Beach-themed Decomesh Wreath

My bathroom (like 90% of all bathrooms) is beach-themed. I've got blue walls, a nice line of blue and sea-green glass accent tiles in the shower, and a giant B-E-A-C-H glued to one of the walls. I had a big blank spot on the wall over the towel rack that was just begging to be filled.

On a trip to Michael's over the summer I saw a pre-made wreath that had what looked like netting and a slew of seashells glued to it. I tried to recreate it (minus the string of seashells).

The end result:

I started with 4" rolls of the dark blue and teal decomesh, 1 roll of the burlap netting, and the smallest wire wreath frame I could find at Michaels. I did one pass with each of the blues, keeping my loops pretty large, and finished it up with the netting. I just sort of poked loops in where I thought the decomesh looked a little sparse.

It took me a while to find starfish that I liked at an affordable price - I ended up having to get a variety pack from Michael's with a 40% off coupon. I think this is the first decomesh wreath I've ever made that I haven't used ribbon, but the starfish finish it off pretty well.

Revamped Mahogany Desk

I love going to Goodwill when they don't know exactly what they've got for sale. I found a solid Mahogany desk for $15.

Yup. You read that right - fifteen bucks.

It had seen some better days - the finish was wearing off in a few places and it smelled (strongly) like old people, but there wasn't anything wrong that couldn't be fixed with a sander, some stain and a little paint.

I have mixed feelings about the fact that I painted a Mahogany piece, but I can't argue with the results. I absolutely love it. 

After a light sanding on the body, I used a flat latex paint from Lowe's. It took about three coats to cover, but it went on nicely. I toyed with the idea of making my own chalk paint to use on it, but I figured I'd save that for a project I'm a little less attached to. Maybe when I redo the desk that this one is replacing ;)



During my research, I stumbled upon an article on A Bit O' Whimsy about using shoe polish as an alternative to the wax that Annie Sloan sells to use with the chalk paint. I've never used wax on any furniture I've painted, so it was certainly a learning experience. I tried sort of buffing the wax on but I didn't put down a base coat of clear wax (which is apparently VERY important) and I hated how it looked. I had to repaint that drawer and start over.

So, erring on the side of caution, I took q-tips, rubbed them in the brown shoe wax, and very gently applied it to the edges of the drawers.

It went well enough - it antiqued the edges without me having to sand off the paint I'd just pain-stakingly applied.

I applied the wax to the columns as well.

All in all, I think it turned out really well. It's a nice, elegant addition to my craft room. Next time I need to remember to take some before pictures, though!

Halloween Decomesh Wreath

Last week was my fall wreath and this week is Halloween! I know, I know - I'm a little early, but who can blame me? Decomesh is a great medium for a wreath, especially when you're looking for bright, festive colors. 

I always feel like "the bigger, the better" applies when making a decomesh wreath. Some people may not agree, but it makes such a statement on your front door. The colors, the shapes, the glittering tape in the mesh can all be seen easily from the road.

I picked up the witch's boot on clearance last year from Michael's and it's been patiently waiting in my closet all this time. At first, I'd placed the boot and was planning on it being the centerpiece, but it looked odd sort of thrust into all of that poofy, meshy goodness. I used an entire spool of ribbon to make the green bow and attached it with a pipecleaner (though now I think the proper term is "fuzzy stick" believe it or not).


To hide the other "fuzzy sticks" attached to the wreath form, I used little glittery styrofoam balls.

It worked pretty well, but fair warning: glittery balls covered in hot glue can be very dangerous when fumbled. I've got two nice burns on my left hand from them :(

Last, I added a few short, twirly pieces of orange mesh for a little pizzazz. They stick out a little, but I don't have a storm door, so there's no problem there. 

I hope you like it! Let me know if you have any questions about making your own decomesh wreath.

Fall Wreath 2014!

Even though the first day of fall is technically September 23rd, I jumped the gun a little. Fall's my favorite time of the year and the air's got just a hint of a crisp to it and some of the trees have even started changing here in the Blue Ridge. 

For my front door wreath this year, I had an idea that didn't turn out as well as I'd planned in my head, but I still like it. I went to Michael's and purchased some of those little 99 cents letters from the wood section to spell out "FALL" on the twig wreath I had at home. I rummaged around a little and found some chevron burlap and covered the previously white letters.

They looked really cute, but I think once I put them on the wreath they sort of lost their pop in that muted burlap color, especially from the road. I put them against some glittery burlap leaves that I got on my Michael's trip and continued to flesh it in with some fall flowers all around the bottom. 

To balance out the top, I made a big burlap bow with wire-lined ribbon and attached it to the top with a pipe cleaner.

I feel like it rounded out pretty well. I have to say that some of my wreath creations don't exactly match my maroon door (not that I let that stop me), but I'm really digging the look of all those fall colors against it.