Showing posts with label door*decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label door*decor. Show all posts

Thursday, February 19, 2015

(Understated) Glam Pinecone Wreath


I made a wreath!  I've shocked you all, I know.  They're almost my favorite thing to make.  Besides chocolate cake.  Nothing beats chocolate cake.  
But door decor is pretty much the homey-est thing you slap up on your house.  Want your house to say "welcome!  We like it here!  We hope you do too!"  Make a wreath.  Put it on your door.  Done.
If you'd rather your house say "Go away, I'm taking a nap." well, I can totally understand that.  But a wreath won't help.


I started by gathering a bazillion pinecones.  I actually used them for a different project first, and kept the nicest ones for the wreath.  I don't actually have any pinecones like this in my yard, and because it seemed absolutely ridiculous to pay for them at Joann's, though I knew I could, I drove out to my church building and ran around all the pine trees with a huge bucket.  
I did this during the day, and my church building is on a fairly busy highway, so I'm a little surprised no one called the police with my suspicious activity.  Surprised, but grateful.

 After collecting the pinecones, I sprayed them a bright metallic silver.  Nice and shiny!

For the wreath form base, I used a flat chipboard circle I got at Hobby Lobby.  It wasn't very pricey, and though I usually use foam forms I get at the thrift store for like 25 cents, I "splurged" this time because the flat, sturdy, light and NEW chipboard form was beckoning me.

First, I wrapped the whole thing in gray yarn for a nice cozy coverage.  You can sort of kind of see it in this picture if you tilt your head to the right and squint really hard.

I started with the outside ring of cones.  I used the largest ones on the outside layer, and tried to space the extra largest ones evenly around the circumference.  I used hot glue and just held each cone in place for a couple of seconds until it was grippy.  Then I worked on the inner ring of cones, which I had saved the smaller sizes for.  I used hot glue, and placed each cone in between two of the larger cones, kind of smooshing it in there.  It worked really well, the uh, what are those?  The petal things slid in between each other really nicely and added even more gripping power.  

Those pinecones aren't going anywhere.

So there you have it.  My Understated Glam Pinecone Wreath.  It's all silvery and wintery.  Which was nice and elegant-ish in like December.  Even January.  Now??

Now it's just depressing.

Come on, excruciating cold!  Give it up already!



*Be sure to check below for all the fun parties I link to!*

Saturday, April 19, 2014

just in time for Easter. Barely.



You know no yarn series would be complete without a yarn wreath!  Come on, I'm the wreath lady, right?  I've had this idea in my head for a few years now and never got it done before Easter, like that would surprise you.  This year I just barely busted it out and got it on the door in time.  Phew.  It was supposed to go up yesterday - oops - so you have one less day to make it yourself, sorry.  You can always make it next year!


Apparently I really like taking random food items and turning them into sunbursts.  Candy  corn anyone?

So:

First, let's focus on the carrots.  They are so easy and you probably have everything you need at home already.

1. Take a piece of card stock and lay it diagonally in front of you.
2. Take the corner and begin rolling it, making sure to keep one end skinny and one end wider.
3. Continue to roll it up across the paper, you'll begin to kind of curve a little.
4. Stop rolling when the opposite corner is just barely sticking out.
5. Put hot glue on the corner.
6. Roll that corner up and hold it for a second.
7. And you have a stiff paper cone!
8. The cone will have a point or two on the top from the other corners.  Just leave these there.
9. Repeat about a million times.


10. Put hot glue on the point of the cone and around the point.
11. Leaving a little tail, take your orange yarn and place it across the point, then wind it around the point over the hot glue to hide the opening.
12. Hold the little tail down against the cone.
13. Start winding the yarn around the point of the cone, over the tail.
14. Continue winding the yarn around the cone, working your way to the other end.
15. When you reach the straight edge of the opposite end, stop.
16. Put a little bit of hot glue on the inside of the cone and push your yarn down.
17. Snip off the yarn.
18. This part is optional, but you can use a different orange yarn and wrap it sporadically around the carrot, not covering the whole thing, just adding a little detail.
19. Repeat this like a million times.
A note about winding your yarn: I didn't do this all sleek and smooth like.  I just quickly wrapped the yarn around and however it landed it stayed that way.  The only requirement is that you pretty much cover up the paper - but even if there are spots showing the paper orange, so it's ok!

20. Make a bunch of pom pons with your green yarn.  I used two greens for added interest.   I also used the easy version of pom pom making - kind of like this, but not with a fork.  If you want to do the "real way" you can use my tutorial here.
21. Spread a bunch of hot glue around on the inside of the top of the cone.
22. Fold your pom pom in half.
23. Stick it down in the cone with the folded part down.  Make sure it is sticking to the sides.
24. You can bend the pointy parts of the paper down if you would like.
25. Trim off the long strands from the pom pom, and any other yarn that looks too long.
26. And repeat a million times.

So you've got some yarn carrots!  Cute!  After I made them into a wreath, I wished I'd made more to just put in a basket for decor inside.


Let's make us a wreath!


