The Wreath Gets a Fall Makeover

The frugal wreath I made this summer to jazz up our beautiful front door just received a makeover for fall. For $2.50 I purchased a spool of burlap ribbon at our local craft store and switched the bow. Ah, fall is my favorite season!

Nothing is better than a small change that makes a big difference. What have you done to recognize the change in season?

Speaking of fall, we apologize for being absent from blog land over the past two months. We are in the midst of planning our wedding! And the big day is in 18 days...October 22, 2011. More details about the wedding and all of the fun crafts be coming in November. Thanks for bearing with us, we have lots of updates and projects lined up.




        

Feeling Crafty -- Door Wreath

After searching the internet looking for wreaths to purchase and finding nothing I liked for under $30, I decided to get crafty. I printed a Michael's coupon and headed there after work. My initial plan was to make a boxwood wreath with white berries. Here is the loot I collected for about $12. 

Wreath Making Loot - wreath, faux boxwood garland, wire,
ribbon, and berries.

I took the faux boxwood garland and tied it with green floral wire to the wreath form. Attaching it with wire every 2-3 inches to make sure everything is secure.

Loop your wire in the front and tie both ends in the back.

Keep all of the wire twists on the back side.

After attaching all of the boxwood, I placed the berry branches on top to see what they would look like. After staring and rearranging, I decided I liked the boxwood au natural. The plus? My project went from $12 to $9! I added an ivory bow so it would hang a bit lower on the door and have some visual interest.

The finished product!

This incredibly simple and cheap project added so much to our door, giving our curb appeal an extra boost!

Look at that pretty door.

Have you had a crafty inspiration lately? Was it because you are a penny-pincher like me?

    

Spray Paint is Awesome!

It's been weeks since our last post -- things on Longberry Lane have been hectic between work and a weekend visiting friends and family in Florida. This was our first two work-free and travel-free days since the middle of March and we were able to tackle a few home improvement projects while still finding time to lounge by the pool with some neighbors. 

There were a couple of curb appeal items that bothered us since we saw the house -- the planters and mailbox. Fortunately, both were easily conquered with some spray paint.

The mailbox before -- faded and beginning to rust.

After a can of Rust-Oleum semi-gloss black paint. 

Planters before -- chipped and faded.

We yanked out the strange grass plants and used a wire brush to clean 'em up.

So much better! Our neighbors even stopped by to comment.

Even without plants it looks so much better.

Next weekend we will be planting some boxwood topiaries in the planters to add a bit of height to the landscaping. And once we tackle the other front yard plants and add a wreath, the front of our house will be finished...for now.

A More Welcoming Front Door

At 9am on my day off I grabbed the paint brush and began painting our front door. This is the one part of the house that has irked us since we first saw it -- who paints their front door poo-poo brown? And with light tan trim on top of that!

The poo-poo brown door in the beginning stages
of being taped off

We chose to paint the door black because its traditional yet modern. The approved black color for our neighborhood is Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black. After tackling this project, I have decided that painting doors is worse than walls. Especially since there was some strange goo-like sealant on the windows that had to be scrapped off. But, the end result was worth it! 

The door with its new color -- such an improvement!

Changing the color of the front door really improved the overall look of the house, it's amazing what a $20 can of paint can do! Now it's time to find the perfect wreath...