Fall Crafting

So as many of you already know, Richard got a new job. He is a transporter at Community hospital downtown. SO grateful for it, however...there are some downfalls. All of his shifts are graveyard which leaves me husbandless at night. Some of the benefits however, are that while he sleeps during the day, I can get a lot done around the house.

OR...

Waste my Saturday morning making fall wreaths while simultaneously blasting my country station on Pandora, watching Property Brothers and eating my secret stash of brownies. If you know my husband, you know how he feels about crafts, country, HGTV & my excessive sugar intake. Haaaaa

Anyways! Since it's less than a week before Thanksgiving I decided to do a little decorating and a new wreath seemed like an easy solution. Here is what we had before:

BEFORE:

Totally fine. (Except the bow looks really saggy in this picture...hmm) It matches the interior of our apartment. Navy, white & "rustic"y elements. But it's been up there for like 2 months. Time to mix it up.

AFTER:

Here is what you need:

-Twig Wreath
 (I found mine at Joann's for like $5, but they have lighter colored ones at the Dollar Store also)
-Fall Leaves, berries, twigs...etc
-Wax Paper
-Iron
-Small hand towel

Regarding the leaves...go ahead and just pick ones up from off the ground. If you pick them off the tree they will still be too moist to handle. You'll want them partially dried out already.

Also, if you're in an apartment like me...you kind of have to go to surrounding neighborhoods to find trees with suitable leaves and it can get kind of awkward picking leaves off of random peoples trees. Heck, I sort of felt like a criminal just collecting them from off the ground. Once I have kids I bet it will make crafting way less weird. People will see me and be like "Aww, what a great Mom going on a nature walk with her kids!" Instead of, "Um, honey...can you please tell that chick to back off our maple tree?"

Next:

In order to maintain your leaves' beautiful fall color and prevent it from dying, you'll need to coat it in a wax layer. I've seen methods where people melt wax and dip the leaves in it...but I'm way too lazy for that so I use wax paper. Lay your hand towel down and rip off a piece of wax paper to lay on top of it. Fold your wax paper over your leaf on both sides and lay the towel over the top of it.

Iron it for a good 2 minutes on each side. This will transfer the wax onto your leaves. You can keep it on high heat...the towel will protect the wax paper from burning or sticking. This also helps to flatten out any curls on the leaves.

Unconvinced that this does anything? Hold your paper up the the light. You can see that the wax layer has been transferred onto the leaf. Pretty cool huh?

 Start arranging your leaves onto your  wreath. I basically just used the stem to thread it through the twigs. I suppose you could tie it on also, but again...too much work for me :)

And that's pretty much it! I made a little banner thing with some twine just for kicks but I'll probably change that out with a pretty printable version from Pinterest once our printer gets fixed haha. I also sprayed the leaves with a light coat of hairspray just as an added sealant once they were on the wreath.

I had some leftover leaves so I decide to scatter them around in different rooms. Just hot glued this bad boy to my existing candle. I LOVE the colors going on in this leaf...so pretty.

Still need some more twigs to fill up that white vase. However, I'll probably go to a public park for that so I don't get as many stares :)

Happy Thanksgiving!