Young House Love

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How To Make A Fall Wreath

I don’t know if it’s the crisp autumn breeze or the explosion of all things pumpkin on Pinterest, but a few days ago I woke up jonesing to make a fall wreath. Yes, some people have chocolate cravings, but I have craft cravings. Come to think about it, I also have chocolate cravings. Is there a correlation? Someone needs to study this.

Some of you have even been requesting more small crafty projects (like these) which have always been in the mix, but lately we’ve been so busy painting, stripping wallpaper, & renovating the sunroom that little homemade updates seem to have fallen by the wayside. But not anymore. The truth is we’ve missed them too! So I thought a cheap and easy fall wreath would be a fun place to start. Heck, even if the house behind this door is still half wallpapered, that doesn’t mean the door has to whisper “there are five seashell sinks going on in here.”

Wreath6

This entire thing only took about a half hour to make, and I got all of my supplies to make a nice big 25″ wreath for under 15 bucks (all of which are faux, so I can break this baby out year after year). So let’s call this a naptime project. Or a do-it-at-11pm-while-you-watch-Scandal project.

Wreath7

Here’s what I bought: a 25″ wreath for $6.99, a plastic pot of faux orange flowers for $4.99, and a stem of orange berries for $2.99, all from Garden Ridge (they actually have a pretty exhaustive faux flower section, and the prices seemed lower than some of the stems/plants I’ve seen at Michaels).

Wreath1

My first step was cutting all of the flowers off of the plant and clipping each of the berry branches off of the stem, so everything was freed up to be stuck into the wreath.

Wreath2

I ended up removing the green leaves (just clipping or pulling them off as I went) since it looked a little too jungle-ish (and not very fall-ish) with them on. Then I just stuck the larger flowers around the wreath, using their stems to hold them in place by shoving them into the wreath. You might notice that there are 15 flower-bunches in the wreath on the left of the picture below, but there are only 8 of them above on the table. Well, I realized that each bunch on the table could be further pulled apart, to make smaller bunches that could be somewhat evenly spaced around my wreath. At this point it was looking a little more Hawaiian than I hoped, but I thought the berries might fall things up once I removed their greenery and shoved them around the perimeter.

Wreath3

There’s definitely a little noodling that happens between spacing everything out the first time and calling it done…

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… I moved some berries and flowers around for about ten more minutes, just to come up with what I thought looked nicely spaced out. I liked when some of the berries spilled over the outside of the wreath for that whole autumn/abundant/Thanksgiving vibe.

Wreath8

Admittedly with a cheerful blue door, the bright orange wreath feels pretty happy (as in, it probably could work for spring or summer as well) but when you get closer and see those berries there’s definitely a nice fall-ish feeling. And as for how I hung it, I just used one of those 3M wire Command hooks (the ones that stick to the door and can be peeled off later without harming the paint).

Wreath9

Oh yeah, and our little porch annuals bit the big one a few weeks back thanks to some pretty cold nights…

Wreath4

… so two potted mums from Home Depot brightened things up. We’re still hunting for a new light fixture and a wider door mat, but the wreath and those mums definitely add a little more “welcome” to our porch in the meantime.

Mums After

Just pretend you don’t notice those two foot tall weeds hiding behind the bushes in the background of this picture. They can be our little secret, right?

What little crafty projects are you guys doing these days? Is there any other fall decorating and wreath making going on? It feels so nice to dive back into these quick and smile-inducing projects again. Sometimes hours spent stripping wallpaper or painting trim aren’t nearly as exciting as a thirty minute craft-fest with some fake flowers.

Comments

  1. Evelina says

    Your wreath turned out great! I love the way it looks with those yellow mums. Isn’t fall just the bestest?
    I have a similar wreath that I crafted last year. I only used berry branches from the dollar store (no grapevine form) and linked them all in a circle. I’ve had my wreath, pumpkins, and mums out since September 1st #sowhatwhocares

    Reply

  3. Alyssa says

    This must have been the wreath you were talking about when you replied to my comment about my failed wreath attempts. It turned out great!! I just added some purple mums to my front porch last week, love the decorating changes that come with fall!

    Reply

  4. Krissy says

    I love that wreath! I bought a twiggy wreath a while back with the intentions of making one I saw on pinterest… with a burlap bow, hydrangeas and a big wooden letter. But I feel like all the fake flowers always look TOO fake. Yours are looking nice, though. Maybe I’ll make mine happen this weekend.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeah, I know what you mean about some flowers looking too fake. I try to look for big fabric ones (and other filler like wheat or berries, which are harder to get wrong) since sometimes the flowers with the plastic centers or more shiny petals (instead of more matte/fabric petals) look a little too artificial. I mean, I’m sure none of my neighbors think this wreath is full of real flowers since they’d die anyway, but I like that they don’t look too shiny/plastic, even up close.

      xo
      s

  7. Stephanie S. says

    Yay! Bring on the craft projects. Looks great Sherry. I agree, the orange is a great contrast against the blue door. The mums look great too. It’s amazing what a few fall tweaks can do for your exterior. Fun!

