Wreaths Archives

In Choose To Thrive

Holiday THRIVE: Brandi from Don’t Disturb This Groove

2 Mins Read

Hey there Thrive readers!! I’m Brandi and I blog over at Don’t Disturb This Groove.

I write about handmade projects, makeovers and a recipe here and there.

I like finding creative ways to incorporate natural elements into my home. Which is why I love Nike’s, “Rock-What-Ya-Got” approach to living and crafting.

Growing in my yard is a Sweet Gum tree. Sweet Gum trees produce these prickly little balls (“Sweet Gum fruit”). Those prickly little balls are everywhere in my yard! This week instead of raking them into a pile, I went outside and gathered a bag full to create a wreath.

To construct my wreath, I started with a simple wreath form purchased for a dollar.

Then using my glue gun, I attached the prickly fruit to the wreath form starting from the inside and working my way out.

Once completed, I attached a saw tooth hanger to the backside, again using my glue gun.

Here it is my friends!

I love the texture of the wreath.

I kept things simple to focus on the natural beauty of the Sweet Gum fruit.

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you”. – Frank Lloyd Wright

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial! Happy Holidays everyone! Thanks so much Nike for having me over!!

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You’re so welcome, Brandi! I ADORE how you used natural items from your yard to create this beautiful wreath for the holidays. I’m so pinning this!

Many of you probably know Brandi from around blog land – she’s the wonderfully thoughtful blog visitor leaving heartfelt, genuine comments on some many projects out there. I am constantly encouraged by Brandi’s feedback here on THRIVE and am so not surprised when I see her doing the same for women crafters. And if you haven’t read about her inspiration for her blog title, you need to.

Oh, and did I mention Brandi’s mad crafting skills? No? Seriously … mad.crafting.skills.

Did you see this awesome Pottery Barn Knock off a few days ago?

It’s a Brandi.

Or these gorgeous holiday wreaths from corn husks and bay leafs?

Also Brandi’s.

This chair make-over is one of my favorite projects of Brandi’s ever.

And recipes … oh good heavens. This woman regularly screws up my daily WW points totals. 🙂 She makes evil, terrible, awful things like homemade eggnog … and Good-As-The-Mall Pretzels … and Banana French Toast.

I hope you’ll stop by Don’t Disturb This Groove and say hi to Brandi!

Be back soon to show you a happy little accident … (hehehehe)

In Home and DIY Projects

The Wheat Wreath

2 Mins Read

My first fall project of the year just went up on the front door.

All that gleaning has sure paid off.

And this came together in a single naptime using a cardboard box for a wreath frame and wrapping it with scrap fabric like I did here.

(And do yourself a favor here and wrap some wire around your frame and make a hanging loop on the back before you start gluing on your wheat. I didn’t and it was a pain to do it after the fact.)

Wheat was attached using generous beads of hot glue for a first layer…

… and then second layer. The ends where trimmed along the inside edge for a nice, clean look.

Then extra wheat was glue along the inside edge so that none of the fabric showed through.

And just for fun, I added a double ring of red wheat near the inside edge. I love the rust color and extra contrast.

I’m so excited to have this beauty up on the door, even if it is 97 degrees outside.

And if you want this look for your door without spending a grundle at the craft store, it’s not too late to glean! I found another field yesterday and grabbed two more bucketfuls. Good luck!

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The CSI Project, Skip To My Lou, Craft-O-Maniac, C.R.A.F.T., The DIY ShowOff * Stories of AtoZ, Tip Junkie, Sugar Bee, Today’s Creative Blog, Sassy Sites, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia * Someday Crafts, Lil Luna, We Are That Family, Blue Cricket Designs, The Thrifty Home, * House of Hepworths, *Remodelaholic Friday, Tidy Mom, Whipperberry, Kojo Designs, Chic On A Shoestring, Momma’s Kinda Crafty, *Tatertots & Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors * I Heart Naptime, Under The Table and Dreaming

In Home and DIY Projects

Burlap Valentine’s Wreath … from a box and old shirt!

2 Mins Read

This little number just went up on my front door …

… with sweet burlap rosettes and a casual white bow.

Perfect for adding some Valentine’s love to a front door on a laid-back, snowy day.

Want to make one?

As always I hope you’ll Rock What Ya Got and adapt this make it work using what you have on hand.

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Grab your nicest case lot sale box and cut out a heart form to use for your wreath. The sides of my heart were about 1.5” wide.

I dug through my fabric stash and found an old, stained polo, … cut it into 1” strips …

… wrapped my heart form and secured the fabric strips with hot glue.

I made a bunch of burlap rosettes from 1” strips of burlap and hot glued them to the heart form …

… working my way around until the whole thing was covered. (Edited to add: You can find a great tutorial for rosettes here.)

I cut two 3” x 36” strips of white muslin to use for the sash and bow.

To hang, I tied the sash in a simple knot around the wreath (or the scrap of cardboard that I’m pretending is my wreath) …

… then tied a simple bow out of the remaining piece of muslin and hot glued it in place.

To finish, the tails of the bow got a quick trim.

Simple, fast and done in a single nap time!

Enjoy!

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