A Fall {or Autumn} Wreath

Well, my oldest kiddo has been back to school for a week now,  the trees in the back are slowly starting to change colour, and the morning are getting cooler.  Fall (or is it Autumn - what's the difference?) must be on its way!  And fall means it's time to change out the summer wreath and replace it with a Fall one.  Now I could use my fall wreath from last year, but where would the fun be in that?  (Nowhere, that's what you say.  Don't listen to my husband who says it would be totally more fun to use the wreath from last year and save yourself some time and mess.)

I decided to follow in the steps of my CHQ buddies Jill and Barbara and use burlap for my wreath.  Except I did a bubble style with the burlap.  How do you create this bubble look you ask?  Let me show you.

Now as a prewarning, this is really easy once you get the hang of it.  It's never hard, but it is a little weird to figure out exactly how to place the pieces.  Trust me though, after a few minutes of fiddling around, you will get it, it's just hard to explain in words. 

1. Start with squares of burlap - mine were about 6x6 inches, roughly.  No need to break out the ruler.

2. Fold it in half to form a triangle.

3. Bring the right corner around to the front to meet the other corners.

4. Bring the left corner around to the back to meet the other corners.

And there you have it, folks.  How to make a burlap bubble thingy.

Now, onto the wreath.  I used a styrofoam wreath, one that was flat on the back.  I wrapped it in plain white cheesecloth material just to give it a more finished look on the back, since you can see the back a little through my front door window.  (If you have a solid door, you can obviously skip this part.)

I made a burlap bubble thingy and stuck it into my wreath with a floral pin - the two prong style ones like this:

This holds it down nice and tight.  Once you get the hang of it, you can even attach two pieces of burlap with one pin.  After you pin them, fluff them a little.  Continue arranging burlap pieces, overlapping them so the pins and rough ends are not visible.  This will take some time, but is pretty mindless, so it's definitely a tv-watching job.

I didn't worry about hiding the ends of the one sections because I knew I would be covering it with the leaves and monogram.  First, I traced my monogram on paper, using the wooden piece as a guide, and then mod-podged it on (which I forgot to take a picture of, but I'm sure you're smart enough to visualize it.) While that was drying, I arranged my fall leaves and stuck them in with a floral pin as well.

To attach my monogram, I glued a piece of jute twine onto the back of my D and tied it around the wreath - the twine matches nicely with the burlap, so you don't have to worry about it showing.

The last step was to hang it on my door and admire it!    Ahh... the comforting colours of fall.  Doesn't it make you want to grab some chicken pot pie?  Hmm... Maybe thats just me.  Either way - what does your fall door look like?