This is Hallow-wreath

(I actually googled “wreath puns” to come up with the title of this post. And, for that, I am deeply sorry.)

My mother has amazing taste in seasonal decor, as does my sister. They know how to make you feel like you’ve walked into a magical holiday wonderland, no matter what the holiday is. So when my mom told me that she’d gotten a new Halloween wreath, I was prepared to be jealous. However, I was not prepared for how jealous I’d be. I mean, look at this thing! It’s adorable!

I decided, at that moment, that I wanted a spooky Halloween wreath. I mean, sure, I have a really cute Halloween wreath with an adorable witch on it but it’s not really spooky and can you ever really have too many wreaths (please don’t ask my husband this question)?

So, I did what any rational (crafty) person would do. I got in my car and headed to the store.

I had absolutely no plan. I knew I wanted to make a wreath and I knew I wanted it to be Halloween themed. Beyond that, I was flying blind. This is normally where I'd link to the tutorial I based the project off of but there's nothing to link to this time. This one came completely out of my brain. In case you want to follow along, here is what I used:

Supplies

*wire hanger

*fall garland

*black shroud

*skull ornaments

*severed hand

*fall branches

*Halloween flowers

Despite the suggestions that the meme above is making, all of my supplies were purchased at the Dollar Store. So at least I didn’t spend a lot of money if this whole thing goes terribly.

The first thing I needed was a base for the wreath. I’m aware that they sell these at craft stores, but I couldn’t find any equivalent at the dollar store. By initial plan was to wire the sets of fall branches together and use them as a base, but that idea was abandoned quickly when I realised that I lacked the necessarily skills and strength to get that job done. While I was wrestling with the branches a memory leaped into my mind. When I was little I had made a Christmas wreath out of a wire hanger and sandwich bags. It had looked pretty silly, but my mom had hung it proudly because that’s what moms do. And, better yet, it had been easy to make. I grabbed a wire hanger out of the closet and began to bend.

It looked pretty much the way my elementary school wreath base had looked: janky. So far my DIY wreath wasn’t off to a rousing start. However, if there’s one thing I’m good at it’s hiding flaws with decorations. One of the things I impulsively grabbed at the dollar store was a black shroud-type cloth and I began to wrap it around the hanger/wreath base to...well, hide the fact that it was a hanger.

Once that was accomplished, my wreath was looking more like a wreath and less like something I got from the dry cleaner. However, it still needed more pizzazz. That was where the garland came in:

Orange is the new wreath decoration

While I hadn’t been able to manipulate the branches into a circle, I was able to attach them to the wreath base. It was actually very easy to wrap them around and let them hang down.

I was able to put my wire cutters to good use while doing this craft. The dollar store was chock full of Halloween appropriate glittery flowers. Okay, so, fake flowers are nothing short of a sin in my family (even worse than wire hangers) but glittery Halloween ones are acceptable. They aren’t masquerading as real flowers. They’re supposed to be over the top. (Seriously, do not get my mom started on fake flowers. She hates them with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.) The good thing about fake Halloween flowers is that you can totally cut them apart and wrap them around a wreath. Or, if you're like me, weave the stems into the shroud to attach them.

I really liked the way this was turning out, but it still needed more Halloween goodness. Thankfully I had grabbed some glittery skull ornaments and a severed hand while I was at the dollar store. Even better? They had little ribbons on them, suitable for hanging. All I had to do was cut them apart and re-tie them to my wreath.

I have to be honest, I’m really thrilled with how this turned out. Who could have guessed that a random basket of dollar store Halloween decor could turn into something so cute? And who would have thought that my elementary school wreath making skills would have come in handy in my adult life? I wonder if I’ll ever have a use for algebra...nah, probably not.

Have you ever had a happy crafting accident? Let me know!