Happy Halloween Wreath • Make Your Own!

As part of Blogtober, I'll be re-running some past posts that fit this month's theme. This post was originally published in October 2014.

I don't think I've ever made a DIY wreath before in my life, but I do have an almost fetish-level interest in holiday decorations. I admire them mostly from afar, at stores and in other people's homes, and stick to minimal seasonal cheer around my own place. The main reason for this is that I tend to focus primarily on how I'll need to store the rarely used decor and visualize myself one day packing it and moving it to a new place. It just seems like so much extra work!

I did this for SIX YEARS at our last apartment, more regretful with every passing holiday, and when we moved into a new place I promised myself I'd dive into holiday decorating, regardless of how many ornaments I may or may not have to store in a kitchen cabinet. I needed a Halloween wreath - maybe you do too? Here's how:

What You Need

• Round Wreath Form

• Black Yarn & White Yarn

• Halloween Trinkets {I got these from Michaels}

• Scissors

• Hot Glue Gun

• Glue Stick 

• Scrapbook Paper 

• Pencil

• String 

• White Paper

• Ribbon

How To Make It

I wanted a black and white striped background, so I opted to wrap yarn around my wreath form. Alternately, you could use felt, fabric or maybe even the leg of some striped tights.

To use both colors, I simply tied the two yarn strings together on the back of the wreath when I was done wrapping each section and continued on with the new color. I just eyeballed the sections. You could also glue them periodically, but I didn't. When you're done wrapping, just tie the end of your yarn to another piece of wrapped yarn in the back {bottom picture}. Make sure to knot it well.

To make the bunting, cut diamond shaped pieces from burlap-print scrapbook paper {A}. Then use a glue stick to glue the shapes to brown scrapbook paper {B} and cut out the shape, leaving a brown paper border all around {C}. Next, just fold the diamond into a triangle and crease the edge {D}.

Next comes the letters! You can obviously write whatever (a simple "BOO" makes for a much easier project, I can say with hindsight). Draw your letters to fit on your bunting {A} and cut them out {B}. Glue to the bunting and finish your other letters {C}.

To make the bunting, open your triangle and place the string against the crease {A} before gluing the triangle and pressing it closed {B}. Continue to string all the letters {C}. I made mine in two rows.

Next, start hot gluing your Halloween trinkets and bobbles (glitter heavily recommended) around your wreath. Keeping your glue gun on a paper plate makes things slightly less messy, but I still managed to hot glue my pajama pants to myself, so maybe don't listen to me.

Glue the bunting around the wreath on each side so it hangs across the middle. I also added some glitter ribbon that I had on hand between the stripes.

Then just tie a ribbon loop around the top of the wreath so you can hang it.

Done! Wreath accomplished.

Have you made any DIY Halloween decorations this year? 
Found any awesome Halloween trinkets at the dollar store? 
Why is 'bunting' such a funny word?

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Friday Faves Vol. 13: Autumn Edition

This tutorial for DIY pumpkin pie garland!

This adorable & cozy autumn sweatshirt!

This incredibly decadent salted caramel apple Snickers cake!

This witches brew mug that's perfect for fall!

This perfect rainbow pumpkin mantel decor!

This drool-worthy recipe for pumpkin & almond stuffed french toast!

This falling leaves photo makes the perfect autumn phone wallpaper!

This pumpkin nail art makes for perfect statement nails!

This list of the best pumpkin foods at Trader Joe's in 2017!

This mulled wine table-scape is autumnal heaven!

What cool stuff have you seen lately?

DIY: Paper Bunting Banner

I'll leave you with the mystery of what my banner said...an ode to shag carpets or Sharknado, perhaps?

Sometimes you just have to celebrate! What better way to do so than with your very own DIY bunting banner? JK, I can think of, like, eight better ways to celebrate just off the top of my head. I won't bore you with that stream-of-consciousness list, but I will say that one of them involves petting a rabbit while eating a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone that magically never melts. Anyway, bunting banners are pretty cool, too. I made this one for a Lumberjack-themed wedding shower (a Lumberjack & Jill), so it's red and black in honor of plaid flannel shirts. You can pick whatever stuff you like instead, but here's how to get down to business:

WHAT YOU NEED

Thick paper or cardstock (I used scrapbook paper)

Printed letters

Scissors

Glue Stick

Ruler

Pencil

Hole Punch

String to hang the banner

Cutting Mat (optional)

X-acto Knife (optional)

HOW TO DO IT

First things first - you need those perfect little bunting triangles. I wanted to get as many as I could on each sheet of paper (I'll pretend this is for eco-friendly reasons, but mostly it's because I'm paying by the sheet). To do so, I drew the triangles in the below pattern, which allows for maximum space usage, as well as minimum cutting, for those of us that are both too lazy to cut straight lines and too cheap to shell out an additional 25 cents per sheet. It's a special club - welcome aboard!

My triangles are about 6" across the base edge and the paper is a 12" square.

You probably thought I was just lazy before, trying to minimize my triangle edge cutting, but really I just knew the kind of tedious slicing and dicing that was on the horizon - the letter cutting! I had almost 30 letters and symbols to cut out, so I chose a simple font to keep the work to a minimum.

Find the size and font you like, type your words into a word processing document and print.

