Burlap & Berries Fall Wreath

Yesterday I had a burst of energy and decided since it's not too often that happens these days to take advantage. I took the opportunity to head over to the craft store and pick up some items to make a wreath. And this is what I came up with.

I found this tutorial on Pinterest on how to make the looped burlap wreath which I used at first and then made up the rest as I went along. To be honest I didn't know exactly how I wanted the wreath to end up, but I had a big  monogram "D", burlap, a wire wreath frame and some berry garlands I picked up for 30% off.

To recreate a wreath like this,  you'll need:

2 rolls of wide burlap "ribbon" (my rolls were 20ft each and I used 1.5 rolls)
1 roll of berry garland (mine was bendable which helped me to attach it to the wreath)
1 large monogram letter
1 15in. wire wreath frame
a glue gun with glue sticks


1. First I had to figure out how to loop the burlap in and out of the wire frame. This is what I used this tutorial  for, but to be honest, I had to do some trial and error at first until I got myself into a groove. To begin the burlap I wrapped the end around the wire frame and glued it to hold it in place. I ended up cutting the burlap into long strips to make it a bit more manageable to work with and had to glue the ends each time I finished and began a new strip.

2. Work your way around the frame making your loops as loose or tight as you wish. I made mine fairly loose since I liked the look of a wider wreath and because I was afraid to run out of burlap. 20 ft of burlap goes quicker than you would think!

3. Once you finish, check your loops and glue into place any that seem floppy or in need of some reinforcement. Then, add decorations. I used berries and bent the wire around the wire frame and used the glue as reinforcement. I also glued our "D" monogram at the bottom to pull it all together.

    You could also use silk flowers, buttons, pine cones, twigs or anything else you have lying around your home.

Less than 1 hour later, I had a fresh new wreath and couldn't wait to hang it up on our door! There's something about a fall wreath that really signals the transition from summer to my favorite season!!

So...what do you think!? 

Tell me: What would you use to decorate a new fall wreath? Or, what does your wreath look like?

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Crisp Air

There's just something about the first crisp day. I know, I know...Autumn doesn't actually begin until September 22nd. But I think that's just silly. To me, Autumn starts with the first crisp day. As soon as that happens, in my home the pumpkin candles come out, I start baking things with pumpkin ingredients, and I start brainstorming the many ways I could start decorating with cozy accents for the season.

Can't you just smell the pumpkin through this post!? mmmm. September and October are truly my favorite months of the year. I love digging out the cozy sweaters, cuddling in blankets on the couch, picking apples and pumpkins and baking delicious fall treats. So all you Autumn haters out there: I'm sorry but this is my season!

It also helps that I have finally been feeling a bit more like myself. I was hoping to only have to take a very short break from the blog, but that "break" turned into a 6 week hiatus. To tell you pregnancy is exhausting would be an under statement. To all of you out there who have had children: I have SO much more respect for you now! ...and I have somehow ended up one of the rare lucky ones that didn't get sick. (don't hurt me). But, I'm pretty sure that I payed for that with super extra exhaustion. I feel like August just didn't happen because I was either busy working at my new job, forcing pizza, pasta, and toast down my throat hoping not to gag and sleeping...but "sleeping" means falling asleep only to wake up the next hour to use the bathroom anddddd repeat for the next 7 hours. Not pleasant.

Anyway, we are now at week 14 and I am starting to feel my energy creeping back slowly along with my appetite. I still cannot even look at chicken unless it's fried and slathered with buffalo sauce. Vegetables are only good if they are hidden in some way like in a wrap or panini or in spaghetti sauce. And black beans are still out of question along with hummus, both of which used to be staples of my diet. Apparently Baby D is picky. Eating has become somewhat of a chore lately due to both my neurotic appetite and lack of energy, but I'm determined to learn to use a crockpot--hopefully that will at least help the energy part. Recipes welcome.

Anyway, one of the things I am so excited about is to finally have the energy to pull our apartment back together and decorate for the season! First I plan to update our door with a new wreath. Pinterest has had some great ideas and I thought I'd include my top picks. Hopefully I'll have time to work on it this week so stop back for details!

Burlap: I love this, but it looks a bit complicated. I think you need a special type of wreath base to make the burlap all loopy.

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This wreath is from Etsy, but I could easily make this using a wreath base, a glue gun and some berries from a craft store.

Etsy

Same deal here...but I love the burlap bow. I'm a sucker for burlap. 

Source

I bet I could collect some twigs and make this just by glue gunning (verb?) them together and making a few felt rosettes.

Source

Colored burlap!!? Again, I'm a sucker for burlap. period. 

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This wreath is gorgeous, but I would definitely make this without the pumpkins. The monogram is a nice touch, though. 

Source

  Tell me: What do you think? Which wreath would you choose to make?

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A Little Surprise

Hello Everyone!! I know it's been a while since I've posted and I'm sorry for leaving for longer than my previously estimated "2 week" break. Things got a little more crazy than I expected. I have officially started my new job 4 weeks ago and so far everything is going great! I love my job and definitely feel like it was the right position for me to take.

The other thing that has kept me more than a little bit occupied and away from blogging (among other things) is this little surprise...

Yep! Frank and I found out, very shortly after I accepted my new job that we are expecting a little addition to our family this March. We are beyond excited, and I have been beyond exhausted for the past six weeks or so. The real reason I knew I needed to take a break from blogging for a bit.

I just wanted to stop by and share our exciting new since it's been incredibly hard for me to keep my lips sealed all this time! I honestly don't know how people do it--we ended up spilling the beans to our parents almost right away!

I will be continuing to blog, but I will be honest, it probably won't be my usual 4 posts a week. I will try to keep up with doing some projects around the house and updating you all on the happenings around the DiBella home. I will also likely be sharing some of my pregnancy experiences since I want to make sure I remember this special time in our lives.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Labor Day weekend! I'll be back later this week for more updates.