Lots and Lots of Spoons turned Wreath(s)

Some of you may remember me talking about the Pancake Breakfast/Auction Fundraiser Hubby and I Co-Chair.  This year's theme was "Greek".  You can see us in all of our glory here.

Anyway, the breakfast is held in a school gym.  In planning the table decor, I knew I wanted something that would be big, so it would be noticeable in the gym, yet I didn't want it to obscure anyone's vision.

Here's what I made:

The idea came from "The Nester" over at the blog Nesting Place

You see, every year this fundraiser takes place and every year once the events are over, the theme for the following year is announced.  Last year's theme was Hollywood and when they announced that this year's theme would be Greek, my mind was on full speed.  I had  remembered seeing some cool laurel leaf looking wreaths somewhere, I just had to remember where.

Once I found them again, I filed it into my "auction ideas" folder.

I was absolutely going to make them, but initially I hadn't planned on using them as centerpieces.  I was planning on hanging them on the doors to the entrance.  But as I thought more about it, I decided they would make fabulous centerpieces.  Big, open, perfect for the theme.... just right :)

So I gathered my supplies, lots and lots of plastic spoons, and lots of green spray paint.

First I glued my spoons together.  Each wreath I made took about 50-52 spoons.  My placement of the spoons was based on trial and error.  I didn't want the wreaths to look too "tight" But I didn't want them to be enormous either.  Once I that figured out, I glued and glued and glued some more.

 I used hot glue and basically put a dollop of glue on the lower back part of the "spoon", glued that to the "neck" of the next spoon, then flipped it over and put a dollop of glue where the two spoons met at the bottom/lower middle.  I admit, I used lots of glue, I didn't want these coming apart as they were on the tables.

Once all of my wreaths were assembled (I made 13), I set out to spray paint them green to mimic an actual laurel.   You could leave them white, or paint them whatever color you desire.  I used lots of spray paint, and it took many coats to get each wreath thoroughly covered ~ there are lots of nooks and crannies on these babies!

Next up, creating a stand so they could sit on the tables and not tip over.  Lucky for me, we had just thrown out Sassy's old book shelf that had finally collapsed under the weight of all her precious books (this was a cheapy $20 bookcase that we purchased for her nursery 11 years ago).  Using the shelves and sides of the book case, Hubby cut 13 10x10" squares (round ones would look pretty nice!).  I purchased dowels (however in the picture below we made a "trial" stand and just used a 1x2 we had on hand) which we cut down to 23 3/4" (this will vary depending on the size of your wreath).  He then drilled a screw into the bottom of the base and into the dowel.

I hammered a nail into the top and spray painted the bases gold.

Using ribbon that was donated, I tied the wreaths to the stands using the nail.

Voila ~ an easy wreath and simple wreath stand, perfect for our event.

Valentine Pom Pom Wreath

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I thought I would repost a craft Sassy and I worked on together a couple years ago.  She just requested I get it hung up for this Valentine's day :)

I don't usually decorate for Valentines day. I'm not the type of person who feels the need to decorate for every holiday.  However, I've seen so many cute v-day wreaths out in blog land recently and Sassy has been bugging me to let her decorate.  So, I regressed back to my days in grade school.  Art class to be exact.  The assignment was to make a Christmas wreath.  My mom helped me come up with the idea to make a pom pom wreath.  I made it with green yarn and adorned it with red bows.

Today I bring you our (Sassy and myself) Valentines Day version.

Supplies:

Foam heart shaped wreath

and

Yarn ~ as many or as few colors as you desire 

(Sassy chose a deep red, pink and white)

Directions:

1.  Start by making your pom poms.  To do this we wrapped the yarn around our fingers ~ Sassy used 4 fingers, I used 3.  When you wrap the yarn around your fingers, make sure you keep it loose ~ not slip off your hand loose, but make sure you are not going to cut blood supply off to your fingers.  We went around our fingers about 85 times.

