BIG Fluffy Wreath from Coffee Filters and a Hula Hoop

Okay, let me put this out there... I LOVE wreaths. 

I love their simple round form and the multiple ways to make them and embellish them and display them. All through the year a wreath can be a decorating accent for any occasion.

I made my first coffee filter wreath with plain white filters and a twig wreath form. It is 18" across and I have it hanging on the mirror of  the re purposed head board in my craft room. I love it's ruffled fluffiness and during the year I add snowflakes, four leaf clovers, sunflowers, American flags and butterflies to change it up for the seasons and holidays. Right now I'm switching over from Halloween to Thanksgiving, so it is just plain and beautiful.

I'm always looking for round forms to use for wreath backings and when I found a hula hoop at the Dollar Store I knew it would be perfect for another wreath, this one HUGE! I'm not kidding, this finished wreath finishes out at 28" inches across and it could not be simpler to make.

Oooh aaah!

Our Dollar Store has this 20" hoop. It is plenty generous for the wreath I had in mind. First, I wrapped the plastic hoop in strips of burlap since it closely matches the color of the natural coffee filters. But you can use any fabric for this step. It doesn't have to match since it really will not show. Use hot glue to anchor it in place. This will give you  a textured surface for the hot glue to grab when you start adding your coffee filters.

Here's how to avoid burning your fingers with hot glue on this project. Use a fat marker or a dowel and scrunch your coffee filter evenly down around it. Put a dab of hot glue on the center of the outside of the paper  then put it in place on your wreath form. After a second or two remove the marker and looky there, you have glued your scrunched up coffee filter in place.

I used about 3 packages of the natural coffee filters for this wreath. It took me less than 2 hours from start to finish.

Looking good! I LOVE it's ruffly fluffiness!

Since it is made from a hollow plastic tube and paper, this wreath is very light, weighing in at 11 ounces before adding any extra doodads.

And now I get to do the fun part...decorating it for the holidays!

This project is right up my alley. Inexpensive and impressive and easy. Don't you love it when creativity and frugality collide to such beautiful effect?

I'll be sharing at the parties on my sidebar. Come visit and check out all the fun projects!

Blue and White Wreath Redo Fourth Go Round

I am thrifty (cheap, tightfisted, etc) as all get out and I love it when I can get LOTS of mileage out of my decorations. Here is our Christmas door wreath for 2012....the FOURTH seasonal redo of my favorite twig wreath form and I think it's my favorite version yet.

It fits over the arched window in our front door perfectly, so it's a keeper.

Ooh aah!

I knew all those cobalt, teal and silver ornaments I found at yard sales, thrift stores and clearance sales would look great on this twig wreath. I've been collecting them all year. I especially love all the glittered ornaments I've found. 

Last year this wreath started out painted gloss black, with three black roses and lots of eucalyptus and twiggy sticks. I added silk leaves, flowers and real pumpkins for our autumn Thanksgiving door decor. LOVE the contrast and the bright colors!

Then I got out the cheap Walmart spray paint in gloss white and totally changed the look of the whole thing for less than $2! When it comes to redoing this big twig wreath, spray paint and hot glue are my best friends.

I scored some neat teal foil ribbon twist which I glued to wire curls and added a few blue balls.  I was super pleased with this pretty wreath on our Christmas door last year.

I found the bronze glittered butterflies at an after Christmas clearance sale and saved them for this springtime wreath. More wire curls got a shot of spring green and every time I ran across silk or plastic ferns and greenery, I snapped them up and stuck them on. By the end of summer this wreath was just LOADED with greenery! I made the nest from twigs and glittered the 3 eggs for a pretty touch and I even scored a green glittered butterfly.

Which brings us back to this year's Christmas wreath. I added beads and that pretty blue glittered butterfly and even a bath scrubby in a gorgeous turquoise shade. The more the merrier is my motto!

I re used the white wire curls from the spring and summer wreath and also re used the  blue foil twist curls from last year. I tried out some outdoor Mod Podge to make glittered balls. I'll be keeping a close watch on those to see how that Mod Podge formula holds up to winter storms.