1. Cut a loooong piece of yarn, thread your doll needle, fold the yarn in half and tie the ends in a knot.
2. Lay your carrots down (right side facing down) and lay your wire wreath form or wire trivet on top.  Lay four carrots first, cutting the circle in fourths essentially.
3. Continue to fill your carrots in, getting an idea of the layout.
4. Once you know how you want your carrots, you can begin sewing them to the wreath form.  Tie your yarn onto the form near the center.  Make sure to leave the VERY middle free, since this will be seen from the front.
5. Now, wrapping your yarn around the first wire, stick your needle through the yarn on the carrot right under the wire, then pull it all the way through (so you've caught the wire in the stitch you made)
6. Move up to the next wire and do the same thing, wrapping the yarn, pulling the needle through the yarn on the carrot and pulling tightly.
7. Continue to make stitches around the wire and through the yarn on the carrot.
8. Go all the way up the wreath form until you are at the outer circle.
9. Once you make your stitch over that wire, put your needle into the stitch itself,
10. pull the needle through and pull the yarn until there is a little loop.
11. Then stick your needle back through the loop and pull it tightly, thus making a knot.
12. See, your carrot is nice and secure to the wreath form!


13. Now you can snip off the yarn at the knot and move onto the next carrot.
14. Just tie the ends in a new knot.
15. I sewed my four centered carrots first.  Then I went back around to do the other carrots that filled in the sunburst.  When I did those carrots, I didn't snip the yarn at the knot, rather I just kept one continuous piece of yarn and just moved from the top of one carrot to the bottom of the next carrot.  The carrots are close enough together that you can't see the long pieces of yarn from the front.
16.  Cut a long piece of yarn and attach it to the top of the wreath somehow.  I braided it first, then tied the ends of the braid to the wreath form.  I hung it from the top loop in the braid.
Voila!

So, the metal wreath form I used was actually a wire trivet I got at the thrift store a while ago.  I spray painted it white before I used it.

So now you've got two cute Easter yarn ideas...
Carrots!

And wreath!

My kids think I made this wreath so the Easter bunny has something to eat on his rounds...






*Be sure to check below for all the fun parties I link to!*


Friday, March 21, 2014

Wishful Thinking.


One of my favorite wreaths that I've made to date is the Farewell to Summer Wreath.  I just can't get over the nod to sunny days and the meticulously crafted roses.

Though I have been trying hard not to complain, this winter has been wretched.  The never-ending winter is hard on the soul and I miss the sun.  Which is likely why I just couldn't get this idea for an updated version out of my head.



Farewell winter - this time, even with all of your frigid beauty and quiet cold mornings, you will NOT be missed.  (The unfortunate and ironic point being that it snowed yesterday, and will likely snow again before winter is TRULY over here.)

You remember the first version?

I made the rosettes in exactly the same manner.  You'll excuse me, then, if I refer to the previous tutorial for the sake of time and non-repititiousness.  The photos are not so awesome, but that's mostly due to being in the dungeon craft room:

First, cut a bunch of tissue paper into strips the long way, about two inches wide or so.

Take your strips, one at a time, and twist them up,
then spread mod podge all along them.
Starting at the end, roll them up while twisting them - rolled rose style, like these.

Basically, you roll the middle, then fold the tail up, turn the rose 1/4, fold the tail up, turn the rose 1/4, fold the tail up again and so on until you run out of strip.  So you are turning and folding, pressing in gently to make it stick, but being careful not to squish the rose because you want it to stay somewhat fluffy.
When you get to the end, just smooth it down, it’ll look seamless with all the podge on there.

Now do this a bazillion more times.

You will probably need to make a few smaller ones, but you will want them to be the same thickness and fluffiness as the big ones, so don’t twist them any tighter or cut them any skinnier.  Just rip a little tissue paper off the ends of some of the strips you’ve already cut - maybe four inches or so - and construct them the same way as the big ones.

Yep, you're going to get mod podge all the heck over everything.  Prepare for that.
I made a few changes this time around - obviously using a normal wreath form instead of a floral foam circle.  I also used two different colors for the roses - or rather, two shades of the same color.  Below are some tips for the new sunny wreath:


I made the bow by simply creating loops of ribbon and hot gluing them around each other.  I then used a piece of skinny ribbon the same color to attach it to the looped ribbon the wreath hangs from.


I have to admit, I love the two-tone better.  The tissue paper rosettes might be a little time consuming to make at first, but after you do a few, they'll start flying by.  It's a great project to do in front of old office episodes or Zoolander.  Or Mean Girls.  Or Pitch Perfect.


Also, I have instructions for another project using these rosettes in my book (on sale on Amazon!).  It's a cute little topiary, you should check it out!



*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Another wreath.


I don't need to tell you how much I love to make wreaths... You obviously know that from here.  And here.  And obviously, here.

I originally made an ornament wreath a few years ago, using the wire hanger technique.  It lasted for the season but didn't store well (probably because I didn't use much care) and I wanted to update it.  

