Fall-Tacular guest post- Candle Vases

Although these are very similar to the hurricanes I made, I LOVED the idea of having two separate spaces (one for the candle and one for the filler), so I had to share! My lovely friend Erin was willing to do a guest post to share her idea!

Hey there! I'm Erin, known in the blogging world as Mama Dub. You can find me over at "Life in the Dub Lane". I'm an avid blogger and a fellow Fall lover. I'm not exactly sure what draws me to Fall, but I have a pretty good feeling it's a mix of the cooler weather, the fragrances, the approaching holidays and the foods! What is there not to love!


I would love to share with you a fun fall craft that I recently created. It's fun, simple, cheap and very festive.
Meet the Dub Lane $7 Fall Candle Vases.





All of the items used were purchased at The Dollar Tree.
Here's what you need:
- 2 Large Hurricane Vases {$1 each}
- 2 White Glass Jar Candles {$1 each}
- 2 Candle Holders {brown} {$1 each}
- 1 Bag Moss {I chose bag with mixes of browns and greens} {$1}
- Glue Gun {I had on hand}






Now for the easy "How-To":
* Begin by hot gluing the bottom of the hurricane vase to the candle holder. {Simple}
* Sit the White Glass Jar Candle into the Hurricane Vase. {Simple}
* Pull some of the moss out of the bag and stuff around the Jar Candle. {I used a butter knife to poke it to the bottom}.
* Trim the wick on the candles and you are done!
{Note: You will notice that the wick on the candles are about 2 inches long. I recommend that you trim them to a more appropriate wick length before burning}.






When Fall has come and gone, just change it up a bit.... Halloween, Christmas, you get the idea.... the possibilities are endless!

Fall-Tacular decor- wreaths

A beautiful wreath can be so stunning, not only during fall, but year round.
However, fall and Christmas wreaths are my favorite! (no surprise there!)

This year has been a bit difficult as far as decor goes. With two moves in a year and one being across the country, I had to leave behind a lot of great "stuff". Now that we are a bit settled, I find myself having little to no budget for decorations and therefore have to make it myself with what I have on hand. But, they say necessity is the mother of invention (creation?). Or...something like that!
Anyway,
I have three styles of wreaths in my home right now.
One I bought, but it was from the dollar tree and cost me three dollars in supplies to make it.
The other two were free. Free. I love that word!
So in the event that any of you are not wanting to spend money on decor but would still like a little something, this is for you!

Meet my wreaths:




The first photo is of a scraggly little thing made of vines we collected on a walk. Austin was thrilled to help me collect them! He even helped me wind them together! It is still a work in progress right now but hey, it is something! That shutter was on freecycle and I painted it and distressed it and that fall vine was from dollar tree. I have another vine wreath started just like this one but I am saving it for Christmas. I am going to gather a ton of evergreen branches and glue them to the wreath come winter time! This year, decorating with natural elements is the thing to do. If you have a moment check out Pottery Barn's online tutorials and pictures for inspiration. Amazing!

The second wreath is a paper craft wreath. Truth be told, I used the cardboard from a cereal box and some beige paper with a bit of cardstock added. That is it! It takes all about 10 minutes to make!
I went ahead and made another for you to show the steps ;)

Get some cardboard (I used a box here) and two plates that will be the outside and inside edge of your wreath. You could also do a square shape if you want! Just trace the plates and cut it out!

Then get some paper or material and cut it into strips. My strips were about 1 inch by 5 inches. I really want to do this with burlap as I think that would be gorgeous!

Then heat up your hot glue gun (could use regular glue or even tape and staples if need be). Glue the ends of the strips together. Go ahead and do all the strips at once. Saves time! I used about 7 pieces of printer paper for this wreath.
Then you are going to place two strips side by side and glue them. Then glue a piece a little bit behind them in the middle. Repeat this all the way around.





And that is it! The key is that it doesn't have to be perfect. Then add some embellishments (I have plans for this little white wreath), add a little looped ribbon to the back and hang! You are finished!

Here are some other paper wreaths I have seen online that I want to try!

Have fun wreath making!

ps. Don't forget to enter all my fab giveaways!! They end 10/8/2010!!!