Halloween Wreath

I know, I know... I am only 2/3 complete with my fall (orange slice) wreath. But, since it is taking me a little longer to complete that one (and since I'm not completely happy with it) I made a Halloween wreath today. I suppose you could keep it up for most of the fall season. I think I'll hang this one up tomorrow - once I get a nail on our front door - and keep it up through Halloween. Then I'll put up the orange slice wreath after that for the Thanksgiving season. I guess that means I'll have to make one for me and one for my mother-in-law after all, but now I'll have some extra time to get them both done!

So, here's what you'll need:
1 Styrofoam wreath form (I used one that was NOT rounded on the edges)
Black ribbon to wrap around the wreath form
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
candy corn (I used 1 1/2 large bags but the extra you can always put out to munch on later!)
Ribbon to use to hang the wreath when it's done (or you can use the same black you used underneath)

First, wrap the ribbon around the wreath form in a spiral pattern. I glued the ribbon down each time it wrapped around to the back of the wreath. Since you'll be covering the ribbon with candy, it doesn't matter how well you wrap the ribbon, if it's a little bubbly, or if you can tell where you started and finished.

Once you have your wreath form completely wrapped, then you can start gluing on the candy corn. I started on the front of the wreath on the row that goes along the outer perimeter, or the top row for the front. Once you've gone all the way around, you're ready to start your second row. The candy corn should be pointed in the opposite direction from your first row. This allows you to fit on more candy and have less black ribbon showing through. Here's a picture of the pattern it makes.

Keep going around the wreath form until you've covered the front, outer edge and inner edge. Then flip it over and cover the back side. You'll still be able to see black ribbon in between your candy corn, but I think that makes it look even better. You could really use whatever color of ribbon you'd like. I think black makes it look nice and sharp. Here's a picture with the front and outer edge being completed:

When you're all finished gluing on the candy corn, you're ready to add your hanging ribbon. I just looped mine around once and then tied it off a few inches at the top. I haven't glued it on yet, but I'm not sure I like the purple bat ribbon. It definitely gives it more of a Halloween flair, but I think I might want to change it to use the same black ribbon I had underneath. I think that might make it look more cohesive, albeit it will make it much less "halloweeny."

Anyway, I had fun making this wreath. It only took a couple hours to make. I easily crafted this during the first regular-season Packer game. (They won - Yay, go Pack!) So, if you try this one out: Happy crafting! :)

D.I.Y. Wedding Favors

I love to do things myself. So, when it came to planning my wedding I wanted to make all the decorations, the invitations, the favors - anything that allowed me to use my creativity to design my wedding the way my now-husband and I wanted. These wedding favors were probably the easiest things that I put together.

I figured that the people coming to my wedding didn't need a $2 wine bottle stopper or a mini-picture frame that they would never use. I knew they definitely didn't want a candle that had my wedding date and my name written all over it either. So, I decided that everyone pretty much likes candy, and if they don't, the person sitting next to them probably does.

There were many options that I looked at doing. I could have ordered special candies from my childhood for each person. Slowpokes were always my favorite. I could have ordered monogrammed M&Ms with our names or hearts or the date of our wedding - pretty much anything I wanted to put on them. Or, I could have ordered hand-made chocolates that came individually boxed for each guest. All of those options were just too expensive for our budget, so I decided to put together my own wedding favors.

My mother-in-law found clear cellophane bags with a black and white floral design on them at a party store. We filled the bags with a handful of candies that matched our color scheme of black, red, and white. We used Hershey's kisses wrapped in silver, red and white peppermints, and cherry chewy candies. We had 175 guests at our wedding and I spent well under $1 for each favor. We bought the candy in bulk and the bags were the most expensive part. What I like about these favors is that they would match any wedding design. Even if you used clear bags and only put in one type of candy, there's usually something you can find that will match your decor. You could even use them as a pop of color on the tables at every place setting.

We tied red and white curling ribbon around the bags just above the top level of the candy to bring everything all together. We didn't even have to buy the ribbon because we had some with our Christmas wrapping paper. We curled the ribbon with a scissors and then I cut off the tops of the bags so that there would be less of the extra bag material at the top. This way they became a little more stout and not so tall. I love this project because we could fill these with as much or as little candy as we wanted and they looked great and matched our decor. If you're looking for an affordable and adorable wedding favor, I highly suggest these little candy bags.  Happy crafting!