A Burlap Wreath For All Seasons

Hi there!

Here's a project I did this past fall (I know, I know...) and I wanted to share it with you (finally)!

Better late than never, though, right?

It's actually a wreath that can easily be transformed to fit whatever occasion you need because it's so easy to change up!

The things I used were really quite simple to come by. I like to try to pick up some rolls of burlap whenever I am at Hobby Lobby. It's cheap ($4.99 for the natural color, but they sell other colors, too and if you happen to have a 40% off coupon...why not get some?) and they keep it stocked. 

Even Walmart has been stocking this now in different widths, colors, and even patterns, but I'm sure with the massively growing popularity of burlap, you should be able to find it anywhere. Bridget, of LittleLovelyLeaders.blogspot.com, a blog for teachers, made the tutorial I used and she got her burlap from Michael's.

Anyway, my point is, I've always got some on hand. I also had the brown chenille ties, so that's what I used to hold it all together. The only thing I had to go out and buy was the metal wreath form. That was at Walmart for just a couple of bucks. 

That's it! No glue, and hardly any scissor use, except for cutting up the chenille stems into 3rds...

I got a little ahead of myself before I took the first picture, but you get the idea of what the wreath form looks like, right? 

This is how I attached my burlap...

I didn't use as much burlap as Bridget's how-to, so my instructions are a wee bit different than hers. If you don't have as much burlap ribbon on hand, or want to save a little money, this is what I did.

I followed the tutorial exactly and attached the end piece of my burlap to the wire using a piece of the chenille tie by poking it through the burlap on either side of the wired wreath form and twisting it tightly in the back.

Then, I just scrunched up the burlap, making loops in the size that I wanted, and attaching those as close to, or as far away from, the last piece that that I had tied onto the form with a chenille stem, until it looked good to me. I just sort of pinched my burlap, pushed the chenille through the holes in the fabric and slid it up and down on the wreath form until I liked where it sat, then just twisted the chenille tightly in the back to secure.

Here is a back view of what the chenille looks like from behind. When you make your loops, you want to make sure the next one is attached at least close enough to hide the stem on the last loop. Make sense? 

This is what it will start to look like. Mine is not as full, because I didn't use as much burlap, but I'll show you how I fixed that without using a ton of rolls and driving up the cost of this project!

Amazingly, I only used one roll of burlap, and this is how I did it.

I knew I wouldn't have enough to make it evenly full all the way around with just one roll, so, I gauged how much I needed as I went along. I won't lie...I did make a couple of adjustments along the way. Then, when I got back to where I started, I simply started to twist the roll on itself, like you would crepe paper streamers, and loosely wrapped it back around the wreath sort of filling in where it needed it and making sure to cover any visible chenille stems. 

When I got to the end, I poked a stem through the underside of the "tail" end and attached it to the wreath form, making sure it was hidden (even though it's the back side, I don't care for 'unfinished edges').

I twisted it onto the form and tucked it under another fold of the fabric.

                                                                   All hidden away!

Here's the back side of the wreath with the twists of burlap covering the chenille ties and exposed metal wreath form...

And here's the front all filled in! 

I just fluffed it up and it's ready to decorate.

Next, what to decorate it with?

It was Autumn and I had just gone on my yearly pumpkin and gourd picking trip with my sister. There is a little farm that grows a wide variety of  squash and sells it roadside for cheap! It's in a little town about 40 minutes from us, but the drive is lovely and I love helping a local small business out. 

Aside from all the unique pumpkins and gourds, they had this beautiful shellacked Indian corn. There were so many beautiful colors and bundles, I couldn't decide!

I finally picked this bunch; it was the most colorful.

The corn was already bound together with heavy gauge wire, so I just wrapped jute twine around the wire a few times to hide it and worked some twine through the wired wreath form to tie it on. After making sure it was sturdy, and a few adjustments for aesthetics, I tied a little raffia around it and I was done! 

The whole thing was easy to hang onto a wreath hook because the wire wreath form was so compatible. 

                                                      Just look at all those beautiful colors!

What also sold me on this bunch was the fabulous striations of purple throughout the husks! Just beautiful...

 Each piece is like a little fingerprint...no two are alike...

Is anyone else as excited as I am about each little kernel of this corn?! 

Call me crazy, but I think it's beautiful ;)

If you've been longing for a burlap wreath of your own, I hope you will try making this for yourself. It's not as hard as it may seem and is quite cost effective, since you can change it up to match whatever decor you are into at the time, so it's really worth it. Let me know if you decide to try one and send me a picture of how you decorate it!