    Reply

  9. Lindsey says

    Great Wreath!!!! I love a good wreath on the front door!!! And I LUUUUURVE the colour of your front door btw!!!

    My husband and I are huge followers!

    Reply

  11. Carrie -WorthPinning says

    Torn between Fall & Halloween decor. Fall is finally up, but now it’s time to take it down again for Halloween decor to go up. Then I’ll be sad to see the Halloween come down and fall go back up.

    Reply

  12. Casey says

    I *just* bought a grapevine wreath like yours and some burlap ribbon, intending to make something like this:

    http://www.littleloveliesbyallison.com/2011/09/tutorial-fall-wreath.html

    We just got married and just bought a house, so I am super-excited to get my new monogram up on my new door.

    A few days later I saw this one and fell in LOVE with the tree trunk slabs. I think I need a second wreath to hang indoors and stare at:

    http://findinghomeonline.com/wood-burlap-natural-fall-wreath/

    Reply

  14. Sandra T says

    Ah man! Love it! So pretty. And I don’t mind the weeds, but you might want to pull them before they go to seed! That’s what always happens to me!

    Reply

  15. Megan says

    Adorable wreath! I was just thinking about making a Halloween wreath using black rubber snakes. Maybe something else. Black snakes and something red? Can’t decide. Definitely a cruise the craft store aisles project.

    Reply

  16. Jessica says

    I could not for the LIFE of me find a larger doormat than the standard 2×3 size, so I ended up buying a 4×6 outdoor rug online instead! Good luck!

    Reply

  17. Jessica says

    Well done! I just made a fall wreath a couple of weeks ago. I already had the wreath form since I had made a wreath 8 years ago when I was in grad school, but I felt like it was time to change it up. I bought new fall flowers and berries from Michael’s and went to town on it. It turned out great. I think making wreaths this way is pretty error-proof which is nice for a crafting novice like myself. We hung our wreath on our steel door with a heavy duty magnet hook that my husband found. I love it!

    Reply

  18. bethblntn says

    Made my first fall wreath last year and I was so excited to pull it out this time around. It was actually the most costly wreath I’ve made (and I have one for each season) at $30 but oh my goodness was I so happy to have it look just the way I want it and be able to reuse it again this year! :D hope you get the same joy from this one you made next year too!

    Reply

  21. Diane says

    I really want to try decorating some small pumpkins for a centerpiece. I love seeing all the polka dot and chevron painted pumpkins they look so cute. Might be a fun project with my granddaughters on Columbus Day holiday.

    Reply

  22. Nikki says

    I have been planning to make a VERY similar wreath this weekend. I have all the supplies ready to go. It’s nice to see what I had in my head in finished form!

    Reply

  23. Wendy says

    It just occurred to me that October 1st marks the beginning of “aquatober.” Is John swearing off soda this month again?

    Reply

  24. Christy says

    Love it, but won’t the knobbly vine wreath scratch the door’s paint? That happened to ours when the wind blew pretty hard one day. So I am henceforth forbidden to hang a scratchy wreath. ;)

    Reply

    • Nichole K says

      I was worried about this too and I ended up gluing some felt on the back of everything I have hanging outside. On some things I used the little felt circles that come with the sticky stuff on the back that you can put on chair legs, etc. Super easy fix and now I don’t worry about scratching the paint!

  25. lise-lotte says

    hi
    I like the look of your door, but I think using faux plants is something I would never do myself. I would go with what nature would provide.
    I have recently re-learned how to knit, It is a very fulfilling thing to do.
    You don´t do either knitting or hackling, do you Sherry? I guess you haven´t got the time for it.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I have never learned how but my mother in law crochets and I’d love to learn! I have recently (well, in the last few years) tried dabbling in sewing, which has been both humbling (I’m pretty bad at it) but exciting (I’ve made things I never thought I could like a quilt for Clara and a beanbag for her closet).

      xo
      s

    • Paula says

      What’s “hackling”? I’ve never heard this term – google’s not helping. It’s such a great word, but new to me Down Under.

