What’s better than a funky fall wreath?
A funky fall wreath made exclusively from stuff you can find AT THE DOLLAR STORE.
Booyow! The goal here was to make something Halloweeny that wasn’t cutesy and orange and black, but also wasn’t scary like a decorative severed foot. I think we hit a nice middle, don’t you? Nothing like a bunch of skeletons to make you feel good n’ spooky!
Get the details on how you can make one over on the Etsy blog today.
Few things in life make me feel as close to genius as when I make pretty things out of rags. I guess rags is a loose term – I’m not talking about that thing you use to wash the car so much as the scraps of another project from a long time ago. The one that used some fabric that was probably way too expensive but you bought it anyway because it made you feel accomplished to make something. Well here you, again, making stuff. Way to be awesome like that!
Credit Where Credit is Due
The tradition of rag wreaths goes back way farther than google (although, I found some impressive archives) but I recall making one with my mom about 1985. My mom really wasn’t much a maker-crafter-hands-on-do’er, so the few things that we made together before she died hold a special place in my heart. One of the wreaths we made together involved one of my dad’s torn up old bandanas – I tied it on and she called it my Punky Brewster wreath, after my favorite TV show at the time, featuring a little girl who wore all mismatched clothing and a bandana tied around her knee. Punky was a BIG DEAL in my world back then so the reference stayed with me long after the wreath got eaten by a moth. That’s the power of 80s sitcoms y’all. They don’t make them like that anymore! Mark my words, nobody is ever going to remember making a Two and a Half Men Christmas craft.
But I digress…
I had written off rag wreaths as outdated and granny, but then I saw these images wreaths in the windows of my favorite store I have never been to— Black and Spiro, in Brisbane Australia (side note for anyone else in the Anna Spiro cult: Furbish Studio is now carrying a limited run of her first book (the only place in the US to carry it)…and I can tell you first hand, it is glorious!!!!). The wreath she featured in 2007 looks to be a grapevine wrapped in ribbon and a few silver baubles. Stunning, and slightly Punky Brewster like in an elegant, sophisticated way. Plus, pink and green – no explanation needed. I was smitten. So I tore into a grapevine wreath sitting in my basement and 30 minutes later, something beautiful was born! You can see a photo of the first one I made last winter at the end of the spread of my house in Flea Market Décor magazine, although, I think I’ve made about 15 of them since then and the process has evolved a bit. That said, now I look at that original grapevine at Black and Spiro and want to make something fresh all over again. Isn’t it funny how things can inspire you in totally different ways?
If you are interested in making one, I’ll break down directions for how I made mine using an inexpensive faux evergreen base, though, the concept is unlimited. If you can tear fabric and tie a bow, you can make this wreath in under 30 minutes and for very, very little money.
Materials
One Wreath, any kind. A natural base like grapevine makes a lovely contrast to bright colors and patterns, but you will find that these faux evergreens are very easy and inexpensive to find this time of year, so that’s what I’m doing here. My favorite place to find wreaths is the thrift store – very often they come with silk flowers or hot glue berries – just yank them off and dust it off. Bam.
Fabric scraps torn into 1 yard lengths, 3”-5” wide. Keep a couple of them extra long for the base. Any kind of Fabric will work, but I find that plain cotton in bold patterns make the best bows. Also, when I say tear, I mean tear. Don’t cut the fabric – tear it. The frayed edges add an extra bit of texture and magic.
Ornaments. Non-breakable ornaments as it will make storage much easier, but a couple of those colored glass beauties go a long way.
Directions.
1. Take one of your longer pieces of fabric, tie it to a piece of evergreen, then wrap around tightly, spreading the fabric around the wreath as you go. Secure with another knot when you reach the other end of the fabric. Repeat, working your way around until the entire base is covered. If a few pieces of greenery poke through, don’t worry – they’ll be covered soon enough.
2. Locate one of the gaps where the greenery is poking through, and use one of your 1 yard pieces to wrap around it twice, tightly, then secure with a bow. Continue doing this all around the wreath, alternating patterns and textures as you go.
3. Add ornaments, if you want. Or not. I think it looks pretty nifty without, but I’m not one to turn down sparkle.
Tips
I like to hang them on windows – just tie another scrap of fabric to a bulldog paper clip and clip it to the rim of the window.
They also look really good on doors. They also look good with a touch of Mardi Gras beads.
As you can see, they are a bit addictive!
