Fall Wreath

So, I really love Fall.  Even if things don't really change around here, the weather still becomes amazing and there are so many fun things to plan and do!  So, we don't have a whole lot of room to decorate for the holidays (and in general) so I wanted to at least make a wreath for our door.  So while I was browsing Pinterest, I was inspired by this:

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2009/12/chrismas-paper-mache-ornaments.html

I loved the simplicity and the ability to make it all by being thrifty so I set out.  I grabbed a 1 dollar frame from Goodwill and waited until Michael's had a sale to get my fall foliage.  I don't have any pics of the beginning, but what I did to make my frame interesting and seasonal looking was I followed this crackle tutorial (found viz Pinterest as well):

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html

It worked really well but I started off putting WAY too much glue on and since my frame has a slant, it would collect and I had to wipe it off and reapply it in areas that were drying too fast.  Next time I will probably buy a sponge brush to help make the glue spread better.  I used a dark brown base coat and a lighter orange-y color for the top (each of my own mixing) and I got this:

Not bad for my first try huh?

My crackle paint supplies (I used acrylic paints)

With the foliage I first unwrapped the base so I could snip them off there.

What I harvested. The extra grass was too green for what I wanted so I didn't use it.

My crackle paint technique wasn't flawless (the top of the frame wasn't that great) so I flipped the hanging mechanism so the top became the bottom and the bottom became the top (so I could hide the not so great parts with the foliage).

I pulled out all the pins that are used to hold the back of the frame in because I didn't want a back drop.

Rewired the wire to make my flip complete! :)

So I gathered up my foliage in a bundle formation that I liked and bound it together using brown thread.

It took my awhile to figure out how to attach it though.  At first I was thinking of doing it in the front and using a ribbon or something, but I felt that it was all to busy and that the ribbons were the wrong color.  So I nailed the bundle to the back of the frame and I really liked the effect.

Side view of the nail.

And there we go!  I kind feel like it needs a little bit more, so I am open to suggestions (ribbon? burlap? word message? pumpkin?) but I love how it has turned out so far!  Yay for my first try at being cool and crafty!  Love ya!