I want to say thank you to Bridget, at Little Lovely Leaders for her original tutorial on this burlap wreath how-to. Be sure to drop on over to her blog for more great ideas!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a great week.

Nanette

* All opinions are my own. I receive no endorsements from any sponsors mentioned in the above post:     Hobby Lobby, Walmart or Michael's.

Valentine's Pillow Covers and Wreath

Hello! Hope your week is going great for you, so far.

Monday I finally finished up my little Valentine's Day wreath. The pillows have been done since January, because I always like my pillows to do double-duty so I can just flip them around when necessary. It really saves time and space. Less to change out and pack away! I made them the very same way I make all my pillow covers. You can see a quick tutorial here of the original pillow covers I made for Fall and the flip side of these covers for my winter/January decor right here.

I used muslin as the material for the front and back cover, and a red and white ticking for the front decorative panel, and sewed that to the muslin. Then I used some creamy white chenille fabric and some burgundy wool felt for the hearts. I just cut those out and placed them where I liked them, pinned them to the ticking and sewed them on. I was then able to sew the two panels together, leaving a good enough sized opening at the bottom for my pillow to be slipped in. While it was still inside out, I folded the hem of the opening over and pinned it and sewed that to make a good sturdy hem for the closure. I turned it right side out, and hand-sewed the twine on for the tie closures. All this is detailed in my winter pillow cover post.

Don't you just LOVE these flowers?! I found a tutorial of these on that Pinning site...you know the one. Here's the link to her blog Ruffles and Stuff, where I learned all about making them. It is a CUTE little blog!

Anyway, I picked through my fabric stash (I love fabric and buy a yard or two when it's on sale whenever I get around to getting to a fabric store and quite have the impressive bookcase full little stash!)
I decided on what reminded me of sweetness, romance, love, and Valentine's Day!

 I made them over the course of a week or so while watching telly or having a "crafting moment" on the weekend and made enough for the projects I wanted to complete for February. I will be making a lot more for next months wreath that I want all year 'round on the front door with our initial and some of these flowers in a larger scale. I'm working on that this weekend!

 I had been milling over what type of wreath to make for the front door for a while, and I was actually just going to buy one of those ready made store-bought hearts with all the sparkly red tinsel hearts on it and froo-froo it up, but my husband didn't really like that idea. Truth. He had an opinion about the Valentine's wreath.

So, I had this grapevine heart wreath for ever and I just decided to pull off the out of date stuff that was on it and use it for my wreath. Kinda perfect, right?

I started to just pull the old dried flowers off, the hot glue was so old it just popped off without damaging anything. I know it might seem pack-ratty to keep everything, but I have craft closets, and I don't really have that much. Just stuff that will save me a ton of money if I don't have to re-buy it. Do you know how much grapevine wreaths can be? I have a bundle of them that I got at a yardsale for next to nothing, HUGE ones, and all I had to do was take the old decorations off.

 
Ok, back to the dissasembly...and enter my "helper". She is just about the most curious cat there is. Loves the sound of tape being torn from anything and will climb a mountain to get it. Completely disarms you of your needle and thread if you are trying to so much as sew a button (like tonight) to eat your thread, and of course, she must try the grapevine stems of your wreath if you happen to be working on the floor. Not that a table would stop her.

Oh, yeah...she rolled all in the discarded dried stuff, too. And tried to eat it. And attack it. She's pretty spunky for a 13 year old.

I'm sorry I don't have any assembly pictures, but I can walk you through it. It's pretty self explanatory. I definitely wanted to use the flowers I made, and wanted to incorporate the word love somehow. I found a box of red glittery chipboard letters that I had. They were the perfect size. I would have loved to use that new burlap garland I just bought , but I couldn't figure out how to incorporate it. Plus, I wanted this to be light and airy. I had a bunch of tulle I bough on sale just before Christmas so I cut a long strip of that and weaved it through the wreath. It seemed made for something to be weaved right through there, so that worked out, too.

Then I tried my letters out until I found the right spot for them and hot glued those down.

Next, I started laying the flowers around until they looked right. I had more white ones than anything else and one teeny tiny flower, so I placed them by the "L" to use all the flowers and ballance the look. When I decided on the placement, I just hot glued all of those down, as well.