Here's my more modern take on the ornamental wreath from years ago:

You need:
An 8x10 thick wooden frame spray painted your choice of color
Lots of ball ornaments in your choice of colors and in assorted sizes
Some jingle bells in your choice of color and in assorted sizes
Hot glue gun
Twine



1. Take your twine and loop it under the frame, 
2.  at the top of the frame in the middle, pulling the ends through tightly.
3.  Begin gluing your ornaments to the frame with the hot glue.  
4.  Do the corners first, 
5.  to make sure the frame is even, not lopsided, balanced.
6.  Use the large balls on the corners.  Double them up if you need to in order to balance things.
7.  Start adding other balls around the sides.
8.  Hot glue to the frame, and to the other balls to make sure they're secure.
9.  Continue doing this, placing the colors and sizes at random.
10.  Fill up the frame.
11.  Once the entire frame is full, look around and see if there are any blank spots or lopsided areas.
12.  Fill in the big blank areas with balls.  Balance out the frame.
13.  If you see smaller blank areas,
14.  fill them in with jingle bells.
15.  Continue to glue on jingle bells.  You can glue them on top as well.
16.  Make sure everything is filled in.
17.  Add a bit of hot glue to the twine on the back of the frame, just to make it extra secure.
18.  Tie some jingle bells to the twine you've tied around the frame, so they hang down in the middle.
And there you have it.  Hang and enjoy!  Please ignore the unintentional and completely unavoidable selfie.

Yea!  Fun wreath!


You might like this Christmas wreath, too!




*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Lots of Thanksgiving Decor Inspiration


I've finally begun my Thanksgiving decorating!  Maybe I'm behind the times (yes, that's very likely), but I thought I'd collect a little inspiration for all of us!  

Find even more fall and Thanksgiving inspiration on my "Thanksgiving Love" pinboard on Pinterest!

1. Colorful Fall Centerpiece - Budget Savvy Bride
2. Wooden Box Centerpiece - The Creative Mom
3. Fall Candles - Anyone Can Decorate
4. Cranberry Topiaries - can't find the original source, found on Pinterest


1. Rustic Thanksgiving - Upcycled Treasures
2. Argyle Mantel - In Between Laundry
3. Vintage Fall Display - The Shabby Creek Cottage
4. Thankful Tree - Simply Vintage Girl
5. Thanksgiving Vignette - Ode To Inspiration
6. Rustic Fall - Love of Family and Home
7. Give Thanks Mantel - A Diamond in the Stuff


1. Felt Leaf Garland - A Beautiful Mess
2. Pinecone Garland - Bebehblog
3. Pom Pom Garland - The Winthrop Chronicles
4. Clothespin and Letter Garland - Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
5. Natural Leaf Garland - Running With Scissors


1. Fall Yarn Wreath - Decorchick
2. Fall Felt Flower Wreath - Nest of Posies
2. (again!  Whoops!  Should say "3") Sunshine Wreath - Yellow Mums
4. Pinecone Wreath - Just Another Day In Paradise
5. Houndstooth Pumpkin Wreath - Tatertots and Jello
6. Sheet Music Leaf Wreath - Life Is Sweet
7. Yarn Wrapped Autumn Wreath - Bullfrogs and Bulldogs





Thursday, November 14, 2013

Color-POP!


Last year I realized I'd sold both of my fall wreaths (which you can see at the bottom of this post) and I needed a new one.  Since I'd decided to cut out about 60 gabazillion felt leaves for a garland, and had a ton left over, this wreath was almost a no-brainer.  I mentioned in the garland post how much I loved the bright colors mixed with the muted colors - and thus, I call this wreath:

And it's easy.  Ready?  Here's what you'll need:
1. Three different neutral colors of burlap - I used brown, tan and off-white.  Cut one color into wide strips, another color into medium strips, and the last color into skinny strips.
2. Cut out a bunch of different leaf shapes in different colors of felt.
3. Styrofoam wreath form.
4. Scissors.
Also, a hot glue gun, which isn't pictured.

1. Put a thin squirt of hot gluon the back of the wreath form.  
2. Lay the end of a wide strip of burlap on the hot glue.  
3. Wrap it around the wreath, and glue the other end down to the wreath form.
4. Put some hot glue down on the end of the burlap and over onto the wreath form.  Lay down another wide strip of burlap, overlapping the previous strip.
5. Wrap this strip all around the wreath and glue the other end down.
6. Continue this until the wreath is covered in burlap.

 7. Take your medium burlap strips and wrap them around the wreath in the same manner as the wide burlap strips, making sure to leave gaps so you can see the other color beneath.
8. Take your skinny burlap strips and do this same thing once again, leaving gaps so you can see the previous two colors of burlap strips.
9. Use hot glue to secure a felt leaf or two to the front of the wreath.
10. And keep gluing down leaves to the front of the wreath, overlapping them, wrapping them, turning them, bunching them, randomly as far as colors and shapes.  Cover between 1/4 to 1/2 of the wreath with leaves.  


Done!  See how easy that is?  Just take a strip of burlap, tie it around, hang 'er up.

Beautiful!

You may be interested in these, too:







*Be sure to check the right sidebar for all the fun parties I link to!
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