Can you believe its almost Trick or Treat time??? Where did the year go?
Despite all my best efforts (aka, pinning the hell out of Halloween decor ideas), I find myself scrambling to throw up a little spooky ambiance before the big day arrives. Full time job plus visiting family plus two year old plus day-to-day life – I swear there just isn’t enough time in a given day to accomplish damn near anything.
But I digress…
Like most crafters, and even the non-crafty frugal-ites out there, I like to spend the least amount possible to make something pretty spectacular. I’ve seen the Halloween wreaths they sell at Michaels; now, no lie, some of them are pretty amazing. I just can’t bring myself to part with $40 (or, more often than not, upwards of $60!) when the Craft Demons inside me scream, “You can make one! You can make a better one! Bigger one! Do it! Do it! DO IT!”
I have loud Craft Demons.
So I set out to prove that I could.
Disclaimer: These are my first wreath attempts EVER. Please be kind. Or pitying. I accept either.
I did see some grapevine wreaths at the dollar store, and I did pick up a few, but I have yet to use them, since they were pretty small. I was more excited about the spiderwebs with the glow-in-the-dark spiders I found next to them. I bought one $5 wreath from Michael’s, and another for a dollar that I dug out of a pile in Goodwill.
Cricut did me a solid – they offered a Halloween digital RENTAL bundle for $19.99 for 60 days!! I got access to bunch of different Halloween themed cuts, and I’m only disappointed I haven’t had more time to take advantage of using them. Gotta hop to! Anyway, that’s another element I decided to use on my Halloween wreath.
I’ve already stocked up on Autumn/Halloween themed ribbons, so all set there. I got these great green chargers at Michaels, also for a dollar each. A few wooden letters and clearance fabric from Hobby Lobby….spray paint and acrylic paint from my stash….a few dismembered fake plants from autumns past…a wing and a prayer.
Sorry I don’t have step by step photos – I wasn’t thinking tutorial at the time so much as “please let these not suck.”
I actually really love them, and I’m much more confidant that I can create some nice ones for Christmas now.
From making these, I also learned some handy tips. For example – don’t get a ribbon set up until you know you have ENOUGH. The orange ribbon in the top wreath is actually snipped into pieces and hot-glued in place, since my brilliant self did not follow this important tip, and would never have made it all the way around other wise.
Another good tip? The charger center of the wreath is adorable, and almost brilliant – except it is annoying as hell to attach, and did not line up totally flush with the center hole. Grr.
The fence is a piece I added after the fact, a splurge from HL to give it the finished look I felt it needed. It was white, and I haphazardly spray painted from a good distance with black for the weathered look. The flowers on the EEK! Halloween wreath were ripped out of an old fake flower decoration I had from before, and I sprayed them lightly with black, then white spray paint for a ghostly effect. I actually really liked that effect – I can see it getting overused in the future.
I also spray painted the EEK Halloween wreath black first, but I would not do it again. It barely makes a difference in the look, and it flakes off anyway.
Also, I used black zip ties to secure the spider web, along with some healthy applications of hot glue. That was fun. [Sarcasm intended.]
Final advice I guess is that as wonderful as Cricut is, and I for sure am an addict – It takes a lot of layers to make a sturdy enough die cut for a project like this. Others have probably perfected the foam or chipboard cutting, but I’ve been too wussy to move past heavy cardstock. Baby steps.
Materials: Grapevine wreaths, glue gun, ribbon, black and white fabric remnant, fake foliage, faux flowers, black spray paint, white spray paint, Haunted Mansion Cricut download, heavy cardstock, wooden fence piece, green plastic charger plate, wooden letters, acrylic paint, spider web.
How did you get your letters to stay on? I have tried using hot glue and gorilla glue and neither works.
I used hot glue…it isn’t working for you?