Fun-loving Halloween Wreath

I have seen a ton of tantalizing Halloween wreaths out in blogland this year.  I have a perfectly good Fall wreath that I put out every year for the entire season.  It has fall leaves and a scarecrow, so it works equally well for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  It really is fantastic, but I'm just starting to get a little tired of it.  And these new wreaths have been so cute.  When I realized that over half of my Halloween board on pinterest was wreaths, I decided to do something about my wreath craving.
Here are a few of the wreaths that have really caught my eye this season.

http://craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com/2010/09/eyeball-halloween-wreath.html

http://sugarbabyboutique.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-month-begins.html

http://ohmydeer.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/diy-halloween-eyeball-wreath/

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/09/todays-guest-just-girl.html

My absolute favorite is this cutey.

http://lalabliss.blogspot.com/2011/09/gaudy-halloween-wreath.html

I just love this one!  And its all dollar store stuff.  I decided to use this wreath as my inspiration. So, I ran over to my store and see if I could find everything.
That's when I ran into Hilda the Witch.

Once I saw her, I knew that my wreath would take a small departure from my inspiration to include a witch on a broomstick. So, along with Hilda, these are the other purchases I made at the dollar store.

I wasn't sure how many packs of eyeballs to buy.  I bought 6, (12 eyeballs in each pack) but I only ended up using 3 packs.  My wreath has an 18in diameter.  First, I sprayed the wreath black.
While I was waiting for the wreath to cure, I tackled Hilda's refashion.   Then, I glued on Hilda onto the bottom of the wreath.

I added Spanish moss all around.

Added my Happy Halloween sign. 

I know I could have cut out my own letters and then decoupaged cute paper onto them.  The finished product would be one of a kind and probably cuter than what I currently have.  But the power of a speedy craft totally won the battle today.  It was nice to just be able to grab the sign and glue it on.  I was actually able to finish the project during naptime!  What a shocker!
Finally, I decided to add a few eyeballs and a few plastic bugs.
The boys helped me glue them on.  I had no real pattern, I just glued.

This wreath just makes me laugh when I see it.  It's just kinda fun!  It's tacky, kid-friendly, and full of Halloween cheer.  It isn't a wreath that says "I'm a grown-up with a house decorated as such."  This wreath screams, "I am a kid!"  Halloween is my favorite of the "fun" holidays.  Seriously, what is better that getting to play dress-up, gorging on junk food, and begging candy off the neighbors?  Yup, for such a fun-loving kid-friendly holiday, I needed a wreath to match the mood.   And this is what I get to enjoy everytime I look at my front door!

I'm linking up to these fantastic parties this week!

Monogram Wreath

So, almost 18 months ago, I purchased this enormous wreath on clearance. 

I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with it, but it was such a great price and I have an abundance of large wall spaces, so I knew I could find a great place to put it...eventually.  I finally got around to working on it.   While it was sitting in my workshed,  I would occasionally brainstorm about it.  My general idea was adding a mongram.  I thought it would be neat to add a "Y" but I didn't want a plain jane "Y" that can be purchased.  I wanted my own design.  So, once I got my saw this past Christmas, this project jumped up on my never ending, always expanding project to-do list.  

Yeah, it jumped up on the list, but I still didn't work on it.  I just didn't really want to mod podge paper like I usually do to wooden letters.  I wanted something that would mesh a little better with plants.

Well, one day while blog surfing, I stumbled across this fantastic letter covered in moss.  This was my solution.  I would get my monogram and it would look great next to greenery!  So I quickly cut out a "Y" I could be happy with.  Its 20 inches tall.

 Then I purchased this moss that comes in a sheet.  All you do is trace your shape, cut it out and glue it down with your hot glue gun.  Simple and gorgeous.

Then, I spent a couple hours arrranging and rearranging various stems, leaves, green flowers, etc, until I was happy with their placement on the wreath. 

With help from Mr. Right, we got the wreath hung that night.   I love having it on this wall going up the stairs.  I get to enjoy looking at this everytime I go up or down.  And it really draws the eyes upward when looking at it from the mainfloor.

Ohhhh.  So pretty. (I KNOW this pic doesn't do it justice.  I've lost my camera somehow and I'm stuck with taking pics on my phone!)

Yarn Wreath

I needed a generic wreath for my door that was cute but not associated with any specific holiday. I saw some yarn wreaths online, so I decided to give it a try. I also didn't feel like spending too much money, so I used yarns, buttons and flowers that I already had in my bin. All I had to buy was the wreath form ($3) and the word welcome ($2). If you want a how-to or to see pics of more wreaths, click the link below:

http://theconstantgatherer.blogspot.com/2009/11/yarn-wreath-tutorial.html

Wreaths

My front door looks lonely for most of the year because I didn't have any wreaths except for a fall wreath I hang during October and November, a Christmas wreath in December, and an Easter Wreath during Easter. So for our craft nights in January and February this year, I decided to rectify the lonely door situation. So far, I have completed a January, February and a March wreath. I plan to make a generic flower/summer type wreath to use after Easter until summer ends. Then for July, I will make a patriotic wreath. As I finish them, I will post.