The leaves are falling, the mornings are crisp, cornstalks and hay bales are popping up everywhere. This can only mean one thing - my favorite season has arrived!
I am a fall girl through and through. Crunchy leaves, pumpkin carving, the colors, the smells... it all just makes me so happy! Unfortunately, I haven't collected too much in terms of fall decor for our house. I tend to shy away from "obvious" seasonal decor, i.e. fall leaves, hay bales, etc. But I was craving something this year, especially something to make our beautiful front door stand out. So I took inventory of what I had in my craft stash, grabbed a few more items at the store, and ended up with this:
Isn't it fun? I'm in love with the minimalist, handmade feel of the whole thing. Although most of it is pretty self explanatory, I thought I'd do a little tutorial on how I put the whole thing together. Here is what I used:
It really turned out to be a pretty affordable little project. I also already had the yarn on hand and had a 40% off coupon for the wreath, so that cut back on costs. But if you didn't have any supplies or coupons on hand, the entire project would run about $17 or so. A pretty good deal considering the cost of many of the pre-made wreaths I've seen in stores.
I started off by using the yarn to wrap the wreath. I kept the plastic on - I think it made it a bit easier (and a lot less messy) to wrap. I started with a simple knot and then just kept wrapping and wrapping and wrapping.
This was, without a doubt, the most frustrating part. It was very time consuming, but after it was over I was so happy with the result!
In between wrapping episodes, I put a few coats of spray paint on the cutout "P." You could definitely skip this step if you are able to find a pre-painted letter or if you want to keep the natural look. I opted for a crisp white.
Once the wreath was wrapped and the letter was drying, I got to work on the little embellishments. I used some scrap yarn I had on hand and this pattern to crochet a few rosettes. Then, I cut circles out of the felt squares, turned those into spirals, and wrapped them up to make little flowers. This is the fun part - you can really use any craft method you like, or even purchase store-bought flowers if crafting isn't your idea of a good time!
I love the combination of the modern little felt flowers juxtaposed with the homey little crocheted ones.
I was two seconds away from gluing the rosettes on to the wreath when I had an even better idea: I used Velcro squares instead! I figured since I chose a neutral green for the wreath itself, I could easily swap out the fall-colored flowers for more winter/Christmas colored ones and extend the life of my little wreath! Heck, with a green base, I could even make this little guy a spring and summer wreath as well! And any project that costs under $20 and can be used year round is alright by me!
Plus, it just makes me smile every time I walk up to our front door...
Did you catch the tiny, dog shaped photo-bomber? He was quite upset as he thought I was leaving!
My biggest recommendation with this project is to hold a few yarn colors up to the door before getting started. I originally wanted to use a pumpkin orange color - thankfully I held it up to my door first. It clashed with the red in a completely horrendous way! I also thought about a mustard yellow until I realized we'd look quite a bit like a McDonald's advertisement. When I held up this dark, olive green I knew it was the best choice!
How about you? Any fall projects going on? I've got a Halloween themed wreath up next on my project list, followed by a perfect-for-chilly-weather crocheted wrap. Hurray for comfy crafting season!
Labels: Crochet, DIY, Fall, yarn
