Tulle Halloween Wreath

We are still in the process of decorating for Halloween, and I decided to make a wreath to hang on the door that leads to our basement.  I purchased three spools of tulle, a spool of orange ribbon and an 8 inch green Styrofoam wreath form.  When I purchased the wreath form I thought about painting it black, so that the green would not show through.  Then I remembered that I still had black Duck tape left over from my Candy Corn Wreath.  It worked perfectly.

First I covered the entire wreath in the black Duck tape.  Following that, I cut the tulle into strips of 32 inches long with pinking shears, then folded each strip in half length-wise and in half width-wise.  I tied the strips around the wreath using double knots, and bunched each tightly together with the next.  In total it took a little more than two spools of the tulle.

While this wreath is on our basement door, here's a shot of our foyer decorated and ready to greet trick or treaters!

Candy Corn Wreath

Autumn is officially here in Pennsylvania!  That means it's time to start to get ready for HALLOWEEN!  I just love, love, love Halloween!  I've started to bring out my Halloween and Fall decorations from storage.  For me it is a two step decorating process; I decorate for Halloween as well as putting out a few items that are a general Fall theme;  I leave those general items out until the day after Thanksgiving (November 22 this year) and then switch the others on November 1st, the day after Halloween.

I decided to take a page from my Easter decorating and attempt to make a wreath out of some type of candy.  I picked candy corn to be my choice of edible goodness to highlight.  I purchased a 16 inch Styrofoam wreath from Michael's (using a coupon, of course) and used Duck tape this time to cover the form versus ribbon.  I love the way the Duck tape turned out and it was super easy to cover (and much less expensive than ribbon).

I purchased 3 pounds of candy corns from my local food store which sold them in packages of 1 pound each, and ended up using a total of 2 pounds for the project.   Since I had left over, I used that candy to fill one of the apothecary jars on my grandmothers tea cart in our foyer.  I hot glued the candy to the wreath alternating the direction of the corns every other row.  I think it would also look good if they were just placed on the wreath whichever way they would fit to fill up any of the open spaces!    I used some black ribbon and bow to finish off the wreath.  I have to admit, I did sneak a few candy corns while making the wreath and watching television at the same time - um, I did the same thing with the Peep wreath too.  

Thought I'd share with you the view I had making my wreath!  This is Piper, my 7 year old Yorkie and my crafting buddy.

Bridal Shower Gift

My very dear friend is getting married at the end of the year.  Her bridal shower is tomorrow!!!  I have made stationery gifts before for brides-to-be and I believe that is all because of this friend!  Twelve years ago (gah, 12 years already?) she co-hosted my bridal shower.  One of the (many) gifts she gave  me was a pack of Thank You cards and envelopes which she had addressed and stamped for each guest who attended my shower.  I remember thinking how clever and thoughtful that gift was.  All brides write tons of thank you cards before, during and after the big day.  It seems like a never ending task as there is always a thank you note to write.  Every little bit helps!   I knew right away I'd love to repay her for the kind, thoughtful gift she gave to me!  

Along with other gifts from her registry, I will be giving her a Thank You card care package.  First I ordered a custom stamp from The Stationery Studio with their name and address on the stamp.  I've purchased from this site in the past;  they are super quick with processing orders.
I made 20 very clean, one layer cards using Botanical Silhouettes stamp set on Vintage Cream card stock, included 20 Vintage Cream envelopes and packaged them in a 4 inch deep clear box.  For the label, I  stamped the background with Background Basics: Text Style in Fine Linen ink on Vintage Cream card stock cut from the Layerz Mat Stack 4 Die and knew I just had to use the Handmade Stationery stamp with this project, which was layered on top of Classic Kraft card stock cut from the Mega Mat Stack 4 Die.  I wrapped the clear box with Classic Kraft satin ribbon (all Papertrey Ink except for stationery box).

I used a Gable Box from Uline to hold the care package.  I use them when ever I can, it appears I have a never ending supply since their minimum order is 100!  I covered the box with Fine Linen Stripe paper and wrapped Classic Kraft grosgrain ribbon around it.  I then cut Classic Kraft card stock with the Mat Stack 4 Die, Vintage Cream card stock with the Layerz Mat Stack 4 Die and layered them.  I cut a 2 1/4 inch circle and used a circle border stamp from Simply Stationery in Classic Kraft ink.  In the center of the circle I placed their new monogram using Fresh Alphabet and Simple Alphabet stamp sets (these are my go to stamps when creating monograms).

Finally, I made a card that I can give to her at the shower using the design created by Nichole Heady using the Sweet Life and Think Big Favorites #5 stamp sets.  I love the way the envelope turned out for that card!

I'm so excited for my dear friend.  I wish her nothing but love and happiness.