  30. CatSox says

    “…a cheap and easy fall wreath”

    Sherry, why do you use the word “cheap” so often? Surely there are other words that don’t sound quite as tacky: inexpensive, low-cost, economical, budget, easy on the wallet…

    Personally, I don’t want a *cheap* wreath hanging on my front door to welcome people into my home!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I don’t know, maybe I don’t see cheap as a bad thing? I guess words like that mean different things to everyone, but to me “cheap and easy” is a plus! Sounds fun and not bank-breaking. To me it’s the same thing as saying frugal, easy on the wallet, etc.

      xo,
      s

  32. Nicole L says

    Wow the orange wreath looks fantastic with your blue door! We just bought a new house and it screams for wreaths – I can not wait!

    Reply

  33. Laurie says

    What grows behind the bushes, stays behind the bushes. We’ll never speak of it again.

    I ADORE that bright orange on the blue. I just love those colors together.

    And yes, I get craft cravings all the time. I’m bad because I can’t stop myself from starting one even when life is too busy to actually sit down and do them which generally means they just don’t get finished. It sure satisfies to at least start them though.

    Reply

  34. Candace says

    This must be just me and my bug-phobia, but aren’t you afraid bugs will make the wreath their home and get into your house when you open the door?? No? Just me? I thought so… :-(

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Never really thought about it! I guess we open the door all day to let Burger in and out, so they seem just as likely to fly in when the door’s open as to hide in the wreath and get in that way. Of course if it was infested with bugs I’m sure I’d scream and rip it off the door in two seconds though!

      xo
      s

    • Katie says

      2 years in a row now a bird has attempted to make a nest in my fall wreath on my front door! Talk about scaring the holy living @$#! out of me when I open the door to an angry bird flapping it’s wings directly in front of me! Every year my husband throws the yucky bird infested wreath away and says NO MORE…and every year I buy a new one hoping the birds won’t find it.

    • Christy says

      A robin built a nest in our big wreath one spring! We had no idea until we opened the door one day and heard faint cheeping sounds. We stopped using that door for awhile, and were pretty sure the babies lived to fly away since we found no forensic evidence on the doormat.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Last night during a walk one of our neighbors started talking about our sunroom progress, which is funny since that’s not visible from the road but she said she had been reading our blog! We have heard some sweet things from people about the painted door and some other curb appeal stuff we’ve done, which is always nice. We love our new neighbors!

      xo
      s

  36. Kate S. says

    “Heck, even if the house behind this door is still half wallpapered, that doesn’t mean the door has to whisper “there are five seashell sinks going on in here.”

    If I had my way, that’s the quote that *whispers* ‘Ms. Winfrey’ would have tweeted on Super Soul Sunday.

    Turquoise-orange/red contrast combo is epic.

    Reply

  37. Kerri says

    Looks so cheery! Thanks for the fall wreath inspiration. I’m off to scour Pinterest for more ideas, and I know what I will be doing this weekend!!

    Reply

  38. Bailey says

    I love the way the orange and yellow pops of color look on your porch, they look lovely with the blue door. I just finished a little home craft project – turning a couple of thrifted button-up shirts into pillow covers for some couch pillows :) I have big plans to buy some small pumpkins and paint some fun things on them too!

    Bailey
    http://akabailey.blogspot.com

    Reply

  39. Tania says

    I love it!! It’s funny you posted this bc I totally have the fall wreath craving! I went to Michael’s and stood there with like 8 options in my hand and had an indecisive moment and left. Boo.!!!

    Reply

  41. Heather P. says

    I love how the orange pops with your pretty blue door! I’ve never been much of a wreath person, but with how easy this was to make, I might be tempted to try one out this year!

    Reply

  42. Anne says

    LOL, Sherry! “Heck, even if the house behind this door is still half wallpapered, that doesn’t mean the door has to whisper “there are five seashell sinks going on in here.” I think that might be one of your top ten lines or something! HA! :-)

    Reply

  44. Cassie says

    They just built a Garden Ridge not too far from my so I’m glad to know they’re a little cheaper! Will have to head there this week!

    Also… SCANDAL! I’m assuming you’re not all the way caught up since the new season hasn’t started yet (why do they make us wait until October?) so I won’t say anything buuuuut, I’ve been dying all summer to know what happens!

    Reply

  46. Callye Lawrence says

    This is a little off topic, but everytime y’all post a picture of your porch, I’m curious about the color difference in the upper-bricks that surround the door. Am I crazy, or is there something going on there?

    Reply

  48. Suzy B says

    Love the wreath & they are so easy to make. Any ideas on how to help mums last…picking up flowers from fundraiser Sat so would love any help or tricks you know! Sold 44 flats so big accomplishment for us….helps send daughter to Florida Pom Nationals this yr. Sold a lot of kale & pansies too…

    Reply

  49. Meredith says

    Love the front door color so much….I just bought my first house on Friday, and Saturday we painted the door that color. It’s even more beautiful in person! It makes me smile every time I pull up the driveway. :)

    Reply

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