I don’t do a ton of holiday decorations. I can’t justify spending time and money on something{s} that will only be displayed for thirty days and I don’t like how gussied up some decorations make my home look. {My kids think I’m boring.} I lean towards seasonal décor that is nature-inspired. It’s usually cheaper, can be displayed longer and better complements the rest of our home’s décor unlike, say, a giant inflatable yard jack-o’-lantern with a ghost rising up out of it. {My kids think those are the bomb.}
Wayfair sent me a plain vine wreath and asked me to autumn-fy it. There were no guidelines for the challenge but I made it a goal to spend absolutely NO MONEY on the DIY. Turning to nature, I clipped three hydrangea blooms from my yard leaving a 2″ – 3″ stem on the heads. I let the blooms dry out in an empty vase then tucked the stems snugly into the vine wreath. I also clipped a few leafy branches from a shrub in my yard to flank the hydrangea arrangement. I attached them to the wreath in the same way. I just slipped one end of each branch into the vine wreath until it was secure. I borrowed a simple ivory ribbon from my Christmas decorations to hang the wreath from a mirror {yes, it looks like a bald man’s silhouette} in our laundry nook. The ribbon is taped to the back of the mirror with heavy duty duck tape. Fancy.
I love the way it turned out. Especially since it took about five minutes to put together and hang. I like the organic feel and the reddened blooms of the hydrangea are the exact hues that come to mind when I think of fall. Sort of a deep purple-ish maroon. The best part about this DIY – aside from the no glue, no wires, no mess, no trips to the craft store, no money spent – is that the arrangement is totally removable. When I tire of it, I can replace the bloom + branches arrangement with something more wintry or festive.
I encourage you to skip the Halloween and Thanksgiving decoration aisles and turn to the outdoors for seasonal décor instead. Nature knows best!
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, DIY, inspiration