Fall wreath tutorial

I am not much for decorating seasonally, except for Christmas, when I feel justified in being as gaudy and over the top as humanly possible. 

Since moving to Wisconsin, however, I have discovered a love of wreaths.  I used to think they were overdone and out-of-date, but no more!  Wreaths can add warmth to your home and are very welcoming.  They are the jewelry of your front door.  You can quote me on that.  It's very quotable.

I have bought a couple of wreaths over the years, but prefer ones that I make myself.  What can I say?  I am a DIYer {that's do-it-yourselfer, for those of you not in the know}.  Wreaths can be as simple or complex as you wish, and can take an hour or days to make. You choose.

I've made two wreaths for this fall.The first one was based on this tutorial from Jones Design Company.  If you like this kind of craft, you should check out her website.  Beautiful things.  Anyway, I used the same tutorial last year for these Christmas wreaths for the patio doors.  

My mom and sister loved them so much that they each asked for one for Christmas. 

The fabric in the wreaths above was from a set of curtains I bought from Goodwill for fifty cents.  They made three wreaths.  For this Fall wreath, I found an old fleece blanket at a thrift store for a dollar that was this gorgeous mustard yellow, perfect for Fall.  I was planning on embellishing it {maybe some feathers in autumnal colors?}, but once it was up, I was in love with its simplicity.

Here's how to do it. You'll need:

- a wreath form {the one shown below is smaller than the one above - I decided to make a tutorial after I finished the wreath - oops!}

- fabric of some kind

- hot glue or lots and lots and lots of straight pins

- embellishments {optional}

Cut the fabric/curtains/blanket into strips one to two inches wide. This is very forgiving, so you don't need to be too careful.

Take one strip and wind it around your wreath form, using hot glue or pins to secure.

Once the form is covered, begin looping the strips around, starting with the outside.  Attach with straight pins or hot glue.

Keep going around, playing with the loops until you like how it looks.

Keep going, working your way to the center, filling in places if needed.  When you're done, make a loop on the back and hang it on your door. 

Our storm door is currently awaiting Handsome Hero's magic touch, so I kept the wreath inside, lest it get soaked and be ruined.

Pretty!