I really like it! It's not what I was thinking of at first, but I don't think I really knew what I was thinking of. It matches my pillows and I finally used a wreath I've had for years that I didn't know what to do with. The best part about all of these projects...it was all free!!

 

I truly hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day. If you're a couple, do something nice together. It doesn't have to cost a thing! Make dinner together from a new recipe topped off with a special dessert you both made, and watch a romantic movie at home. One of our favorites is "The Notebook".  If you are parents, take your kids to the movie or have a movie night at home. Look online for Valentine themed party ideas and play some games and make treats with your kids. If you're single, get together with some of your single friends and go to dinner, or a winery, or have a dinner party at home. Watch a goofy, funny, sappy romantic movie like "Date Night" and laugh together. Or treat yourself to an evening of shopping or a trip to the salon. A quiet night at home curled up with a book with the ringer and television off or a glass of wine and an old black and white like "Casablanca" is a great way to treat yourself. No matter what you decide to do, treat yourself, and others well, and spread some Love!

                   Have a great week! Have a great Valentine's Day! Eat some chocolate!!

With Love,

Nanette

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Winter shots and January outdoor pillow covers

Well, hello, there!

How have you been? Surviving these cold winter months (if you live in that climate, that is)? How about the start of a new year?

Well, I guess it's sort of the end of the start of the new year, huh? I, like many of you, have been busy, as always, but I've still been working on some projects. I can't wait to get started on the really BIG ones, though. I've got some fabulous chairs to refinish, some tables, a bench...a lot on our plates, all while Noah is still remodeling and refurbishing things in the house, like the 116 year old staircase we are re-doing (we wouldn't be if it hadn't already been done with boards, not stair treads, in the 80's). So there is a lot of measuring and cutting going on behind me right now, as a matter of fact...

Anyway, I finally got my winter outdoor pillow covers done, almost just in time to change them for Valentines day, but I finished them Monday. Of course, like all my others, they are playing double-duty. I'm showing you the January/winter side now, and will reveal a surprise in February.

I am hopefully also finishing up some stenciled throw pillows for my couch later today, and I will share those with you soon, as well.

So, I pretty much made these the same way I made all of the others in my Fresh outdoor Autumn porch decor post. I just lay my pillows onto the fabric I want to use and trace with a disappearing ink pen. Before I sew them together I figure out what I want to decorate the front with and assemble all of that on and sew that to the face of the pillow, then I sew them up leaving a very sturdy hemmed opening at the bottom to remove the pillow for storage. I like to use twine for the closures and just hand sew knotted pieces of that evenly spaced to tie shut.

*(View the photos in a separate gallery by clicking on them for better views and to page through like a slide show.)


First I wanted to share with you a few shots I got after the rain froze on our greenery...so pretty...

Now for the pillows...

I wanted to do a white on white neutral pillow using a natural winter theme. I took some of my greenery from the baskets outside (I've left all of the greenery minus the Christmas decor for January in the hanging baskets outside). None of it dried out as of yet due to the rain and soil that's in them, so I had nice flexible branches. I had never done this before so I practiced a little. I definitely wanted the stem of the branch to be in the image and wanted it in white so I poured out some white acrylic craft pain and sponged it on. The first try dried too quickly, as acrylic paint tends to do, so I didn't have the greatest transfer of my image. I mixed in a little water and worked quickly and I think it turned out pretty good. It's a little heavy on the paint in spots, but I decided I kind of liked that. It has a very organic handmade look. Just what I was trying to achieve, really.

I wanted a little more than just plain raw-edged Osnaburg as my decoration, so I decided to pull out some white satin ribbon and detail the edges. I glued the ribbon on, tucking the ends for a tailored look, using Liquid Stitch (it really works!) and let that dry. When that was dry, I decided I wanted a little more of a natural earthy feel to off-set the delicacy of the ribbon, so I pulled out the twine that I was planning on using as the tie closures and measures four pieces long enough to tie together into knots at all four corners. I glued the knots down a bit and let them dry for a few, then sewed each one on with a zig-zag setting on the machine using a neutral colored thread. (I know, I know...a bit more trouble than I thought, especially for an outdoor pillow, but I had a vision, ok? :)

As for the vintage toolbox and lantern...I just left the greenery and pine cones in and left it natural, neutral and wintry.

I just thought it was important this year to keep something fresh and colorful (or natural) on our porch even in these winter months. It gets dark so quickly, and is so cold some days you don't even want to go outside. So, when we do have to go out, and while we are longing for warmer days, it's nice to come home to a welcoming porch, I think!

