Hi Everyone!

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this little “Cousins Craft Weekend” series of posts, I was able to spend a few fun-filled and very productive days with a couple of my sweet cousins.  Here is a picture of all three of us at Stacey’s house (left to right – Donita, Stacey, and me (Arlynn):

Stacey composed Part 1 of this series and explained how she created a deco mesh ruffle Halloween wreath and she will be composing Part 3 in which she will be describing how she created a deco mesh lighted garland to pair with her wreath. I can’t wait for y’all to see how she created that beauty; here is a sneak peak at just a piece the finished garland (that is Stacey’s gorgeous lab Piper sitting and posing so prettily):

I will be handling this “Part 2” entry and I will be describing how I made Donita a Fall wreath for her to hang in her home.

I started out with an oval shaped grapevine wreath; I was so happy that I found the oval shaped wreath at Hobby Lobby, it really made for a pretty finished product. All of the Fall decor craft items were on sale for 40% off so I was able to pick up all of the components that I used for the wreath for a great price.

Here is my haul, admittedly, I purchased a few extra items that I didn’t end up using, but Stacey was able to use a couple of things in her home and the rest, well, I will always be able to incorporate them into my other Fall decor:

The very first thing that I did was to make a “wreath hanger” out of a pipe cleaner.  I try to always hot glue one of these to the back of all grapevine wreaths as most wreath hangers aren’t large enough to accommodate a grapevine wreath. Then I made a bow…

Next I took a leaf garland and laid it on top of the wreath and started to glue it into place…this process took a while because waiting for that glue to dry was frustrating.  This probably wouldn’t be an issue for y’all but, my hot glue gun is like a weapon and the hot glue that comes out of it practically melts things instead of glues things…haha.  I really should invest in one that isn’t quite as dangerous! 😉

While the glue was drying on the wreath and garland, I took the opportunity to glue pipe cleaners to the backs of those pumpkins, they were pretty heavy and I knew that hot glue–even my industrial strength glue wasn’t going to hold them in place on the wreath.

Since I/we had such a lovely time <rolling eyes and oozing sarcasm> trying to get the leaf garland to stay put (Stacey and Donita took their turns at holding said leaf garland in place along with me), I decided to add to the fun by looping some of the bow ribbon around the wreath and over the garland.  It sure looked pretty so I was determined to get it to work but that stupid glue was giving me issues again; to say that  I was ecstatic is an understatement when Stacey provided me with a wooden skewer to be used to hold the ribbon in place while the HOT glue dried!  Goodness gracious, what a little task, but we were laughing and joking all the way through the process which made it a bit easier.

Next, I glued pipe cleaners to the back of an initial and while that was drying, I started to place some other accents into place on the wreath.  I used acorns, pip berry picks, a few Fall colored sunflowers and added the bow;  it all came together beautifully.

Here is the finished wreath all ready to travel home with my cousin Donita and to take it’s rightful place in her home. 🙂  She absolutely loves it which of course warms my heart! I would much rather give than receive any day of the week!! ❤

And that completes Part 2 of our little “Cousins Craft Weekend” series.  Stay tuned for Part 3!  I can’t wait for y’all to see how Stacey put together her lighted deco mesh garland; trust me, it turned out so nice!!

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**