House in the Heights: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

C'mon Knock on my Door...

...I've been waiting for you...

As the first post on the blog, the front door seemed like a fitting place to start. I have to admit, I have a slight obsession with wreaths. I LOVE them! A wreath is such a fun, festive way to welcome people into your home, and the front door is such a fun decorating opportunity! I also like to think that frequent wreath changes give the mailman something to look forward to when coming to our house (although I might be stretching a bit with that one)! Hey, whatever works, right?

Wreaths can be super-expensive, so I prefer to make my own whenever possible, typically with some sort of inspiration from Pinterest or one of the many home décor blogs that I follow. Here are a few of the most recent wreaths we've had on our door.

I almost always incorporate the first letter of our last name into our wreath, so this letter M wreath seemed perfect for us! It was incredibly easy to make! All I did was buy a wooden letter from a craft store (approx. $2.50) and wrap it in twine using hot glue. I finished it off with some flowers that I had on hand in my craft bin. Getting the twine to wrap in straight lines along the planes of the letter took some practice, but I was able to complete the whole project while watching the drama unfold in one episode of Real Housewives.

A wreath that cost only $2.50 (since I had almost everything I needed on hand) and took about an hour to make? I'll take it! I would guess that someone who needed to buy all of the materials could create this
for under $10.

I love the natural look of the twine on the red of the door, and think it is a nice summer look.

Another recent look that I loved was this spring wreath made from a simple grapevine wreath and some hydrangeas. I love grapevine wreaths for the natural feel that they offer, and because you can so easily create a new look by changing out the materials you tuck into them. With all of the nooks and crannies grapevine offers, I generally don't even need to tie or pin my materials into the wreath, I just tuck them in! I painted the wooden letter M using some leftover paint from our kitchen and attached it with some twine.

I'm not wild about the fact that you can see the twine wrapped around the letter M. I think the next time I use this wreath I will hot glue the twine to the back of the letter, so that it can be tied on without being visible.

The total cost for this wreath was around $12. I already had the grapevine wreath, but had paid $3 for it when I bought it, a roll of twine was $1.50, the wooden letter $1, and the hydrangea stems were a little more then $3 each. Each hydrangea came with several bunches, and you can see that I cut two bunches from the green stem and one bunch from the purple.

This past fall, I made my first foray into making burlap wreaths, inspired by this pin on Pinterest. Following this tutorial to make the wreath was SO easy, and I loved the results. Just like a grapevine wreath, the burlap wreath is very easy to pair with interchangeable items, so it's easy to switch up your wreath often. And you know how much I love to do that! Thanks Pinterest, for keeping me (and maybe the mailman!) inspired by our front door!