Damask and Ribbon Snowflake Wreath

Who doesn't love a new wreath at Christmas? I have been putting out my traditional pine garland wreath for about 7 years now. SEVEN. Yep, I was ready for a change. So, I decided to go bright, bold, and bling-y. I didn't go double, though. One of these is for my neighbor. We may end up with almost-matching doors. Oh well. :) We'll both be bright and bold.

This wreath is made 100% with items available at Walmart. One stop (frugal) shopping for this baby. Ribbon varieties may vary, but I feel certain you can find the rest of the supplies at most any Walmart with a craft and fabric section. If you don't have a Walmart or don't want to brave a trip there during the holidays, I've seen similar supplies to these at Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's; and similar ornaments at Dollar Tree and Target. 

Here's what you'll need: 

• 1/2 yard damask fabric
• Ribbon of choice (yardage varies--2-6, depending on preferred wreath style)
• Foam wreath form
• Flat head sewing pins
• Glittered snowflake ornaments
• Hot glue sticks and glue gun

I chose a black and white nylon damask. The white has a bit of sheen, and the black design is flocked (so a bit fuzzy, like suede.).

These foam wreaths are easy to find and easy to work with. I paid about $7 for one.

This pack of snowflake ornaments was a steal, as you can see.  Good ole Wally World.

I bought a few larger ornaments (all about $1 each). I didn't end up using the kind pictured at the top, but you may like it on your wreath. :)

Directions: 1. Cut the fabric into 6-inch strips. Use a sewing pin to pin one end into the foam wreath. Wrap tightly around, overlapping as needed to make a smooth surface. When you run out of fabric, pin another piece and continue until the entire wreath is covered. Finish with a pin.

2. Wrap wreath with ribbon, pinning each end to secure. Here you see two ways of wrapping. A metallic silver ribbon would have been pretty, too, I think.

3. Arrange the snowflake ornaments on the wreaths as desired, then hot-glue in place. 

4. Wrap an extra loop of ribbon around the top of the wreath to hang. I secured mine in the back with a pin. 

Ta-da! You are done!

This post is linking at these parties.

$20 Dining Chair Up-scale

My dear husband asked me to make a birthday and Christmas list a couple of weeks ago. Since they only fall about 1 month apart from each other, he said he likes to get a list in mind so he can plan in advance. I'm glad I married a planner. :)

One of the items I put on the list was a set of two padded dining chairs to be at each end of our dining table. Our table is large enough to seat 8+, but we only had 6 chairs. I had my eye on some at Ikea that are about $100/each. They were the right colors for the room, and would dress up the whole set a bit. 

A few days after telling my husband about the Ikea chairs, he told me about some chairs he saw at Goodwill for $8/each. He even took a picture. I decided to go check them out. To my pleasant surprise, they were sturdy and had a simple slip cover over the back. The seat cover was just wrapped and stapled. So I bought them.

As you can see, they are UGLY. Awful colors, stained. icky. But I liked their modern lines. And their simple (read: simple to change) construction.

Obviously I took this after I re-covered them, but this shows the construction of the chair. Four screws hold the frame to the seat. Three (Alan wrench) bolts hold the seat's frame to the back. Easy to disassemble and reassemble. 

The back was just a big sleeve. I traced the one it came with to make a pattern, then cut out and sewed the new slip covers from that. 

As you can see, the bottom just required a good staple gun and some elbow grease. I did go over the edges of the seat cover with my serger. A simple hem or zig-zag stitch would suffice, as well.  

The third chair was for our bedroom. We were constantly dragging a dining chair upstairs to our bedroom and bathroom for hair-dos, computer use, etc. Now we have one that can stay up there. And it looks pretty! 

And here is my colorful dining room. Before, I had the turquoise chairs on the ends. Now I have more substantial chairs for the "heads" of the table, and they really bring the room together with my tree painting and the rug. I love it! 

Here's the breakdown of the cost: 

3 chairs @ $8.00 each + tax:                                                         $26.16

1 yard Richloom Paget Stripe Slub Midnight fabric (Fabric.com): $ 7.63

2 yards Richloom Marman Slub Spring (Fabric.com):                  $19.96

Shipping:                                                                                           $ 3.00

Total:                                                                                                 $56.75

Add in thread and staples (which are hard to quantify), and these are less than $20 dining chairs! I love a bargain--especially when I get to make it! 

Linking up at these parties.