Making a $50 Fall Wreath For $15

Making a $50 Fall Wreath For $15

Making any kind of wreath is always a really fun project that you can incorporate your own ideas and style into!

What You'll Need:

1. A stick wreath - Joann Fabrics $5

2. Some mini pine cones (you can buy them or find your own)

3. Berry Sprigs - Michael's $2.80

4. Bag of mini pumpkins - Michael's $4

5. 2.5 inch ribbon - $2.50

6. Acorn sprigs - $2

Step 1: Begin crinkling up your ribbon so that takes on a wave to it. 

Step 2: Use your hot glue gun to glue down the wavy ribbon around the face of the wreath. This part is very simple, but be careful to make sure your ribbon doesn't fall too uniformly on your wreath and that the spacing looks random enough.

Once you've completed gluing down the ribbon, it's time 

to start the bow!

Step 3: With the remaining ribbon, make yourself a bow to go at the top of the wreath. 

See instructions below

I thought I'd be able to find a good youtube video to show how I make my bows but all the ones I found are way intense and complicated. The way I did mine was to snake the ribbon back and forth like the image of the belt above until you have three loops on each side. then wrap a twisty tie around 

the middle and cut off the extra. 

Wrap a piece of ribbon around the center to cover the twisty tie. 

Finally, cut two pieces for the hangy-down parts (technical term). I like to cut out triangles to give them the pointed edge look (see picture above).

Step 4: After you've glued down your ribbon, begin placing your artistic goodies around the wreath to get a visual of how you want it to look

Tip: You don't have to glue anything down until you're completely ready. Play around with things a bit, rearranging them until they are to your liking.

Tip: Things look better randomly placed. This can be extremely difficult as humans are programmed to find and create order. To achieve the "randomness", make sure your colors and sizes are evenly spaced so that the eye is not drawn to one portion of the wreath.

It's also good to pre-clump some things together as opposed to gluing on all the individual pieces!

Step 5: Once you've achieved a look you like, hot glue everything down and you're done!

Voila! A beautiful fall wreath for $15! 
The best part is, I only used about half of my decorating supplies and the rest are going to be used to make a fall garland! Check the next posting to see it! Thanks for reading and Happy Fall!!

Canvas Mounted Photos

Canvas Mounted Photos

This is a super easy project that makes a huge statement in your home!

What you will need:

1. Six 12x12 inch canvases

2. Mod podge

3. One foam brush

4. One sanding block

5. Three 12x12 photos

6. One roll of ribbon

These are half inch thick 12x12 canvasses. If you can find one inch thick ones, then you will only need three canvasses. I found a sale at Michael's for seven half inch thick canvasses for $12.99. Each one inch canvass was $22.00 so I figured it would be much cheaper to glue two canvasses together to get the depth I want.

Step 1: Begin by covering the canvass with a layer of mod podge

Step 2: Press your photo onto the canvass and smooth it out. You can lay another canvass face down on top of your photo for a few minutes to keep the photo flat as it dries.

Step 3: Repeat step two by pouring more mod podge on top of your photo and painting it on in a uniform layer. Make sure all strokes go in the same direction!

Repeat steps 1-3 on your other two canvasses

Tip: Don't overstroke the mod podge or it will start pilling on your picture.

Step 4: Grab your super glue and begin dabbing on a LITTLE bit around the edges of the canvas.

As you go, you will be pressing down your black (or whatever color you picked) ribbon around the edges, making sure to line it up with the front of the canvas.

Don't worry if your ribbon is too wide. We'll get to that afterwards!

Continue step 4 on all four sides of the canvass

Step 5: Glue down the excess ribbon that is hanging over onto the back.

You're finished! Now find a nice place to hang them and a fun way to arrange them. Enjoy!