time for another project!

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I saw a cute little Halloween wreath at the store a couple weeks ago. I've been itching to get a wreath of any kind up on the door. I don't know what it is about something decorating the door. It makes me happy. But I just couldn't justify spending the money for one, so I hit the craft store and brainstormed a way to make one of my own instead. How hard could it be?

Well, it wasn't hard but it was slightly more time-consuming than I imagined it would be. This, of course, makes me wonder if it really was worth it to make my own, because time is money, after all. I do love having my own little jack-o-lantern faces to get the house in the Halloween spirit. So, yes, it was worth it. This wreath, along with my ghosts in the trees outside (they've actually weathered pretty well over the last 5 years!), has me very excited for All Hallows' Eve.

Make one yourself! It's easy.

Here's how I did it:

To start, I picked up a bag of sticks to use for the pumpkin stems and to connect all the pumpkins. You'll also need about 10 wooden circles and 4 wooden ovals. (My craft supply store didn't have a wooden pumpkin shape that I liked. If yours does... lucky you! Feel free to improvise with whatever materials you find.) You'll also need some paints, paint brush and glue.

1 - Using acrylic paints, I started by painting the edges and then moved on to painting the fronts with orange and blending in some brown for shading.

2 - Paint the stems. I used a light and dark green and made stripes. Use a darker orange to paint the groove lines on the pumpkins. (wait to do the faces after the pumpkins are all arranged in their circle - because some of them in the background won't need faces)

3- Once the paint is dry lay the pumpkins in a circle with painted side down. Using popsicle sticks (or, as in my case, the same sticks used for the pumpkin stems) connect the pumpkins together. Keep 5 or 6 pumpkins aside and glue these on top of the first layer once the wreath of connected pumpkins is dry enough to flip.

4 - Cut and glue on stems.

5 - Paint faces. I found a jack-o-lantern sticker that I loved and that's where I got the inspiration for my toothy grins and googly eyes. Have fun with it.

6 - Once the paint is dry, give the wreath a coat of gloss varnish. I even used a coat of sparkle varnish to make it glittery.

And now it's time to bring out the Christmas crafts. Yes. I said Christmas. (I've been waiting all year for this)