Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Fabulous Fall Wreaths

It has been said that your front door is the "centerpiece to your home" a focal point that deserves a crown.   Welcome the fall season, and friends and neighbors, into your home with door decorations using ornamental corn, gourds, pumpkins and other autumn materials.

This Wreath was created by Midwest Living to respresent South Dakota.  I am a sucker for pheasant feathers and find this wreath to be warm and welcoming.  To recreate it, begin with a pre-made twig wreath (ours was 22 inches wide). Using hot glue and a glue gun, attach tiny pheasant pinfeathers to a few twig ends. Using hot glue, attach Brazil nuts (found in grocery stores) around the center opening. Insert medium-size pheasant feathers, all facing the same direction as the twigs. Attach with hot glue. About a dozen long tail feathers are used in the lower third of the wreath. Divide the feathers, using half on one side, half on the other, gluing them horizontally so they resemble whiskers on a cat-s face. A large bow of brown satin, attached with florist-s wire, is centered above the large feathers.

Fall color wreath
Create this beautiful fall wreath with a variety of materials that reflect autumn's hues: gold, red, orange and brown.
Both your yard and a crafts store should provide a bounty of choices. A mix of fresh and dried materials looks lovely, but a wreath of all dried materials lasts longer.
Lightly soak a 10- or 12-inch ring of Oasis floral foam in water. Group your materials by color to plan each section of the wreath, then insert materials by the stems. We used tree leaves and fresh mums for red and orange bands of color, tree leaves and dried yarrow for gold, and dried oak leaves and pinecones for brown. Hot glue or T-pins help hold materials in place.

Bittersweet wreath
A cluster of six gourds stars in this festive autumn wreath. Wrap extra raffia (the fiber from palm leaf stalks) around the top of each gourd and tie them together in a cluster. Attach gourds to a circle of bittersweet. Top it all off with a raffia bow.


U-shape wreath
The unusual shape of this harvest-themed wreath makes it a standout door decoration.
Cut away about one-fifth of a plastic foam wreath to create the shape. Wrap yellow seam-binding ribbon around the wreath. Hot-glue fresh or preserved green salal leaves (commonly called lemon leaf) to the wreath, covering it completely. Glue a cluster of nuts to the bottom center, then add dried wheat, preserved fern fronds, and fresh or silk berries.


Sunburst wreath
Mimic a blazing sunburst with this fall wreath. Fold out the husks on ears of Indian corn so they point straight out from the tops. Hot-glue the ears to a straw wreath, and "fluff" the husks to complete the look.

Wheat wreath
A wheat wreath reflects your Midwest heritage. Insert dried sheaves into a foam wreath form, then dress up your wreath by slipping the stems of golden maple leaves into the spaces between wheat heads. Use leaves sparingly for the best effect.

Acorn ring wreath
Combine moss and acorns to create a simple but lovely fall wreath. Hot-glue moss to a small wire or cardboard ring, then glue acorns to the ring. If needed, secure the acorns to their caps with glue. Hang with a satin ribbon.

Wheat and flowers decor
Bundle wheat with sunflowers and a ribbon bow for a quick-and-easy fall door decoration.

Nuts and leaf wreath
Use a variety of inexpensive fall materials to create this autumn wreath. Just hot-glue artificial leaves, walnuts and hazelnuts (or other hard-shell nuts) in a ring around the front of a grapevine wreath.

Bright leaf wreath
The shape of this wreath makes it distinctive. Use U-shaped pins to attach moss onto a foam wreath form, then hot-glue preserved or artificial leaves. Hang a small pumpkin ornament in the center.

Birchbark Bounty
A hanging birch basket (you can buy one at florists shops or crafts stores) cradles a bounty of fall fruits and foliage. Fill with two or three small gourds, five ears of ornamental corn and 10 wheat stems. Then, add small amounts of rosehips, maple and oak leaves, as well as sorghum and acacia foliage.

Fall plate wreath
For a quick-and-easy wreath, hot-glue pressed leaves (or leaves from a crafts store) around the edge of a platter and hang with a plate hook. The glue peels right off when you want the platter back

Ornamental corn braid
A harvest of multi-colored ornamental corn highlights this simple wall hanging. Wrap thick strands of rust- and natural-colored raffia around the husks of 10 to 12 ears of corn, leaving approximately 1 foot of excess raffia at the end. Braid the ends together. Finish with a raffia bow and bittersweet branches.

Maidenhair fern swag
A fistful of dried maidenhair ferns (about 2 feet long) and a couple of branches of acacia foliage form the base of this delicate autumn swag. Using plenty of raffia, attach four small ornamental ears of corn and nine stems of wheat to the swag. If you like, you can substitute sweet Annie branches for the acacia foliage.