Last night I watched Spice World on basic cable and made origami cranes. And glittered them. That’s how I roll. I’m not good at origami and half the stuff comes out wonky, but I like the way the wonky ones look best when they are displayed all in one big mass.
Like this.
This wreath is from the window of Black & Spiro, as in Anna Spiro of Absolutely Beautiful Things (not going to lie – I’m a little bit obsessed with her instagram feed). This woman is reason #77 why I think I was originally intended to be born in Australia, but I digress. Anyway. The wreath!
I was thinking I could show you a finished wreath today, but as you can see, that’s not happening. What is happening is a whole lot of paper cuts and some pretty business in a garbage bin. Did you ever have that when the mess in the garbage looks better than the mess on your desk? Yesterday the glitter mixed in all over the bitsy fabric scraps and then some fruity chunks were dropped on top and it all looked like one big sparkly Christmas pasta salad. Did you ever have that problem?
Okay. Stay tuned for further adventures in origami.
Two years ago, Camilla made the most amazing wreath featuring a paper cocktail umbrellas. You should see it. It’s awesome.
After seeing her wreath, I made a mental note to pick up umbrellas at the party store so I could make my own, but for whatever reason, paper umbrellas and I never crossed paths. Until this weekend. And they weren’t yellow and pink – they were flag umbrellas. Did you hear that people? Tiny, precious flag umbrellas. To put in your tiny, precious, utterly delicious, mixed rum and patriotism cocktail.
‘MERICA!!!!
I don’t know about you, but I like stuff with flags that are not official flags. Real flags make me nervous.
I grew up in one of that one house in the neighborhood that never flew the flag on holidays. Ever. Not because we were anti-patriots but because my dad thought they were too high maintenance and “Having a flag is like having a dog.” …Bah-yankeedoodle-humbug. He was one of those Boy Scout types who grew up with major flag rules; the flag needed to be taken out in the morning and in at night, taken down in rain or in bad weather, or hung at half-staff out of respect of the fallen….not to mention burning it if it touched the ground or became damaged in any way…not to mention folding it in seven perfect triangles. Drove him up the wall to see neighbors flying it 24/7 year-round. One time, when one of them let their flag get so tattered, we staged a midnight raid, stole it, and burned it in can in the garage with the door shut. The heat above the flame got so hot it melted the plastic casing on the garage door opener thingy and we could never get in to replace the batteries after that. So we parked outside. For years. In the name of patriotism.
I’ll bet all this fuss about flag etiquette must seem weird to people reading this post in other countries. I forget that other countries have other rules until I watch the Olympics….before you know it, some hunky swimmer from Argentina gets up on the podium wearing his flag as a loin cloth…and nobody flinches but us. Way to be uptight, America.
So. Flags or no flags, you should look into this. Be sure to check out Camilla’s original post.
Also, here’s a tip for next time you need a wreath base – check your local thrift store. Thrift stores always have wreaths for a buck or two. So what if you have to yank off some old scragle flowers from 1983? Do it for your country!
PS: I found my umbrella picks at my local Party City store in the Fourth of July section, $1.99 for 24 (they don’t appear to sell it online or I would provide a link here). If you have a hard time finding umbrellas, this wreath made with flag toothpicks is pretty darn awesome too.
Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, which makes this the Monday before Mardi Gras, aka Lundi Gras.
Time to get our bead on.
Hot pink wreath from Dollar Store + pipe cleaners + a whole lot of throw beads = instant wreath.
Total time: 10 minutes
Total Cost: $1 (would have been more if I didn’t have a pre-existing bead problem) 
Looking for an excuse to collect more beads this year? How about some jambalaya boxes or an easy ceiling chandelier based on a wire plant hanger?
Bon Mardi Gras!
Where did you get the mushrooms? Floral supply places will have them, or you can get them online. I got these on clearance from The Pottery when I was in Virginia last year. A year ago, if you were within 100 miles of Williamsburg I would tell you to make the trek to shop there, but as I understand, The Pottery recently moved and lost it’s friendly-craft-supply-warehouse-with-rock-bottom-prices way. This makes me sad. For many years, it was by far my all-time favorite craft store. Sad face. Does anyone else know of a beyond fabulous craft supply warehouse worth visiting? I might need to make a road trip. 
I’m taking a unique approach to my holiday decorations this year.
Not unique like Pablo the Burrito Unicorn, I mean unique in that I’m doing it a little different. This year I’m embracing a non-Christmasy approach Christmas decorations.
