feeling a little crafty...
Not sure why, but I've picked up some sort of bug. A crafty bug. Can't remember the last time that I've done anything quite so time consuming...other than this blog - LOL.
Earlier in the summer, on one of my days off, I noticed that there was an Estate Sale on Main Street. I decided that I'd go check it out. While I was there I purchased some vintage Christmas ornaments. I had purchased a couple of ornament wreaths at a holiday craft show last year...
...and thought that I might like to make one of my own - for cheap; either to give away or to sell or to keep, not sure which. These two wreaths were made by my SIL's friend from Richmond, MI.
On Labor Day weekend when we were on a camping trip that got rained and colded out, there happened to be an Estate Sale going on in that little "Thumb" town. I convinced Jerome and our friends to stop and I was able to score even more vintage glass ornaments.
Then I thought that the Salvation Army might be a good place to go and check out to see what they had. I scored big time because little did I know, everything was 1/2 off that day. So, 149 ornaments cost me just under $9!
So, I created a spreadsheet with the colors and sizes and tried to figure out what color wreath I could make with all the different color ornaments that I bought. The final choice was Blue, Pink, Silver; with hints of red and green. I used a preformed (extruded) styrofoam wreath that I purchased at Michael's. I ended up using 102 different size glass bulbs:
I thought that a good place to start gluing the bulbs was kind of in the middle of the wreath, but soon learned that it would have been MUCH easier to start from the bottom and work my way up. And as usual, I waited until AFTER my first wreath to do a search on the internet to see if there were any instructions for making these types of wreaths...and of course, there are plenty. I could give step by step instructions, but I would just be mimicking this persons blog. I followed her instructions with the next wreath:
Only I would change the type of wreath base that she used. She used one of those fake evergreen wreaths that you can buy at Michael's, but it makes the structure of the wreath very flexible and no amount of glue will keep everything tight. Bulbs won't fall off, but it just seems not to be structurally sound. So, from now on, I will make the wreaths with just a regular styrofoam wreath base, which I wrap with tinsel-ly garland:
Here's a shot of the back:
In fact, Jerome had a great idea; just purchase a large slab of styrofoam and cut our own wreaths from that using either an electric knife or a jigsaw. From what I can tell, you can make 3 wreaths from one styrofoam slab, and save $8 - or more if you have a Michael's coupon.
After having made all of these wreaths, I thought I'd see if I could actually sell them, so I put them in my Etsy shop. It only costs .20 cents to list an item and if it sells, then there are commission fees to pay, but they are very minimal. Anyway, I've sold two in a week! I hope they arrive safe and sound.
The next thing that I decided to tackle was something that I saw in a blog I follow; a teacup bird feeder. Very simple and I had all the materials at home, so it turned out to be a 3 minute job with an overnight drying time for the glue.
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