Feather Boa Wreath Tutorial

So last month I had a pumpkin thing going on. So this month it looks like I have a wreath thing going on!!! I saw a feathered wreath online for something like $50 and thought to myself (like you do) 'I can make one of those for a lot less money", so the challenge was on.

Off I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased my supplies:

• 2 feather boas


• 1 straw wreath


• White fleece material (this should be the same colour as the boa you purchase)


• Pins

1. First cut your material into approx. 2" strips like you see in the picture, secure the fabric to the wreath with regular pins and wrap the fabric around the wreath until the wreath is covered and you cannot see any straw.


2. Take your boa and on the outside edge of the wreath pin the boa every 4 inches or so to the wreath, once you have done the outside edge then start covering the inside edge. How easy was that. I am not the best for writing instructions, so seeing as picture paint a thousand words I took some pics as I made my wreath.

The artsy girl connection

DOLLAR STORE CHRISTMAS WREATH

I was at Pier1 yesterday, just browsing, like you do!!! and I came across a Christmas ball wreath, which I did not buy because I really could not justify the price of it, I think it was near the $50 mark!!! insane!!!! there is now way I would ever spend that amount of money on a wreath, especially when they are easy to make and fun. So with the help p of good old Pinterest, I came across some fantastic looking wreaths, I cannot find the links to the wreaths I found but if you Google ornament ball wreath I am sure you will find plenty out there in blog land, with much better tutorials than mine. I took a couple of pics along the way and to help you get the supplies right here is a list of what you need if you want to make your own.

To make my wreath I bought all the supplies from the Dollar Store:

• :1 willow wreath but you could use any type of wreath that you have on hand, the one in the picture below is 21” in diameter when finished, so this was one large wreath!
  
• Assorted Christmas ball ornaments , how many you need depends on the size you make!!!
  
• 1 9ft length of Tinsel or spray paint (this is optional, see TIPS)
  
• Ribbon
  
• Hot Glue Gun

This picture below shows the back of the wreath, glue balls to the inside of the wreath with the little hanging bit sticking up, then do exactly the same and glue balls to the outside of the wreath, flip the wreath over ad then add balls randomly until you are happy with the placement and look of the balls.

TIPS AND THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME ROUND:

I would have spray painted the wreath before gluing the balls onto the wreath, but if you forget like I did, or do not have the correct colour spray paint then just wrap tinsel around the wreath instead.

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The artsy girl connection

Apothecary Jars

I absolutely love the look of apothecary jars you see in design magazines and shows? They just add that something special to decor in a room. BUT I don't know about you, one thing I don't love is the price tag unless I am lucky enough to score one at TJMAXX. So after seeing so many different ones in blog land and how easy they are to make, I thought I would give it a go. So I took a little trip to the dollar store and bought some vases and candlestick holders for a dollar each! I then popped into Michaels and bought the gorilla glue (I forgot my coupon so this would have been cheaper had I not forgot).

For this mini tutorial I used a Glass Cylinder Vases with Flared Rims 9” from Dollar Tree and a Glass Taper Candleholders 4”

(did you know if your dollar store does not have these in stock you can go online and order them and if you have them shipped to the store, you do not pay any postage).

The hardest part about project this was getting the stickers off the glass!!

Be careful to the follow the instructions for using the glue, you have to wet the underside of the vase slightly, put glue on the candlestick, place in position and once your happy with it weight it down with something heavy. Then go and do something else, leave it alone until it is dry. How easy was that? Please excuse the pics, I was excited to get this post up and didn’t realize that the sun was streaming through the window and washed the pics out.

I've filled this apothecary jar with mini candy canes, also from dollar tree, I love how they are individually wrapped so will stay nice and fresh. There are so many different ways of decorating these jars.

Here are just a few ideas: Thanksgiving – Cranberries, Easter – mini chocolate eggs, Summer – shells from the beach. I am sure if you search the web you will also find some great ideas, how about a terrarium? You can easily just change them around to match the seasons and your home décor.

The dollar tree has a few different sized vases that would be ideal for this project and here are just a few of the vases and candlesticks I bought today!!!! They look great displayed in different heights.

When I was searching for ideas as to what to put inside the jars I came across this post over at Crafty Butt, she also has a great tutorial for making the apothecary jars and I lover her idea of putting a St Jude candle inside which is narrow and tall enough to allow you to put things around the outside of the candle.

Dollar tree sells these candles they are known as St Jude candles, I went to 2 dollar trees in my local area and they did not have any, but I managed to find some down the Mexican aisle in a grocery store, failing that you can always order a case from dollar tree for $12 and have them delivered to the store for free. They fit perfectly inside the 9” vases.

I loved how Melody over at Crafty Butt, decorated her jar and his is my take on it.

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