Geranium-Inspired Summer Wreath Tutorial

Summer is here in full force & that means it's time to update your seasonal entryway wreath! For me, the warmer the temperature gets from Spring to Summer, the more my seasonal decor transitions from cool to warm undertones. As stated in my Hydrangea Wreath Tutorial, artificial summer flowers can sometimes be hard to work with. Most of the ones in various crafting stores are too saturated. To me, that actually makes it look too fake & can come off a bit tacky if not styled properly. So I focused on subtle pops of warm colors in combination with neutral undertones throughout to avoid this dilemma. 

You will need the following materials:

Grapevine wreath

Wire cutters

High-temp glue gun

Flowers of course

All purchased at Michael's Craft Store

Simply take each flower & start trimming. Leave 1/2 an inch to 1 inch of stem so that you can insert each piece within the grapevine securely. Next is placement. I tend to go clockwise in a pattern when placing the flowers, which you can tell in the images below. It makes it more fluid & put together. 

Once you have filled your wreath, go back & fill in addition spares areas. This will make your wreath look more full & lush. It will also give the illusion of a bigger wreath. From here, glue each piece at the top-base of each stem & you are done!

Close-ups for more detail:

I hope you enjoyed this first official tutorial for the Summer season! It's the perfect, bright pop of Summer color to add inside or outside your home :)

DIY Christmas Staircase Garland for $25!

 There's nothing that makes a house more cozy than the Christmas season. With so many decor options at hand, it can sometimes be overwhelming to decide which areas of the house to decorate while leaving other areas on the back-burner, especially if you're on a budget like me. It goes without saying that the living room is always the epicenter of everything Christmas. Thus, choose focal points in this room that you & your guests will notice first. My staircase is the most focal part of my living room. If the same goes for you & you have $25 to spare, then this DIY will definitely interest you! Why buy those overpriced, overrated, boring looking garlands in store when you can blow those out of the water with this one? ;)

You will need the following materials:

Garland $2.99 - Michael's

Poinsettias $2.50: Michael's has the best ones!

Garland Ties $2.50 - Wal*Mart

Ornament Balls $4.98 - Wal*Mart

Mini Lights $2.99 - Target

Ribbon $2.47 - Wal*Mart

Glitter Stems $0.74 each - Michael's
Pine Cone bag - $2.50 each - Michael's

*Note: sale + coupon price shown above*

Measure your staircase in order to determine how long of a garland you should purchase. My staircase measured 5 feet long & I purchased a 7 foot long garland. Take the garland and weave it in between the railings. Secure it with the garland ties. I did one on each end & two in the middle. Secure your ornament balls with the ornament wire and place them as shown below. Alternate colors & finishes (glitter, matte, shiny) throughout. Don't forget the backside!

Taking the poinsettias, detach them from their stems.

 Then, taking your ornament wire, slide it in-between the bottom of the flower & plastic stem, as shown:

Proceed to secure each poinsettia to the garland with the ornament wire. The cream poinsettias add warmth to this piece. In my opinion it is what makes it unique & cozy.

Next, take the individual glitter stem pieces and simply slide them into the garland - alternate colors throughout. You can secure them with ornament wire if you like, but it is not necessary.

Take your string of lights, plug them in, and place it to your liking. I suggest having them lit while you weave them onto the garland so that you can maximize the amount of surface area to be covered in lights & to ensure you do not miss any spots.

Add your ribbon of choice (I suggest a sheer ribbon - it makes the lights pop more!) & some pine cones and you are done! So simple & inexpensive, but it most certainly doesn't look that way ;)

 

 Here are some close-up shots for more detailed placement.

It's also a great place to add your stockings!

 

 And for impromptu Christmas card pictures ;)

I had such a fun time creating this & I hope you do as well! If you re-create this DIY, please leave a photo in the comment section below - I'd love to see them! Share this with your family & friends!

DIY Mini-Pumpkin Patch

Going into this Fall season, I knew I wanted to incorporate hay stacks into my seasonal decor, specifically these cute miniature size ones I found at Michael's! Since hay is synonymous with pumpkin patches, I found it fitting to 'stage' a DIY mini-pumpkin patch for my staircase shelf in my living room! This was styled more towards the neutral spectrum of color with pops of autumnal color (you know how much I love my neutrals!!), but there are so many ways you can customize this to make it your own -you can add more color, or other objects synonymous with the Fall season.  

You will need the following materials: Grand Total: 10.52!!

Metal bucket - I painted mine white (Michael's - $2.99 Full Price; $1.79 with coupon)

Hay Stacks (Michael's - $4.49 Full Price; $2.25 with coupon)

Mini-Pumpkin & Pine Cones (Hobby Lobby - $6.99 Full Price; $4.19 with discount)

Mini-Wood Crate (Michael's - $1.00 Full Price; $0.50 with coupon)

Harvest Corn (Hobby Lobby - $2.99 Full Price; $1.79 with discount)

Paint Sponge

3 paint colors of your choice I used these:

What you want to do first is turn your bucket on its side and arrange your setup to cascade out of the bucket. Stage your pumpkin patch before you paint any of the pieces. This allows you to plan out what colors you want to paint each pumpkin. Since I'm using 3 different paint colors - I made sure I didn't put the same colors near each other to ensure that the overall look would not fall flat & bland to the eye. Use 2 coats and let dry. Shown below was my initial set-up:

I felt like it was missing that little something extra, specifically color & dimension! To fix this, I added a crate to give the setup depth and height. I also added the corn for a pop of color and fullness. Simply painted the crate white and twisted off the corn from each stem.
Add acorns & pine cones, place on your shelf, & you are done!!!