*GASP*
Yes, I’m still doing up the trees and garlands and the cookies and The Carpenters….but when it comes to making new stuff this year (’cause I make a lot of stuff every year), it’s going to be stuff that lasts a lot longer than a few weeks in December.
Why? Because I am tired of people telling me it’s wrong to have holiday stuff up too early or too late. That’s fine for them, but if I try to cram it all into a few weeks in December, well, I don’t get to enjoy any of it! I’m tired of choosing hot glue over hot toddies. Eff that.
So this year I’m starting early and I’m casting a wide net. I’m making stuff that can be up Halloween to Easter and anytime in-between.
Festive. Spangled. Sparkly.
Don’t tell me you can’t sparkle in March. I’m not buying that crap.
Can I just tell you how HUGE this thing is? Because it’s HUGE. It’s hard to reflect the scale of this thing in pictures. It’s so big I didn’t even have room to hang it in my house so I gave it to my friend Kiki to hang above her Delaware sized sofa. It seats ten people and needed some big artwork to balance, which is good because if I didn’t mention, this wreath is HUGE.
I might need to make another one. A smaller one. Because I had been wanting a squarish gold magnolia wreath for years and I’m a little sad I don’t get to keep this one. I have a long-standing thing for Magnolias and gold is my new best friend. The square concept I picked up from the William Sonoma catalog a while back. My brain mixed them together and a vision was born, although it’s taken me years to put it n motion.
Materials
*If I lived south of the Mason-Dixon I probably would have used real magnolia leaves, as they are hearty and plentiful. I can find magnolia trees here in Illinois but the leaves are usually pretty scrawny and have fallen by late September. So instead I used something I had laying around the house: cardboard boxes.
Directions
Flatten out your cardboard boxes and cut leaf shapes roughly the size of your hand. Quantity will vary depending on size. I cut out 100 leaves while watching TV over a couple nights, but you could get away with something much smaller. I suggest cutting cardboard with kitchen shears as it’s a lot easier than with regular scissors. My local dollar store sells some that are great for this purpose.
Using an exacto knife or one side of a pair of scissors, score each leaf directly down the middle and fold slightly.
Create the base frame of the wreath by cutting off one side of a large box, leaving a small ridge around the edge. I had to reinforce my frame with a little gold duct tape. Did I mention I like gold?
Before attaching the leaves, poke a couple of holes and slip in a ribbon or pipe cleaner — something you can use to hang it on later.
Use hot glue or silicone adhesive to attach the leaves to the frame one by one, using the 1cm ridge along the edge to help prop up the outer leaves. Mucho dimensional.
*Note: I used hot glue, and that’s fine, but hot glue tends to slowly dry out. If Kiki decides to keep this up over the years, the glue might give out and the leaves would fall off. No bueno. This problem could be avoided altogether if I had been patient and stuck to using big blobs of silicone glue from the hardware store. I may still go back and reinforce the leaves from the back. Learning curve.
Now, had I realized the bare cardboard leaves would look that good, I probably would have taken my time to cut the leaves in a way that excluded bar codes and shipping stickers….but given the situation, I decided to move ahead with spray paint. Gold makes everything better.
That’s it.
It’s big. It’s bold. It’s beautiful.
…and it’s gonna be hanging up there for six months.
Embrace it, Kiki.
Merry Christmas!
Dear Turd Burglar,
Look at you.
More important, look at what you have become.
You have elevated yourself to the rank of persons who steal craft goods.
Not cash. Not guns. Not electronics. No TB, you went for the win and used your dark talents to snag a decorative autumnal wreath. I know what you were thinking; Wait ’til the fellas down at the pawn shop get a load of this!
That must have felt good.
Well TB, do you know how I feel?
Well, I’ll tell you. Flattered. I am flattered that you took a shine to my creation.
You know, I was rather fond of that wreath too. Not to brag or anything, but it was made two years ago using an old garland and a hoola hoop. In fact, I posted directions right here. You should feel free to check them out and make your own.
Perhaps, when you are done making your own, you could un-burgal my wreath and put it back where you found it: hanging on my door.
Thanks!
Aunt Peaches
Quiz: Do you own a Christmas sweater? Do you resent synthetic Christmas trees?Have you ever been to Colonial Williamsburg between Thanksgiving and New Years?
It’s awesome.  |
| Wreaths utilize everything old shoes to antlers. |
 |
||
| Apparently the Colonials were very fond of cards, as this home uses them to decorate their front door. |