burlap wreath

This post is actually not about furniture.  Quite honestly, that is because I am still not fully recovered from my euphoria about the bench I finished & posted about yesterday here.  It cannot be good to love a piece of furniture this much.  I actually went into my dining room this afternoon and just... sat... on it.  Admired it.

I've seen some great fall wreaths all over blogland the last few weeks, and all of you crafty people make it seem so easy, so I decided to go for it.  I chose the burlap version, which I first saw on The DIY Show-Off here.

Why burlap?  Well, it's a long story, but what the heck.  When my husband first started working from home (which, by the way, was one of the best things that ever happened to me ~ I LOVE having him here!!) he was working out of the unfinished part of our basement.  He had a nice desk & set-up down there, but the original 1960's cinderblock walls & concrete flooring just got to me.  Didn't bother him a bit, of course.

But I couldn't take it. So while he was traveling one week, I had my dad come over & help me make a 'room'.  Out of burlap.  Yep.

We constructed a frame out of PVC piping and ran it around the ceiling of the whole area I wanted to enclose (aka hide all of our junk & cinderblock walls).  Then I brought home something like 70 yards of burlap (not exaggerating) and hung it from the frame.  I put an indoor/outdoor rug from Ballard on the floor, and I was very pleased with the result.

My husband fondly called it the "Bat Cave" but the room quickly became know among family & friends as the "Zen Cave".  It smelled all fiber-y down there from the burlap & basement humidity combo.  The sound was muffled like you were in an audiologist's booth.  To get to my husband's shop, you had to part the layers of curtains & walk through... kind of like in the 70's with the walls of beads, only with scratchy fabric.

So now most of the burlap is either nicely folded, or draped back over the top of the PVC frame, out of the way.  It was a great idea at the time.

So, onto the wreath.  Since I had 70 yards of burlap to work with, I went for it.  If you are local and need some camel colored burlap, will you let me know?  I'm happy to share :)

Here is the DIY Show-Off's Wreath which inspired me...

Isn't it gorgeous?  And they tell you exactly how to do it!  


Here is mine...

I only took a few pictures since I was feeding three kiddos while I worked, but here is what I did...

 Make a hole with your screwdriver through the wreath (you don't even have to take off the plastic).  The wreath was $2.99 at Michael's.

Fold the burlap in half & in half again, and shove the corner section into the wreath with the screwdriver.  The tutorial recommends putting a dab of Gorilla Glue into the hole first.  On some holes, I remembered this, on others, I did not.

And, the piece is in!  Repeat...

In progress.

In this picture, you can see a tiny bit of straw wreath peeking through on the left side.  But without my camera lens, I couldn't see it.

Door Before

Door after, with wreath attached via 3 inch chocolate grosgrain ribbon.

I love it!  

I would show some shots of the whole porch (with the new black bench & new wreath) but our yard is in woeful shape right now.  Maybe later, when I'm feeling brave, I can post those!

Although the project was quick (about an hour) my arms are sore!  Betsy, if you are reading this, your email about Trio came at the perfect time today.  What is it called when you muscles start wasting away??  Whatever it is, I think I have that.  All over.  I need my gym back!

Thanks for coming by!  Don't forget, there are approximately 28 hours left in the Give-Away!!!  Become a follower, and leave a comment on this post for an additional entry in the drawing for the 3' X 4' custom magnetic board!!

kathie


linking to:
Blue Cricket Design's Show & Tell