I like it! I like it ALOT!

I took a couple of hours off from my long, long Christmas To Do List and just put this wreath together for some  fun. Sometimes you've got to squeeze something relaxing into your schedule. You might be surprised how rejuvenated you will be and ready to jump back into your busy life.

So this next year I'll keep my eyes peeled for even more blue ornaments for this fun door wreath. Who knows, maybe I'll even find another big twig wreath and I can double my fun with more wreath redos!

Have a great holiday season, ladies, and come visit the great blog parties listed on my side bar. You never know what you will find!

Black and White and Red Christmas

Here's what my baker's rack looked like for November. Lots of vibrant autumn color with faux leaves, my fabric and lace pumpkins, garlands and a neat twig rosette wreath.

For October it looked like this, complete with spooky bats, a black dried vine wreath, scary cut outs and black netting. I loved the black and white theme so much I wanted to use it again for Christmas, maybe with a bit of silver.

So here was the start of the Christmas decorating and tho it's coming together, it just looked too "calm" for me. I love color and knew I had to add some to this display. I didn't go out and buy anything and knew I had to work with what I already had. The silver wreath is a great Dollar Store clearance buy after Christmas last year, it was twenty five cents!!

I looked in my Christmas storage; old balls, yarn and old silver decorations. I remade the silver tinsel wreath with lots of red in yarn and glass balls, plus silver balls and snowflakes and even a black and white ball to match the two cone trees. Hmmmm, looking better!

Here's how the rack looks now. I'm still tweaking that second shelf, perhaps adding a few more cone trees....and one wrapped with a red beaded garland...and maybe one with silver foil....thinking thinking.

This is the great fun of creating your own decor, when you get an idea you can work on it and modify it until you get the look you want. I'm not done with this design yet, but so far I'm liking the clean black and white and silver with pops of red, SO different from my normal cobalt blue, white and silver.

What about you, are you changing up your colors or style this year? It's your house, go for it!

Teal, Silver and White Wreath Redo

Here is the Christmas wreath for our front door. This is the third redo of this twig wreath and probably not the last.

I love the way it came out so close to the idea in my head. Don't you like it when a project works out like that?



Here's the wreath in it's first incarnation, painted gloss black and adorned with a glittery haunted house silhouette and lots of curly black streamers for Halloween. Dollar Store spider webs and spiders and a bevy of bats finished it up.

For its second life for November and Thanksgiving I reworked it with colorful fake autumn leaves and flowers, and mini pumpkins on skewers. I LOVED the contrast of the gloss black with the vibrant colors, especially on my blue door.

And here's the start of it's third look, several coats of gloss white spray paint, which I had on hand. It's been so cold here that it took several days to get this done. I knew I wanted to add blue ornaments but didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I kept my eyes open.....

..and found these vibrant blue balls in a bag of silver ornaments, plus a whole roll of teal blue foil twist ribbon at the local St. Vincent's store. Thirty cents for the ribbon and ninety nine cents for the bag of balls. Score!

I covered one silver ball with teal rosettes made from the foil twist, and wound strips of it around wire to make some nice curlicues for accents. I knew I'd never find anything like them in the stores and they are perfect for the look I wanted for this wreath.

Here it is, all done with lots of hot glue. I added a few silver snowflakes and a few blue berry twigs and hung it up outside. I LOVE the way it all came together! It looks great on our blue door.

Here's a few of the elements....blue and silver glass balls, silver snowflakes, a crackle painted blue ball and the rosette covered ball. I particularly like the blue curlicues, they came out great!

And another look...this just makes me smile. I always know when a project is finished when I end up with a big grin on my face!

I'll be posting about the rosette covered balls and the crackle painted balls soon. They are easy and clever ways to make something totally unique for your decor, and not just for Christmas.

I'm joining the parties on my sidebar, come on by and check them out. There are some great decor and gift ideas out there and yummy recipes too.