2.  Slip the yarn off of your hand.  Cut a piece of yarn long enough (around 6" should do) to tie your wrapped yarn together and to tie the finished pom pom to the wreath.  Now center your wrapped yarn over the new piece you cut ~ make sure it is centered on top and bottom, then tie in a double knot.

3.  You should now have a bunch of little loops.  Cut all of these down the center.  Be careful not to cut the piece of yarn you tied with ~ Sassy did this soooo many times ~ easy to fix, just tedious.  But it did make us giggle a lot!  When you are done, you should have a pom pom in need of a haircut.

4.  Trim up your pom pom and go on to the next.

5.  Once your pom poms are made, you can tie them onto your heart form.  Finally, trim up all the extra string on the back

Voila ~ a fun valentine wreath ~ perfect to hang on Sassy's bedroom door.

Someday Crafts

Brown,Orange and Yellows ~ with a hint of coffee

It's beginning to look a lot like fall around here!

Actually, it has for a month now, but I'm finally just getting around to telling you about it :)

I don't really go to crazy.  Just some touches here and there.  Simple and not too busy.

First up, our entry.

WELCOME!

Branches (can you tell what I used for filler?)

And a few leaves tied onto an empty frame with some clear fishing line.

Next, our Mantel.

A few fall leaf branches (same filler as in the entryway), our family pic and a reminder to "be thankful"

I have a string of white christmas lights (that I leave there all year long) behind the picture to help illuminate the dark corner.

And the other side of the room, with the awkward light. 

A few fall photo frames and a small wreath:

Now come along with me.  Down

to

the

basement......

For more branches.

These are branches that had fallen from a tree at the park behind our house.  And one morning when I was taking our dog

for a walk, I ended up back at home with an armful of branches :)

But this time for filler, I used some fake fall leaves (I have plenty of these ~ leftover from our wedding decor..........12 years ago)

Our media center:

And do you see the "little fall decor" labeled piece?  Well, I was inspired by pinterest.  This was what I saw:

(Image via Pinterest)

This was my version:

Ok, not quite as cool, but I didn't feel like digging for a bigger vase, besides, my favorite one broke. :(

BUT.... I still like the simplicity of it and the small pop of fall colors it provides.

Well, there you have it  ~ a bit of fall from my house.

Oh, and that filler coffee beans.  Let me tell you, my house smelt so yummy for so long.  But, I do love the smell of coffee!  This was a inexpensive filler and like I said before I loved walking through the entryway just so I could get a whiff :)

So, do tell.... are you still in fall mode, or have you, like all of the stores, switched over to Christmas?

Spring Wreath ~ AKA, my front door is no longer naked!

I have to admit, my front door was naked!

You see, I took down our Christmas wreath and never put another one up.

Every time I looked at our poor naked door I thought to myself, "That door needs a new outfit, a brighter one"

So my spring wreath was created.

Now, I know that what I created was/is not earth shattering, or even a new idea, but I love it none the less, and perhaps you too will be inspired :)

Here's what I used:

A large grapevine wreath
Fabric
Buttons
Coordinating thread
and some Hot Glue

I took a long strip of fabric

(it was about 3 ½ inches wide and unfortunately, I forgot to measure the length, 

but the longer and wider the strip, the larger the flower)

Folded it in half and sewed a running stitch from the beginning to the end of the fabric strip.

Gathering the fabric as I went

Until I had sewn and gathered the entire strip

Next I manipulated the fabric strip into a flower shape,  

sewed a coordinating button on and moved on to the next flower.

All together I made 6 flowers, and using hot glue, I glued them onto my wreath and tied that baby onto my naked front door with some pretty blue ribbon.

Ahhh, I feel so much better, now that my door is dressed!

I also embraced my wishful thinking and added a new message to my front porch chalkboard

And I'll pay no attention to the fact that I woke up last Saturday morning to more snow on the ground and this week the temps are suppose to stay in the 40's.

Here's to Wishful Thinking!