How have you been beating the 'winter blues'?  Any projects in mind? Anyone out there lucky enough to be taking a vacation somewhere sunny and warm?

Well, that's it for now, but I've got some Valentines projects under way and I can't wait to share them with you! Do you have any special plans in mind for the Most Romantic Day of the Year?

As always, thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend...(and don't forget to stop by my sister blog confessionsofathinkaholic-ns.blogspot, I've just posted some new stories to warm you up)!

Nanette

Our First Snow

Hey, everybody!

Did you make it?

Through the holidays, I mean?

I know this post is a little late, but better late than never, I guess. I just wanted to share some photos of our first snow that we got a few days before Christmas. It didn't stick around long, but was so pretty coming down. That Thursday was pretty blustery. We had to run out to do some last minute errands, and it was so cold and windy. By the time we got back home, though, this is what we found. It was a great day to cozy in and watch movies...

At the time I'm posting this, we're due for another round of snow. So glad we're staying in this weekend!

Have a great one!

Nanette

Outdoor Holiday Porch and Yard Decor

Well! I finally got a new post up. Sorry it took so long. I've been battling a terrible cold since Thanksgiving, and things got a little overwhelming. Even though I took this week off, it went as it usually does...I've been so busy I hardly know what day it is. My outdoor decor has been up since December 2nd, but I just have not had the time to post. But I've gotten plenty accomplished since then. I finished up quite a bit today. I have a few more posts about all of that. Boy...am I exhausted!

Anyway, here is what we have on our outside.

Have you seen these baskets of fresh greenery at Lowe's? I loved what they had, but they wanted about $25 for one. When we picked out our tree, I asked the woman prepping the trees if they had any branches they were going to throw out. She pointed me in the direction of a big bin full of discarded branches that they weren't going to use for their own wreath and garland making to sell. I was hesitant at first to ask this, because I knew they used their trimmed branches for this purpose, but it never hurts to ask. And in this case, I won out...big time. I was able to take whatever I wanted. Well, I did, and I was able to make my own hanging basket of greenery. It was all very low cost. This is what I did:

I went to an "Everything's $1" type store and bought two rolls of ribbon, a big pack of gold plastic ornaments and a gold glittered star. At Wal-Mart, I purchased one very inexpensive pick of red berries. The rest, I had on hand. Total cost: about $5.

I used a hanging basket I already had, with the dirt still in it, and just stuffed it full of real greenery, berries, and pine cones, rusty stars, ornaments and topped it all off by making two bows that I tied onto my shepherds hook. I made a bow out of some red glittery ribbon I had and tied that to the basket hanger. I wrappped and glued some burlap around the basket and...Done! Pretty cute for not spending $25, huh?

Another thing I did with all that greenery was to stuff my balcony basket to match the hanging one in the yard. I just used all the same materials. I took the little left-over bits of matching ribbon and tied it to the basket to tie it in a bit. Another close to free project.

              Here is the little table on my porch that I decorated for Autumn, I just changed everything out for Christmas-time. I used more of the red ribbon, greenery, berries, stars and I added the $1 glittered star. I also tucked some greenery into the lantern around the flameless candle to add some more winter whimsy.

I did buy this little tree from Hobby Lobby. It was 50% off making it just about $6. I really wanted something bigger for my porch, but this was pretty cute. I just put it up on this table with a cardinal figure. I think it worked out pretty well. Next year I'd like to fill a large urn with greenery and lights, or even a live tree for the corner of my porch.

                                Here's our humble abode at sundown. Just a "few" angles....

                                                       All lit up for the Holidays!

I wanted this to be a cozy little area so I threw a blanket on the back of the rocker, and I whipped up these pillow covers from some fabric I had on hand. I just used the same outdoor pillows I always do. I made the closures Velcro for easy off when the season is over.

I love these lanterns! This one was a great find in the garden section at Wal-Mart this summer. It was only $11 and has a timer setting. Very convenient since it's getting colder in our neck of the woods.

I am very pleased with how everything turned out. I'm just glad I finally got the inside done to match the outside. It only took me two weeks!! (lol)

So...have you finished with your decorating? How about your cards and shopping?

Yeah...me neither :P

Just remember, try to keep calm and enjoy yourself this season. Take little moments for yourself to relax. Have some cocoa and watch a Christmas movie. Read an inspirational holiday story with some eggnog. Enjoy your family and the beautiful things you only get to enjoy once a year.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!