Showing posts with label thanksgiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thanksgiving. Show all posts

Friday, October 9

DIY ♡ Fall Wreath



I made a fall wreath for my bedroom door last year using solely supplies from Joann's after I noticed that pre-made ones were actually pretty expensive (unless they're on sale!). I also realized that they can be overwhelming and occasionally tacky so it was nice to personalize it to what I liked. I also made my sister a wreath for her house last year so by the time autumn rolled around this year, I knew what worked best for me and what supplies I needed. Amelia and I decided that we should make some again this year since you can't have too many wreaths and since she didn't get the opportunity last year.

 | Supplies| 
- wire bobbles (Joann's full price: $2.99)
- fake leaves ($1.99)
- autumnal ribbon (Michael's: $2.99-$4.99)
- wreath forms ($4.99 for 18")
- scissors
- hot glue + glue gun
- optional: mini pumpkins/gourds (Michael's: $4.99)

| How-To|
The first thing I like to do is sort the leaves into a few piles so I can easily grab for the ones I want. For reference, we used about two bags of leaves total on both of our wreaths.
Next I pick where I want my bow to go. If the wreath is a little oblong I'll pick where it looks most symmetrical and keep track of where that is. 
To start gluing leaves, I lay a few at a time down and alternate the colors and shapes so it looks unintentional but so there aren't any of the same color touching all over. Once I know where to put a leaf I glue a stripe of glue down the center of the leaf and press it into the wreath without flattening it. Be careful doing this, though, I usually burn my finger tips a few times unintentionally.


I like to start the pattern by gluing leaves all around the wreath first then filling in the biggest gaps and leaving some small spaces where the wreath form can be seen so it doesn't look too busy.
After I like how my leaves look, I like to tie my bow where I previously picked. I like really big bows on my wreaths but this time I ran a little short for that so makes sure you have enough ribbon for the size of bow you want.
Next I use these little bobble things I found at Joann's that are on brown-coated wire. I cut a strip about eight inches long and glue the ends on the inside or back of the wreath using lots of hot glue. Here I alternated using red, orange/red, and white bobbles to balance out the color pallet of my wreath.
Once I glued down the bobbles I picked out three pumpkins to put on my wreath and where to place them. These take a lot of glue to hold them down well. What we ended up doing is building up some glue where we want and letting it cool then squeezing more on top of the same spot and pressing the pumpkin into it for several minutes.


That's where I called it a day! I really love the way ours turned out. In the first photo, mine the far left with mine from last years in it and my sister's is the one on the right.
If you make a wreath inspired by this post, you can tweet me or tag me in it on Instagram, @hannahvanhoozle on both!
Thank you for reading!!
xo Hannah

Thursday, November 6

Autumn Pumpkin Nail Tutorial ♡




Although it's now November, there's still almost this whole month of fall/autumn decorations! I love seasonal nails since I love seasons in general so when I recently did a pumpkin accent nail I figured I should make a post about it! If you've been following my blog, I did a Watermelon Nail DIY back in August. Many of you really liked that one as well as my DIY Floral Nails which was actually my first blog post. 
Anyway, I think these would be so cute for Thanksgiving which is approaching fast. Woohoo!

| You Will Need: |
  1. Base coat (Orly Bonder)
  2. Natural wood toothpicks
  3. White polish (Julep Dana)
  4. Orange/coral polish (Essie Tart Deco)
  5. Red/dark orange polish (Essie Meet Me at Sunset)
  6. Green/teal polish (Essie Naughty Nautical)
  7. Top coat (Seche Vite)
| Steps |
  1. Begin by coating your nails with a base coat to encourage lasting nail polish.
  2. Apply two coats of your white nail polish to all but your index finger (or other chosen nail).
  3. Apply two coats to your index finger of your orange/coral. (step 1)
  4. On your accent nail/ring fingers, create a semi-circle on the end of your nails, reaching about 1/3 of the way up your nail. This will be your pumpkin. (step 2)
  5. On a piece of paper or index card put a large drop of red polish. Using a toothpick, thinly outline your pumpkin. Also place a line directly down the center of it, then one curved line on either side of it. So three-dimensional. (step 3)
  6. On the same piece of paper, put a large drop of teal. Using a toothpick again, apply a dot of it on the top center of the pumpkin, allowing the bottom of the dot to slightly go into the pumpkin. Extend this line up and to the left or right to create a loop. Curve the line down to the opposite side and have it jut into the pumpkin again. Where the curve begins to straighten out, attach a line to make a loop and bring it up to nearly the bottom of your nail to complete the adorable vine. (step 4)
  7. Wait for it to dry completely and apply a top coat.

Explaining it sounds more complicated than it is but it will take some practice. Since it's simpler, you could just make the pumpkin stem (actually called a peduncle) short and stubby instead of creating a vine.
If ya'll have any requests for nail tutorials let me know!
Thanks for reading! xo