A DIY fall wreath.

Well hellooooo there! Hope you had a great weekend! First of all -- I want to announce the winner of the fall goodies!! April in CT -- you are the winner, so e-mail me and I'll get the items out to you this week!

I still haven't heard back from a couple previous winners -- the Bomobob art winner is Erin from Home is Where the Heart is and The Sheet Boutique pillow winner is Julianne Hendrickson. E-mail me soon so I can get you in touch with Bob and Cara!

Okay dokay...so I highlighted this wreath from BHG on my Crackbook page the other day:
I just fell in love with it and decided it. must. be. mine. Well...a slightly different version must. be. mine. I couldn't find the rectangle shape, of course. Then, I wanted a large circle, but the only place I've found those is at The Flower Factory, and that's a 45 minute drive for me...sooooooo, a small circle it was.

I am not a patient person, have I mentioned that? Hmmm?

I got my foam wreath at Joann's for $3-something (coupon). I spray painted it black, just a bit. I only did this so if I didn't get every little part covered with leaves, the white wouldn't be peeking out. (It's face down in this picture.):

I took my kitty:I mean, my LEAVES:

The cats must find themselves into every shot possible. Yet again, I just purchased garland and snipped the leaves off. This one was $6. I got some beady things to stick in after but didn't end up needing them, so this whole project was less than $10. Score!!

I just started covering the foam here and there, using the hot glue gun:

You need to work fast -- the glue will melt the foam just a bit, and you'll need something to hold down the leaves while they adhere. Don't use your fingers. Just trust me on this.

I just filled and filled and filled...

I covered as much of the foam as possible to make it as fluffy as possible. Fluffy wreaths are a good thing. The garland had a few beady things already on it, so I just snipped those off and glued them in.

It wasn't big enough for the spot I made it for, gah. But it was PERFECT hanging in front of our family room mirror:

I made sure to cover all the sides, even the back. Stink eye sister was the one who pointed out that -- DOY, you could totally see the foam on the unfinished back when it was hanging in front of a mirror.

These pictures kinda suck, because I forgot to take pics today...took them when it was getting dark -- sorry about that. Bad blogger!! I'll try to replace them tomorrow.

I really love it in this spot -- and yes, you can still see yourself right through the middle of the wreath:

That is, if you are exactly 5 foot, 9 1/2 inches tall. ;)

P.S. If you purchased a consult and have sent your pics, I have listed everyone in order on the bottom left side of my site. (Only your first initial and first couple letters of your last name are there.)If you have sent your pics and info, and don't see your initials, please let me know!

P.P.S. I am honored to have been chosen for the last Before and After Project of 2009 over at One Project Closer! If you haven't seen enough of my beadboard kitchen island, go over and take a look. ;)

P.P.S.S.P.S. I forgot to mention that I wrote a guest post at my friend Rhoda's place (Southern Hospitality) last week about my corner fireplace. Go take a look here!