The Accidental Autumn Wreath

I've got into the habit of putting something on my front door to mark the changing seasons.

In the summer, I had a pretty, light wreath with little yellow flowers. So, as the weather started changing, I began looking for an autumn version. I wanted something equally simple and light, just with a little bit of burnt orange.

Apparently, a little bit of orange is difficult.

Everything I found seemed to scream AUTUMN! — orange leaves, orange pumpkins, orange berries, more orange leaves... I wanted autumn, but perhaps not the entire forest on my front door.

Then, completely by accident, I found my solution.

I was in B&Q looking for a toilet seat — of all things — which I couldn't find. That's another problem for another day.

And then I spotted this.

A very simple wreath: lots of green, sage and cream. Pretty enough, but perhaps a little bland.

And I thought...

This is actually perfect.

Instead of trying to find exactly what I had pictured in my head, why not use this as a blank canvas?

A little burnt orange here. A few autumn leaves there. Some berries. Perhaps paint one of the cream pumpkins and finish it with a burnt-orange velvet bow.

Better still, I already had another autumn wreath I'd bought and didn't particularly like because — you guessed it — it had too much orange!

I had been planning to return it when I realised I could dismantle it and use just a few of its leaves and berries on this one.

No buying bags of craft supplies I'll probably discover in a cupboard five years from now. 😂

And this is the bit I love about projects like this.

I didn't make the wreath from scratch. I don't have the time, and actually, I don't think everything has to be made from scratch to count as creating something.

Sometimes someone else can do the difficult 80%, and you can do the enjoyable 20%.

Maximum satisfaction. Minimum faffing.

Doing it with the kids has made it even more fun. We've been playing around with the colours, deciding what stays, what goes and trying very hard not to recreate the too-much-orange wreath we started with.

This is the mock-up we're aiming for:

Now we just have to see whether our real-life version turns out anything like it!

I'll share the finished wreath once it's done and hanging on the door.

Wish us luck! 🍂🎃