Winter Swag

I was getting a little sick of my Christmas wreath greeting me at the front door every day. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. Just not in the middle of January. I wanted to freshen things up for the new year, but didn't have a lot of time or money to spend. Enter the winter swag. This cutie only took me about a half hour to make and cost less than $10. 

All you need is some burlap ribbon, scissors, twist ties and fake or fresh evergreen trimmings. I only used two trimmings because I didn't want the swag to be too big. 

Place the two evergreen trimmings next to each other and connect them using twist ties.

Cut the burlap to your desired length and tie it around the evergreens, covering the twist ties. 

Create a bow and trim the ends to your desired length. The first time around, I made the ends too short. They kind of reminded me of any time I've had a haircut that was so short it was awkward. I ended up redoing the ribbon so that the ends were about as long as the evergreens. I watched this YouTube video for guidance on creating my bow. I also cut a little "v" into the ends of the ribbon to give it a more polished look. 

And voila! A fresh front door decoration that is as easy to make as it is on the eyes. 

     

Fall Flower Arrangement

My brother and his girlfriend are hosting Thanksgiving this year, leaving me with more time to dream about pies and fall crafts. Since I want the pies to be as fresh as possible, I focused on crafting this week. This festive floral arrangement was extremely easy to make, only took about a half hour to finish and cost just $9!  I'm super happy with how it turned out and it was a lot of fun getting creative with the arrangement. Now I just have to decide if I should give it to my holiday hosts as a thank you gift or keep it all for myself!

To make your own arrangement, you'll need a craft pumpkin, a block of dry floral foam, scissors, wire cutters, a knife and silk flowers.

First, cut the top off of the craft pumpkin. Then, cut the dry floral foam so that it just fits into the pumpkin. 

Next, cut the tags off of the flowers and use the wire cutters to separate the flowers from their bunches.

Finally, embed the flower stems in the floral foam. Arrange the flowers any way you please. I tried to keep a certain color and shape balance so that the final product would look appealing from any angle.

Enjoy!

Snazzy Fall Wreath

Two things inspired this snazzy wreath - my younger sister's love of faux animal print decorations and a fun Halloween wreath by Landee See, Landee Do. It ended up being inexpensive (under $15 with Michaels coupons) and very easy to make. As an added bonus, it can be customized for various seasons and personal tastes. Step-by-step instructions are included below.

First things first, gather your supplies: a straw wreath base, ribbon of assorted color/design and width, scissors and pins - and that's it!

Next, wrap a layer of ribbon around your straw wreath base. This will ensure that no straw can be seen in your final product. 

Cut strips of ribbon and tie them around the wreath base. I did a simple double knot to make sure they wouldn't shake loose. Keep adding ribbon until the wreath is well covered. I felt that more was better, in this case.

Step back and enjoy!