WELCOME, AUTUMN!

I loooove autumn. It is by far my favorite season. I know it seems weird to say this, as a bona fide Mississippi girl who loves her state fiercely, but I hate summer. I hate it! Every year I say I'm going to be positive and happy about it, but when it hits 102 in July and we know we've got two more months of misery to go, it is just not easy to be happy about that, girls.

I didn't have a nice wreath for my front door, so I decided to make one for myself. I had a grapevine wreath left over from an Easter project I never did. Last week, Hobby Lobby (every crafter's best friend) had their fall foliage 1/2 off, so I got a few things with a birthday gift card. I spent a total of $13 and change on that gift card and got to make what I wanted. I don't need to pay $50 for a wreath somebody else makes!

I'd never made a wreath before, but I didn't let that deter me. All it takes is a little poking here and shoving there, and you're good. I only used my trusty glue gun in a couple spots, too. I can add to or change anything I want next year! Easy! On to the pictures...

All the materials gathered together. Don't you love my sassy summer tablecloth and Wilton bowl full of baby toys? We do it fancy around here, y'all.

Dacey the cat. At this point, I still wasn't sure whether she'd really fit with the overall color scheme I was shooting for, but I was willing to give it a chance. She nestled herself in there so sweetly, after all.

Tearing apart the picks was awfully satisfying. And of course, I had to give in to my compulsive need to organize things and arrange it all by type. Stop looking at me with such a judgmental glare. I can stop organizing whenever I want.

More bits. Notice the real feather. One of my sweet baby girls at the church where I work Mothers' Morning Out gave that to me. I told her I'd put it in my fall wreath, and I keep my promises! The yellow "feathers" were just 50 cents each when half off and added a fun pop of color.

I hate that phrase, "pop of color". But there's no better way to put it. It's color. That pops. Got something better? Let me know so I can start using it and eventually grow to hate it, too.

And here's the finished product! Please pretend my front door is black. It will be someday, because of the confused dog incident. Things will pop (argh) so much better on a black door. I think the wreath is pretty good, for my first attempt. Let's just pretend the wreath doesn't have a slight egg shape. Who knows, you might see it again in the spring covered in plastic Easter eggs! There's no telling what I might get up to.

Next up, little bits of autumn fun in my house!