Vintage Spring Wreath

 

Easter is only a few weeks away.  I find the holidays are a great excuse for a new wreath for my front door.  I wanted to do something a bit different.  Something with a bit of a rustic vintage vibe.  I knew I wanted to use my leftover burlap.  I had purchased an entire roll for my winter stairway garland.

This past weekend I made a run to my local Joann's Fabric and Craft Store.  I purchased a 12" round wreath form and some floral sprays.  My first stop though was the Sunday Flea Market.  I headed directly for the jewelry booth.  I just love vintage pins.  I was able to find 10 pins in a floral motive.

At home later I gathered my new purchases, my leftover burlap and my handy dandy glue gun.

 

I didn't want to just wrap the burlap around the ring.  I wanted it to have some depth.  I started by cutting lengths of burlap and just kind of rolling and bunching it up and gluing it around the ring.

Then I pinned the different pins around the ring.

 

 

 



The final touch was to fill in the bare spots with flower petals and some faux bird eggs I glued on.

 

 

 

I kind of like the end result.  How about you?



Make A Simple and Rustic Snowflake Garland

It was a tough day today.  A day of profound mourning for the 26 people killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday.  Twenty of them 6 and 7 year old little angels.  I was born and raised in Shelton only about twenty minutes from the sight of this horrific event.  With a lump in my throat today I made this simple winter garland for my stairway banister.

I started the process by hanging the holographic snowflakes I purchased at Michael's Craft Store on my clothes line.  They came in a package of 4 for a $1.00.  I then spray painted them with diamond dust Krylon Glitter Blast glitter spray to give them more of a snowy texture.

I tied one end of the burlap garland I purchased in a 10 yd. roll at Michael's to the top post.

I weaved the burlap in and out of each rail.

I then cut the burlap to the length needed and tied the second end to the bottom post.

I first began gluing the snowflakes to the burlap using my glue gun, but I found that they weren't sticking as well as I would have liked.  To insure that the  snowflakes stayed put, I chose instead to tie them to the burlap using white garbage bag ties.  With the small holes in the burlap material, it was easy to thread the ties in and then through the small hole in the top of each snowflake to secure them.

I think the final product in its simplicity and sparkle is fitting.  It will always bring to mind for me those little angels and their teachers who left this world far too soon.