An Early-November Yarn

Do you ever wake up in the morning and think: "I'm going to make a wreath today!!!" (With multiple exclamation points, just like that?) Just me? Fine. Be that way. Regardless of whether that may or may not have been a weird thing to be thinking about first thing upon waking, it's what I thought and therefor, it's what I did today. I started out by raiding my yarn collection. Oh, yes. I have a yarn collection. Some might even call it a Yarn Collection, given its insane size and range. Wait, "why yarn" you ask? Well, if you've spent any time at all on Pinterest, the answer should be fairly obvious, and if you don't happen to be acquainted with Pinterest, you'll soon be acquainted with the Ashley-version of a yarn wreath. Hold tight and watch...

First, I made a trip to Joann's for a wreath form, some different colors of felt, and some millinery berries (which are actually more copper than brass, despite this picture). Once I got home, I got out my hot glue gun and began wrapping my yarn around my wreath form. Like so...

Turns out that multi-color yarn = stripes! No one (meaning Pinterest) told me about this phenomenon and so I'm telling YOU. So, listen: Multi-color yarn = STRIPES. In this case, camo-stripes (although my mummy may object to me labeling the color palette as such-- Sorry, Mom). Once I'd finished wrapping my wreath in yarn (gluing every couple of inches to keep it in place), I started thinking about decorations. I drew inspiration from the Etsy shop Itz Fitz! and made up some felt flowers ala Design Dump to add to my own handcrafted (aka cut from felt and snipped from a bunch) leaves and copper berries. Here's the in-progress shot...

Followed by a finished detail shot...

Followed by a brief interruption about how to hang said yarn wreath. You're familiar with these, right?

Command Strips basically hold the world together at this point, so it shouldn't be that big of a surprise that they also hold my wreath in place. In this case, though, they're given a solid 180 degree turn and, ta-DAH!, transformed from a Command hook to a...uh...upside-down Command hook. Ok. That was a little anti-climactic. Anyway. Moving on!

However, my hooks were a little long, so I was forced to call in reinforcements.

My reinforcements in this case were...Myself! And a chisel! And a hammer! And a utility knife! Did you hear me? I Did It Myself. I DIY-ed, for real. Using said tools, I chopped off the extra length and voila! A fitting upside-down Command hook I had, yes. (Excuse me while I channel Yoda...There is no try! Only do or do not!...ahem)

The result, when strung up on some sparkly sheer ribbon, is this. You like? I like. And, for a little perspective, here is the wide shot...

So that is what came of my (somewhat-)early-morning brainstorm. An elegant camo-meets-crafty-meets-festive wreath! Now, if only all my brainstorms ended so successfully...(I won't remind you of all the ones that didn't...it would be too embarrassing). Instead, let us dwell on my small and momentary success! Hurrah!