Fall Wreath Completed!

My orange slice wreath is finally done!!! I am actually very proud with how it turned out. Here's a picture of how the rest of the orange slices went on. Once all of the slices were on I took the wreath outside and sprayed it with clear, matte, acrylic paint. I'm hoping that will keep it sealed a little bit and deter any bugs from trying to eat it. The oranges slices aren't completely dried out (completely hard) so they are a little tacky. Hopefully this spray will make it last a little longer. I'm still giving this one to my mother-in-law. It will make a nice birthday present for her and give her front door a fall feel.

The paint only took a few minutes to dry since it was really windy outside. I'm glad I used the matte finish instead of glossy. I think if they were all shiny it would have looked like I used fake fruit, and these slices are definitely real! Once the paint was dry I wrapped an orange ribbon with a circle glitter pattern around the wreath. I used the ribbon to cover up any not-so-great-looking orange slices or places that had little white spots showing through. It's still not perfect, but I think it looks better with it wrapped around instead of just as a bow at the top.

Then, I found the spot that I thought looked the worst to put the flower and cinnamon sticks. That way I could really cover them up and instead of people looking at that place because it looked bad, now they'll look at it because that's where the detail is. I just hot-glued the flower and two cinnamon sticks onto the wreath. Then I tied the ribbon in a bow right next to the flower over/around the cinnamon sticks. I had a little more of a ribbon tail on one side that the other. I thought about cutting these to be the same length, but I like it looking a bit lopsided. The detail is off the to side/corner of the wreath anyway, so I kinda like it. You can do whatever you'd like with yours. I tried to put on two flowers, but I just couldn't get the other one to lay right on the wreath, so I canned it. I think it looks pretty good with just the one flower as well. The last thing I did was curl the ribbon tails around my finger so they had some structure instead of just hanging there.

So - my door decor projects are done. If you try this one, I hope you have a blast making it. Just remember to be patient while your orange slices are drying! Happy crafting!