I promised Christie that I would try to update the craft blog because even though neither of us have been mega-busy at our work (me having been laid off this work, her not having a ton of stuff to work on besides her typology class), we haven’t been motivated to blog. Funny how when you have tons of time, you use it for other things.
However, I have been a craft maniac. I haven’t been a total craft loser.
I guess my first craft post back will be the Halloween wreath.
Over Labor Day weekend, Mom and I were wandering around Pier 1 when we came upon a really cool Halloween wreath. It was $25. It was super cute, but much too expensive. Mom and I took a picture and moved on.
Here are the list of supplies you will need for certain:
- 1 - 12 - 14 inch wreath
- black spray paint
- 1 - black feather boa
- hot glue gun and glue
- various creepy crawly plastic creatures
The first thing we did was spray paint the wreaths black. We invested in straw wreaths for two reasons: 1) Spray paint doesn’t eat through straw and 2) Straw wreaths are much cheaper than styrofoam.
After the wreaths were thoroughly saturated in black paint (they don’t need to be perfectly covered), I wrapped the wreath with the black feather boa (mine was black with silver flecks in it). I attached one end of the boa onto the wreath with hot glue and allowed it to dry (be careful not to burn your fingers like I did!). Then I wrapped it around the wreath. It won’t completely cover it, but it’s fluffy and looks pretty good. Just attach the other end of the boa to the original end of the boa with hot glue.
I flipped the wreath over to the "back" side. I took some white embroidery floss (6 pieces) and hot glued the ends, criss crossing them to make a web. At the intersections, glue the crossings so it will make a stronger connection. Once again, don’t stick your fingers in the glue!
When the hot glue has dried, attach your creepy plastic creatures onto the wreath in the bald spots. Mom and I bought a big spider and I suspended him under the wreath. Creepy!
I addition to the big creepy spiders, I added some middle spiders and some small spiders here and there. I also added some creepy critters ON to the web.
I have a wreath hanger that goes over my door. If you don’t have a hanger, hammer a nail into the very top middle of your door (I’m talking the top end) and loop a black ribbon over it to suspend the wreath.
In addition to the wreath, I added some spiders I had left over to "crawl" up the door. Since I live in a rental and who wants the fear of chipping the paint on the door anyway, I used an old Farrah trick and cut up pieces of 3M double sided foam to attach to the spiders/door. When you are ready to remove the spiders, it should come right off the door without peeling any paint. Clever trick, Fe. Mine are arranged as if they are crawling up the door to the wreath and the door handle.
Please note that I am REALLY afraid of spiders. I could hardly touch the middle sized spiders when I put them on the wreath. Yek.
All in all here are the expenses for the wreath:
Straw wreath $2.49
Feather boa 40% off of $7.99 at Joann
Bag of 100 creepy crawly critters $4.99 at Big Lots
White embroidery thread free leftovers from other projects
Hot glue free leftovers from other projects
So all in all the wreath (we actually made two - one for each of us) cost about $10. Much less expensive than the less cute one at Pier 1.
Sorry the picture isn't the greatest! This pic was taken before I got my new camera (that is now lost as of Saturday night).
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