Welcome to my happy place of DIY, homemade, homegrown, handmade, nourished & crafted, whole hearted living. Finding magic in the mundane & growing some roots in the process.
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As you know from my Instagram stories, my husband’s dog hates happiness and is willing to do everything in her power to destroy it. Fairies? She eats them. The nerve of some people to plant fairy gardens of joy! UPS packages? Destroyed. Anthrax, duh! Flowers? Rips them to pieces petal by colorful petal. She loves me not. Neighborhood children? Terrifies. There will be no toothless little terrorists running around this yard! In short, if there is anything that brings a smile to anyone’s face, she will destroy it. Smiling is not allowed in this household, only tears. Buckets and buckets of tears.
The last 16 months have convinced me that Dixie is a Dursley. Ever determined to stamp out whatever magic may exist in my world. I’ve never seen happiness obliterated with such gusto! Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Duddykins would be incredibly proud.
Muggle Mutt Rule #1: Never fall in love with anything because if you do the muggle dog will find it and destroy it.
I had a fall wreath for several years that I totally loved. The colorful leaves looked beautiful set against our red front door. It was simple and paired well with anything I put it with. Did I mention that I loved it? You see where this is going.
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Now back to the post…
Dixie Dursley ripped that wreath right off the door then tore it to pieces just to be sure no joy was left. As I type this I am seeing a parallel between Dixie, the Dursleys, and the Dementors. All make you feel as if you will never be happy again. Hmmm. In cahoots? Completely possible in my opinion. Anyway, back to the wreath.
After chasing the dog around the yard with my broom, I gathered what was left of my favorite fall wreath. I couldn’t let her win. (I won’t go quietly into that dark autumn night!) So, I headed to the craft store and loaded up on supplies. A few pumpkins, a couple greenery picks, some chipboard signs, and a roll of ribbon later, I headed for home.
I started by pulling out all the broken pieces from the wreath, keeping what was salvageable to give a base to work with. I wrapped the old exposed grapevine with a fun striped burlap ribbon. (This plaid burlap would be cute too!) I used hot glue but you could pin the ribbon in place if you wanted to make it easier to change out in the future.
Once the ribbon was where I wanted it, I set to work filling in holes with greenery and floral picks. I can’t find the exact pumpkin floral picks I used online, but if you are interested I found them in the fall floral section at Hobby Lobby. Any small fake pumpkins would work just fine though.
I loved the look of the “Give Thanks” chipboard pick but I wanted to use my wreath for all of autumn, not just Thanksgiving. I decided to use the welcome chipboard for the first part of fall and then I can switch out the words for turkey day. To dress up the welcome chipboard, I pulled out some spray paint.
I don’t know about you, but I love Glitter Blast spray paint. That tiny can of awesomeness is fun, but the price sucker punches me in the gut every time I buy it. To save cash on my projects I spray the first coat with cheap spray paint in a similar color. Once it dries, I give it a coat of the expensive stuff. Nobody knows the difference except my wallet!
Oh, and another tip, prop your spray painting projects up on paint pyramids. That way you can get the paint into the little crevices and your projects won’t stick to the surface you’re working on.
Paint pyramids are crazy handy.
Here’s what I ended up with once everything was put into place. The glittered gold welcome was terribly difficult to photograph but you get the basic idea.
The mix of pumpkins adds so much interest and I love it!
Once Halloween is over and Thanksgiving hits, all I have to do is snip the wire holding the welcome chipboard sign and stick in this cute Give Thanks one instead.
In less than a minute the fall wreath becomes a Thanksgiving one!
Easy and simple, my favorite kind of decorating!
Maybe a little too easy…
Soooo, do you remember when I said how much I loved that cute happy mix of pumpkins? Yep, you guessed it. I totally forgot Rule #1 for owning a Muggle Mutt. I’ll never learn.
Goodbye, cute pumpkins.
And now I cry.
Muggles.
Embroidery hoops.
I’m going to need to do some thinking on this one!
Oh man…that’s terrible! But I love your sense of humor about it! It was a beautiful wreath!
Thanks, friend. I wasn’t feeling so humorous when I caught her! Hahaha! I really wish I could banish her to Azkaban.
Hahaha! You laugh or you cry. Loved your story though. Your wreath looked great while it lasted!
Thanks, Emy. Dang dog!
As a fellow Harry Potter lover, your references made me chuckle but I’m sure it’s frustrating. Your wreath is so festive and colorful, love it!
Thank you, Linda! It was a sure a festive, fun wreath while it lasted!
This story about your dog is hilarious the way you tell it. You have great story telling skills. The wreath looks wonderful even though Mr Muggles doesnt.
Thanks, Meg. Sometimes you have to laugh so you don’t cry!
Ok that little tip to raise it up when you spray paint is SO SMART! It always sticks to my dang drop cloth!
Oh, girl! You’ve got to! Otherwise, the back edges gets to be a paint gloopy mess! I’ve seen people use thumbtacks and nails, but those little paint pyramids are my go to.