SOME TIPS:

* I used a 250 point font

* To get white letters, set the font to white with a thin black outline - only the outline will print

* Choose a simple bold font with mostly straight edges

* Please, For the Love of Ray J, don't use a serif font unless you have 6 hours to kill and happen to be interested in developing carpal tunnel syndrome

* Some good basic choices are Arial Black and Impact. As much as it pains me to say, this is not the time to show off your font fetish (probably the only time though).

Okay, now we're on Easy Street (please tell me if you actually live on Easy Street, as well as when the next available home is opening up on your block). Use the glue stick to glue the letters in the center of the triangles. Smooth them down to avoid bumps.

Now, we're rounding third and I'm mixing metaphors! You just need to punch a hole in the top corners of every triangle. I was originally going to use a heart shaped hole punch, but it just didn't work out. One day at a time.

To finish, just string your string (hmmm, both a verb and a noun!) through the holes you just punched. I used an over/under technique, but do the opposite if you want to hide the string.

Now all you gotta do is mount that baby at your prestigious event, over your bed, in front of someone else's cubicle or wherever you're trying to bring a little extra joy and panache, as if cubicles could have any more panache, but whatever.

Have you ever made your own banner? What funny banner would you like to see? Do you have a rabbit I could pet?

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DIY: Halloween Wreath Tutorial

I don't think I've ever made a DIY wreath before in my life, but I do have an almost fetish-level interest in holiday decorations. I admire them mostly from afar, at stores and in other people's homes, and stick to minimal seasonal cheer around my own place. The main reason for this is that I tend to focus primarily on how I'll need to store the rarely used decor and visualize myself one day packing it and moving it to a new place. It just seems like so much extra work! 

I did this for SIX YEARS at our last apartment, more regretful with every passing holiday, and when we moved into a new place last winter I promised myself I'd dive into holiday decorating, regardless of how many Christmas ornaments I may or may not have to store in a kitchen cabinet. This is my first holiday decorating at the new place so I jumped right in with a cheerful Halloween wreath. 

Want to make one too? Read on!

WHAT YOU NEED

Round Wreath Form

Black Yarn & White Yarn

Halloween Trinkets {I got these from Michael's}

Scissors

Not Pictured:

Hot Glue Gun, Glue Stick, Scrapbook Paper, Pencil, String, White Paper, Ribbon

HOW TO DO IT

I wanted a black and white striped background, so I opted to wrap yarn around my wreath form. Alternately, you could use felt, fabric or maybe even the leg of some striped tights.

To use both colors, I simply tied the two yarn strings together on the back of the wreath when I was done wrapping each section and continued on with the new color. I just eyeballed the sections. You could also glue them periodically, but I didn't. When you're done wrapping, just tie the end of your yarn to another piece of wrapped yarn in the back {bottom picture}. Make sure to knot it well.

To make the bunting, cut diamond shaped pieces from burlap-print scrapbook paper {A}. Then use a glue stick to glue the shapes to brown scrapbook paper {B} and cut out the shape, leaving a brown paper border all around {C}. Next, just fold the diamond into a triangle and crease the edge {D}.

Next comes the letters! You can obviously write whatever (a simple "BOO" makes for a much easier project, I can say with hindsight). Draw your letters to fit on your bunting {A} and cut them out {B}. Glue to the bunting and finish your other letters {C}.

To make the bunting, open your triangle and place the string against the crease {A} before gluing the triangle and pressing it closed {B}. Continue to string all the letters {C}. I made mine in two rows.

Next, start hot gluing your Halloween trinkets and bobbles (glitter heavily recommended) around your wreath. Keeping your glue gun on a paper plate makes things slightly less messy, but I still managed to hot glue my pajama pants to myself, so maybe don't listen to me.

Glue the bunting around the wreath on each side so it hangs across the middle. I also added some glitter ribbon that I had on hand between the stripes.

Then just tie a ribbon loop around the top of the wreath so you can hang it.

Done! Wreath accomplished.

Have you made any DIY Halloween decorations this year? Found any awesome Halloween trinkets at the dollar store? Why is 'bunting' such a funny word?

BLOGLOVIN  | TWITTER  |  TUMBLR  |  PINTEREST  |  INSTAGRAM  |  ETSY

OBSESSED: Maps

Maps are not only useful, but also beautiful and I've harbored a not-so-secret cartography crush as long as I can remember. If placed near an actual map I can literally stare at it for hours, noting locations of placed I've only heard in passing or memorizing the capitals of lesser known nations in case I ever need them on a Jeopardy appearance.


The wash of colors, the ocean, the old fashioned symbols and lines, the minimal modern approach - maps can be done in any style and still look timelessly cool. My obsession is partly knowledge-based and partly design-based, but the unique combination of smarts and style that is inherent in a map is truly unmatched. (You have no idea how hard I had to refrain from writing "unmapped" there instead. You're welcome).


Here are some of my favorite map pieces, so you can see they're not only beautiful, they're versatile!


World Map Shower Curtain

World Map Necklace

Road Map Bangles

Vintage Map Bunting

NYC Subway Map Dress

Embroidered US Map Necklace

Road Map Pendant Light

Florida Coffee Table

World Map Vinyl Wall Decal

US States Love Map

xoxo,
Michelle