DIY: Fall Foliage Wreath

Fall is almost here and I am looking forward to decorating!

Several years ago, I was looking for a fall wreath that I liked for under $30. Let me tell you, it's not an easy task. I couldn't find one so I made it myself.  Here's how it turned out:

You can make one, too:

I bought a plain wreath like the one below for around $6 and then found all the different types of foliage that I liked on sale. Most of the pieces ranged in price from $0.70 - $2.00. I also bought some wire specifically for making wreaths. 

There lots of different textures in my wreath. Some of the leaves, for example, are velvety soft while others are your typical silky feel. I also added several types of berries and some fruit. I think it looks more interesting with lots of colors and textures. Of course, you choose what you like best for your wreath. :-) 

• After you have all of the materials, play with the foliage, arranging it however you prefer until you get the finished product you love. 
• Stick the ends deep into the center of the wreath where it will be fairly secure. There is no need to glue anything permanently; that's why you have the wire. 
• When you have finished arranging all of your "stuff" on the wreath, use the wire to wrap it in place. 
• Weave the wire wherever you feel like more support is needed and tuck the end into the center of the wreath (so you won't get scratched later). 

It doesn't have to be pretty. Nobody will be looking at the back!  

And then it's done! Hang it up and enjoy it.

You don't have to spend a lot to have a very pretty fall wreath. If you don't use glue, you can change out the foliage whenever you please with no hassle. Easy as pie. :-)

Click the picture to find out how to make a different type of wreath:

Have a great day!

Must See: The Roxbury

We went on vacation lately and found this place to stay. It's an experience, really. You've got to see it!

Nestled in the Catskills and the small town of Roxbury, NY, this crazy awesome place looks pretty quaint from the outside...but don't let it fool you. It's anything but ordinary.

You can see the official website here.

They do a great job with the grounds. Pretty plants and flowers are everywhere! There's even a fire pit and a beautiful garden path that leads to a gazebo. 

Not only are the grounds beautiful, they are also funky and awesome. Black, white and lime green. 

Seriously, I want this furniture.

There are spaces like these, where you can just relax and socialize, scattered all around the property.

And as you walk around, you will find more little interesting details. I thought the murals were lots of fun!
(Check out the light. Yes, the place glows green at night!)

You have to forgive the quality of the next picture. I don't have a clear one, but the room was too crazy fun to be left out. How did they find yellow crystals for the lights? I personally loved that there was gourmet hot chocolate and [really good] cookies set out for guests all day in this room. Yum.

And in here, too!

We found several of these large murals painted all around the place, all with a design theme. I loved it!

This chandelier was another funky and unexpected detail. Never mind that the stairwell is shockingly green! Seriously, this place was so fun...so different...so exciting to explore.

Perhaps the best detail is that all the rooms are different. Yep. They are themed! You'll have to check out their website to see all of the rooms, but I want to share ours with you. 

My husband accused me of taking "man points" from him for having him stay in this room. What are "man points", anyway? Hey, there was a big TV mounted to the wall. That made up for the sparkles and pink. :-)

Hard to see here, but the chandelier actually had green crystals. Where did they find this stuff?!
There was a great kitchenette where Baby Boy had a blast hiding in the bottom cabinets.

Little details will make you happy at this place. They even provided some Godiva tasting squares upon our arrival. Yum.

Shimmer & sparkle overload! Fun!!

Even in the bathroom they didn't forget to leave a note framed in a fluffy, pink, bejeweled frame. Ha!
Now, the Roxbury had the most soft and fluffy towels of any hotel I've seen in a long time. Another great detail: they didn't cheap out on the TP. It's the small things, folks.

They had other great things, too...like a massive movie collection and board games of all types free to checkout for guests. Snacks galore. The friendliest staff. Even the housekeeping services were above standard. I left some baby dishes in the sink, totally planning to wash them later, and when I got back to the room that evening, they had been washed and dried for me. Now that's great service.

So if you're looking for a fun place to stay in the Catskills, a quaint NY boutique hotel, affordable rooms, fun atmosphere, and excellent service, try the Roxbury. You won't be disappointed. 

Florist For A Day

You may have figured this out by now, but I absolutely love flowers. Especially roses. The smell. The soft petals. The brilliant colors. They are on my top 10 list of my favorite of God's creations.

I recently had the honor of doing the flowers for my aunt's wedding. I've found that it's incredibly less expensive to do wedding flowers without a florist, and my aunt trusted me enough to give me the challenge. Seriously. It's an honor.

So, she ordered the bulk flowers and had them delivered to the church. We then turned the kitchen into a makeshift florist shop.

It was SO FUN!

If you are interested in doing wedding flowers yourself, you might find this post helpful.

A few things to know first:

• You will need helpers (at least 2).
• To keep bouquets in place, you will need to purchase corsage pins and green florist tape (find these at any craft store).
• You will need sharp scissors and pruning shears. Key word: sharp. Have enough for you and all your helpers. Don't forget gloves if you have thorny flowers.
• Make sure your facility has a large enough kitchen to house your makeshift florist shop (see pictures below).  Large sinks, large pots (for water & storage), large trash cans, large refrigerator, etc...

In the picture below, do you see those tall cardboard boxes on the far left? That's how roses are shipped. When they are delivered (1-2 days before the big event), the boxes must be placed in a refrigerator for preservation until you have a chance to put them in water. We put room temperature water in large pots, added the flower food, and set them in the sink. Thankfully, this church had an incredibly useful kitchen with 3 large sinks.

You will want to wear gloves when working with roses. The thorns will get you. It hurts.

The next step is to take the stems, one by one, and remove the leaves and any damaged petals from the outside of the flowers. Don't worry about removing the petals, there are plenty more that will open up beautifully in time. Have another container with room temperature water and flower food ready for the prepared stems. Then you will be ready to make the arrangements.

You really should play with some sample flowers before the big day to figure out exactly how you want your arrangements to look. Just get some cheap flowers from your local grocery store and have fun arranging them in the same vase/container that you plan to use at the event. When you purchase your bulk flowers, you will have an idea of how many stems you will need based on your sample. Remember to buy plenty of filler, like Baby's Breath, for example.  You can see in the picture below that we used small vases and put 5 roses in each vase, using the Baby's Breath and greenery to make it full and keep the flowers in place.

We finished the centerpiece flowers two days before the wedding and put them back in the refrigerator to keep until the big day. It's really not difficult and will cost you about 1/5th of the cost of hiring a florist. I did it for my wedding and I don't regret it for a minute. It's the only way I could afford having hundreds and hundreds of roses.

If you look on the bottom shelf of the fridge, ^ you can see the large pot full of stems we were saving for the bouquets.

To make a bouquet, start by placing three flowers in a triangular shape and wrap the stems with the florist tape to keep them in place. Then add flowers around that. Tape them in place. It's like adding one layer at a time. You can make your bouquet as loose or tight as you'd like, but I have found that wrapping tighter keeps the flowers in place better. Keep adding flowers around the bouquet until you get the look you want. To finish off, add some greenery around the stems and wrap them together with florist tape. The length of the stems where your hands will touch the bouquet should be wrapped in florist tape.  Use a corsage pin to hold the end of the tape in place. Cut the stems to be level and you're done!

This is how some of the bridesmaids' bouquets turned out. Behind them you can see the larger arrangements that we placed at the altar.

And this was the bride's bouquet. I think we used 4 different types of roses and 2 fillers, around 3 dozen roses!

And I loved the vases. We added some "bling" using a product called Bling on a String and hot glue.

So there you have it: DIY wedding flowers for a fraction of the cost.

Have a great day!