Planter Wreath

Today is the first official day of Fall! What better way to embrace it then to hang up some fall themed wreaths?

This one I actually made last year.  The scarecrow is from a previous decoration.  He used to have a body and perched on a dowel but the dowel snapped in half so I decided to repurpose his head as the center piece for this wreath.  The wicker tray was given to me by a friend and the foliage was either from my on hand stash or the dollar store.  He is the official greeter when guests stop by : )

This basket wreath is very similar to the frame wreath I shared in my previous post.  I like the idea of using different items for the frame work. 

The grape vine basket was found recently at the local Value Village and I thought it would be perfect for this wreath idea.  I cut the floral foam to fit within the basket snugly.

 

The leaves were inserted around the front of the basket to hide the floral foam.

 

I did the flower arranging in the same fashion as the frame wreath.  Starting with the main flowers, and then filling in with leaves and branches. Then the white daisies.

This one is on the front door facing the street.   I think the black-eyed susans could be a little taller, perhaps? Overall though, it adds some much needed colour to the front of the house.

 

Small Frames and Pine Cone Flowers

In my first post I had mentioned my collection of random frames stored away in the attic.  I have a couple of these small ones that I thought were cute and wanted to do something creative with.   I had made pine cone flowers before and wanted to use them with the frames somehow.  After trying different ideas, I came up with the following:

 
 
 

 
 
 
 










The giraffe and cheetah are from scrap fabric.  I painted the frames a peach colour then rubbed in some clear wax.  I painted the flower ‘petals’ with a mix of pink and peach acrylic paint.  I also did the pine cone scales using both colours, changing the patterns to add interest.  The arrangements were then hot glued to the frame.

I’m including a few pictures on how I fitted the fabric to the frame. First, I ironed the piece of fabric to make it nice and smooth. Then folded the fabric around a piece of cardboard so that the images would be where I wanted them on the front side.

 

 

 

 

 

I then ran the iron over the folds.

 

Having the fabric wrapped around the edges made the cardboard fit nice and snug within the frame so no gluing was required.

Something a little different but I like how they turned out.

 

Since I didn’t take any ‘in progress’ shots of cutting the pine cones, I thought I would add a couple links to show the various ways people have come up with to make pine come flowers. The method I used does require a strong hand and cutting source but it gets the job done.  These other methods I would definitely try as well!

http://www.theshadyporch.com/2013/09/pine-cone-wreath-for-fall-how-to.html

http://joan-milenia.blogspot.ca/2012/09/diy-tutorial-how-to-make-pine-cone.html

http://www.adventuresofadiymom.com/2013/10/how-to-make-pinecone-flowers.html

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture Frame Wreath

This project is a little late in posting but there are still a few days left to summer so I'm going ahead with it anyway. The flowers can be easily switched out for autumn colours, or any season really!
 
Before I get too far into the post, I would like to make a 'disclaimer' here. I am not the best photographer and tend to take pictures with whatever is handy at the time, ei phone or actual camera. My projects start with an overall idea and then I just go with the process that pleases me most in achieving the final result. What follows will not be so much a tutorial then, but I promise to share the links where I first found the inspiration.
 
Picture Frame Wreath

Attics are wonderful places aren't they? You can hide all kinds of treasures up there, like an over abundance of empty picture frames.  I seem to go through phases where I take a fancy to something specific, like picture frames, then go about collecting them with only vague ideas in mind on how to use them.  Now some have actually served the purpose they were intended for but others are waiting for more unique destinies like the one I'm sharing today.
 
This particular frame originated from my parents house.  Not sure what it once held but I liked the fact that it was 'old' with some character.



Supplies

 Most of the supplies I already had so this was an inexpensive project to make.  The only thing I didn't have on hand was the flower oasis which was picked up at the local Dollarama. 






Oasis, chicken wire

I started by securing the oasis to the frame. This was easy as the oasis fit snuggly between the frame sides.  The chicken wire was added next (please ignore dog toys in the background).


 







Moss, chicken wire

 I had this 'moss' type stuff already but would recommend using one that came in a sheet format.  This one here was loose pieces and a bit messy.  I secured the moss with another layer of chicken wire.







Orchids

 

Starting with the orchids, I pushed each stem into the oasis at different angles and depths.  Next came the carnations, then the greenery to fill in any holes. 






Here it is hanging on the front door! 


 

Soon I will switch it up for something more in line with fall...

but it's ok to hold on to a few more days of summer, right?