halloween wreath

In case you couldn't tell, I like wreaths.  I like to change the one on my front door with the seasons.   Its a cheap and easy way to welcome people to your home.  Its almost always a conversation piece.

When I saw a Halloween wreath on Pinterest  I knew I had to try it.  Turns out it was super easy.  I even made a second one for a friend who loved my first one.

Things you need:
                      foam wreath (any size)
                      2-3 black feathered boas, depending on wreath size
                      6 pack of ping pong balls
                      glue gun/sticks

Here is what I started with:

Turns out, feathered boas are really messy.  Who knew?

See the problem here?  Besides the mess, of course.  Yes, you spotted it...you can see the white wreath through the feathers.  Since I didn't have another feathered boa and my black chicken isn't molting right now (just kidding, my chickens are grey)  I grabbed a can of black spray paint.  Every crafter worth her salt has spray paint on hand.

Ah...so much better.  Now I can wrap the boas, using a glue gun to secure the ends.

This alone is pretty cute, but not really Halloween-y enough, so I added the googly eyes.  Did I mention that they are ping pong balls from Target?  (Hint, the dollar store has them for a buck AND you can get them in fluorescent orange.)  So here is the finished wreath adorning my front door:

                                                 
                                                                Cute, no?!

makin' a wreath...

After the remodel, I had an empty spot on top of my hutch.

We can't have that, now, can we?

See what I mean?  I have this empty wreath holder.  Its embarrassing  really, I mean how could I entertain or let the kids have friends over with an empty wreath holder above the hutch?








Enough was enough.  The remodel had been done since May, so I took the bull by the horns and bought a grapevine wreath.  (It is near the wine bar area, after all.)

 Simple and understated but just full enough with out being too full of leaves.  I know, I know, you're thinking, "Its a freakin' wreath already!"  True, true, but this is important world changing stuff here.

Here's what I did next:  I hot glue gunned down some of the stray vines.  I know, I'm so crazy that way.

Next up, the plastic grapes.  I thought these were actually pretty real looking.  And being from the Central Valley originally  I know my grapes.  Well, not really.  I just eat them.  Never planted 'em, grew 'em or picked 'em.  But I like them and I like wine, so maybe I am some sort of an expert.

 Attaching them wasn't as hard as you might think.  I know you're thinking 'hot glue gun' but NO!!!  Not this time. The grapes were actually a little heavy and had a plasticy finish that made them a bit...slimey. Sort of.  Anyways, I got out the floral wire and tied those bad boys on.  You can't see the wire because its hidden between the grapes.  They are nice and secure and I'm not worried about the glue failing.  It they fell off, it would be a problem because this is going on the top of my hutch and I really don't want to climb up there very often.

See, kinda high up there.  I have to step on a chair, then on the counter above the wine fridge.  Don't tell my husband I did that.  Please.  Thanks.

Now the empty spot is no longer empty and all is right in the world.  Well...almost.

I rearranged my wine bottles around it too:  The One on the far left is Fleetwood wine signed by Mick Fleetwood!  The next bottle is the wine we drank the night we got engaged.  Then there is the novelty box of Carnaroli Rice.  Everyone has one of those, right?

Halloween crafty girl

I love being crafty.  Since I'm a creative type person, there are times when I need to be crafty and create something.  Can't fight who I am so I just go with it.  I usually try to use what's on hand, but that doesn't always work...so off to Michaels I go.

I found this on...wait for it...Pinterest! I know, big surprise.  I just can't help myself sometimes.  There are so many cute ideas.

Here is my first Halloween craft:

Just take a foam pumpkin from a craft store, dot on swirls with black puffy paint and add a big bow.  This pumpkin is probably 6-8" tall.  When this stuff goes on sale after Halloween, I'm going to buy a few.  I want to get a black one (or spray paint one black) and add white dots and an orange bow.  How cute would that be?!  You can do this to a real pumpkin too, but it'll rot eventually.  I can enjoy this one year after year.

Halloween crafty girl

Candy corn isn't my favorite Halloween candy, but I know some people LOVE it.  It was the candy I used to eat at my great-great Auntie Mar's ranch when I was a kid.  She always had a bowl of it on the kitchen table.  I've always thought it was a cute candy, though...if candy can be cute.

So here is my version:

I took 3 different sizes of styrofoam cones and wrapped them with the appropriate colored yarn.

Super cute, no?!

And again, I can use them year after year.

Fairy Pots

I've admitted in the past that I'm a Pinterest junkie, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that I try the recipes (some are pretty good), feel empowered to refinish furniture (my hutch turned out quite well, thank you) and I even bought borax because its supposed to get my whites whiter (jury still out on that one...).

But one of my favorite things to find on Pinterest are the little fairy houses, fairy gardens and garden accessories.

So again, no surprise to anyone when I decide to make a fairy pot.  That's what I call them anyways.  I'd like to think that a fairy would be comfortable hanging out there.  Now, I know there really aren't fairies...or are there?!

My daughter and I decided to go to Michael's and find some cool things to add to a pot.  I have to say that I was disappointed with their selection of miniature things.  I was expecting more cute little things.
We also went to Home Depot and got little succulents and ground cover.  They'll grow in and fill spots so I didn't over-plant the pot.  I know that I can also cut and divide the succulents and end up with more plants for other pots.

 Here are the results:

This is the pot I made. Its my pirate fairy pot.  My daughter made the treasure chest sign. I painted little rocks from my side yard with gold spray paint. I found a net at Michael's and added that with some seashells.  The treasure chest was just a little unfinished box from Michael's that I painted.  Next time we go to the beach we'll get a ziploc baggie of sand and fill in so you don't see the dirt.  That should also keep the dirt moist so I don't have to water them as much.

Here is my daughter's beach fairy pot:

Again, she painted the lighthouse and little fence pieces.  We added a few plants and the clear rocks.  Blue rocks would have been ideal, but Michae'ls didn't have them.  Like I said I was disappointed in the selection of things we could use.  We'll add sand to hers, too.  Maybe we'll spray paint the clear rocks blue at some point.

I looked on the Hobby Lobby website and they had some really cute miniature things.  Maybe I'll spend a few bucks and get some things.  Its a fun project to do with your kids!