“Burlap” Wreath with Red Accents

Hello again! I hope you’ve had a good week.

Fall really must be getting me in the crafting spirit. It’s that or these fall crafts just come together quicker than the blankets I was working on over the summer. But whatever the reason, I have another wreath to share with you today.

This time, I decided to go for a little larger wreath. I used an 18-in wire wreath frame, 1 roll of 12-in by 35-ft deco mesh ribbon in a tan/burlap color, tan pipe cleaners, green floral wire, red hydrangea stems, and 3 red berry stems.

The foundation of the wreath is the same as the plum burlap wreath I made, using pipe cleaners to tie down each loop to the frame; the loops were just larger this time. I went around the wreath twice, evenly distributing the loops. The hydrangeas had all come on one big stem, so I just snipped each flower head off close the base, then wired a couple together before wiring them to the frame. I put three bunches of hydrangeas together to make one big mass of flowers.

Initially, I had planned on hanging the wreath from a ribbon as I did with my plum burlap wreath, but I found that it was too big: either the ribbon would have to hang from up near the ceiling or the wreath would hand below eye level – neither of which would look that great. So then I had to brainstorm to figure out what I could do in place of the ribbon so the wreath didn’t look so plain. And then I had it! I had some red berry stems I was going to use in a Christmas wreath last year, but didn’t. I placed each whole stem evenly around the wreath, all pointing counter clockwise, then wired the heck out of them from the back so they didn’t wiggle around.

This wreath turned out even better than I expected! Simple, yet with enough color to not be boring. I also love the fact that this could go from fall into winter and even serve as a non-traditional Christmas wreath.

Comment and questions, as always, are welcome! I’d love to hear from you!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Burlap Wreath with Plum Accents

In my last post, I mention that I’ve been on a bit of a fall kick. Well, that kick hasn’t been limited to my cozy outfits and crocheting – I’ve also been working on some projects to autumnize the home.

I’ve been seeing the mesh and burlap wreaths everywhere, and I just love the look of them. I especially love how the burlap instantly gives you that fall feel, with a little rustic charm, and yet can still look so classy.

If you haven’t guessed already, I decided to try my hand at making a burlap wreath. I used a 12-inch wire wreath frame; 1 15-ft roll of 5.5-in burlap ribbon; 2 larger single-stem plum flowers; a bush of 6 smaller, but similar-colored mums; brown pipe cleaners, and a roll of 1.5-in satin ribbon.

Sorry the picture isn’t the best. I really think its time to get a new camera.

I cut each pipe cleaner into thirds, and used it to attach the burlap to the frame after each loop I made. To attach the flowers, I popped them off the stems and hot-glued a length of pipe cleaner into the hole where the stem had been, making them much easier to attach to the wreath.

From the start of this project, I had envisioned having the wreath hang from a long loop of ribbon tied with a bow, but this turned out to be the most difficult part: mostly because I’ve had no real experience tying fancy bows, but also because the only ribbon I found in a color even close to the flowers I had picked out was not wired. As a result, I tied and then promptly tore apart multiple rather limpy bows, before I ended up with one I was satisfied with. It looks fine, but I still think it would have been easier and look a bit more professional if I had used a wired ribbon. Ah well.

Because I only had 1 roll of 15-ft ribbon, I had to make my loops smaller than you see on a lot of these wreaths. This actually ended up working out well, because the wreath isn’t so fluffy that it wouldn’t fit between the front door and storm door if I decided I wanted to hang it there.

Have you started autumnizing your home? What are your favorite fall/cool weather projects?

As always, I’d love to hear from you! Have a wonderful week!

Tunisian Crochet Cowl

Happy Friday everyone!

I’m really on a fall kick of late, but tis the season! I’m loving this cooler weather and looking forward to the color change in a few weeks (and the start of hockey in less than a month!)…that is, until I wake up in the morning and shiver as I get ready – at those times, I would do anything to have summer back.

My good friend, Joy, agreed to model for me.

Since summer won’t come back just to please me, I guess I’ll just have to cope with the chill by snuggling up in warm, cozy outfits. And what is more warm and cozy than a nice cushy cowl? Today, I share with you the pattern for my Tunisian Crochet Cowl. The pattern is an adaptation of my Tunisian Crochet Infinity Scarf I posted last weekend.

Tunisian Crochet Infinity Scarf

Hello again!

To go along with the boot cuffs pattern I shared recently and the lovely cool autumn weather we’ve had here in NWO the last few days, I thought I would share with you the pattern for my tunisian crochet infinity scarf (finally!). This scarf has been sitting, all but finished, for nearly a month now – I just never seem to find the time to take the pictures for the tutorial.

If you aren’t familiar with the tunisian stitch (also called afghan stitch), its actually quite easy, though very different from traditional crochet. Rather than working each stitch individually, you work across the row, keeping loops on your hook, then work in the opposite direction, taking loops off the hook. I love this stitch because it makes a nice thick fabric that is still soft, rather than dense and stiff. There are longer hooks specifically for use in tunisian crochet, but as we’re only working across a few stitches, a tunisian hook won’t be needed.

Cabled Boot Cuffs

Hello again! I hope you had a great weekend! With the first week of September officially under our belts, I felt like doing some fall crafting this weekend (despite Friday having been the hottest day of the year so far).

Today, I’m sharing with you a simple pattern to whip up some cute boot cuffs in no time – just in time to accessorize those cozy fall outfits we all love 🙂

Wear normally, with cuff peaking above boot like a tall sock.

Wear folded over top of boot. Note, pull cuff onto leg inside out so right-side shows when folded over boot.

For this pattern, you will need to know how to knit in the round on double-pointed needles, and how to cable. If you’re new to either of these techniques, this is the perfect practice project (try saying that 5 times fast!): its small, easy to handle, and if you do find that you messed up somewhere, you won’t lament having to tear out hours or days worth of work.