out the back of my half-a-wreath-form so I had to run out and buy a new form.

I thought I would just work my way systematically around the wreath, but after a few fabric strips I realized the error of my ways.  Not only was I worried about the fabric patterns not being evenly distributed, but it was hard to tell if I had too many pieced of fabric in one area or not enough.

I decided instead to insert a set of fabric strips and then turn the wreath a few degrees before inserting the next set.  This method worked much better. (note: my original section is still in the photo above, but I did take it out and redo it).

 

Working my way around

 

Starting to get full now!

Perfect (except for being a slightly blurry pic). 

Ahh, that's better.  Much less blurry and shows the colors much more accurately.  This wreath also is a nice contrast with my cream door, my Easter one did not stand out as much as I would have liked.  (and for those that are curious, the magnet on the door says "in case of emergency, please save our 2 cats" - made it on Shutterfly a few years ago).

I have no idea how this wreath will hold up in the Florida sun and humidity, but I am hoping for the best (there is a glass door in front of this door, so that should help).  All of the fabric was scraps, so if it evens up getting yucky I can toss it without feeling too guilty (though lets be honest, tossing any fabric no matter the condition it is in will make me feel a little guilty).

Linking up to QuiltStory.  Also- eeekkkk!!!  Just looked at QuiltStory and they featured my patchwork pillow from last week!!!  Day = MADE!  AND it was featured in the same post as a feature from SewSara- a blog I have been reading for years! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!

 

Tutu Wreath Tut

I have a bunch of oh-so-cute door decorations that have graced my front door over the years, but when we moved into the rental house most of those decorations could no longer be used.  The door here is metal so I super glued magnets to the back of a Command hook so I can hang things on the door, but I can only hang lightweight decorations

Not one to accept a bare door as a fact of life, I turned to... Pinterest!  I had pinned a few wreaths and finally had the perfect excuse reason to make one!  I figured a tulle, tutu-inspired wreath would be lightweight enough to work and was thrilled when I wandered into Hobby Lobby a few weeks after Christmas and found huge rolls of red and white tulle on sale for 60% off!  The wreath was perfect on the door but now that Valentines Day is over it needed to be changed out.  I figured as long as I was making one, why not make it my first tutorial! 

Making a Tutu Wreath

 

I started by removing all of the tulle from my current wreath so I had the plain wreath form.  I managed to get double duty out of the wreath form by taking a bread knife and slicing the form in two - each with a flat side for the back, so it sits even better against the door.  (the purple polka dot ribbon is what I use to hang the wreath.)

I chose six colors of tulle and cut them to 21" in length.  They were sold in rolls, so I just used the width of the roll.  If you are buying tulle by the yard and need to cut the width too, I would say it is about 8".  I then folded the tulle in half and placed it under the wreath form.

I put my pointer and middle fingers through the loop that was created by folding the tulle, and then brought the other side of the tulle over the top of the wreath and placed it between my two fingers.

I was then able to pull the tulle easily through the loop

and pull it tight.  You may have to get closer to the knot afterwards and wiggle the tulle to tighten it a little more.  On the new tulle that I had just used I had to do this, but on the colors I reused from the Valentines wreath, the tulle was already bent from being on the wreath before and it fell into place without really needing to be tightened.  Continue in this manner until you have made your way around the wreath.

Here is a photo of the back of the wreath, the purple polka dot ribbon / wreath hanger can be seen here.  I tied a piece of ribbon onto the wreath form as I was making the wreath and just made sure that the tulle covered the ribbon on the front, but not the back. 

And, of course, a photo of the new Easter wreath on the front door!  I love this wreath and think it is so fun and spring-y, and the color combinations are endless!  If you have any questions, I will answer them in the comments. 

Do you feel the need to always have something festive on your door too?

Edited to add: I love my Easter wreath, but the colors really do not show up well from a distance.  Even pulling into the driveway you can tell there is a wreath on the door but it all kind of blends together.  If I were to do it again, I would make sure to have more contrast in my colors.