Pumpkin Patch Wreath

I was flipping through a Williams Sonoma catalog one day and fell in love with this wreath. Being a HUGE Williams Sonoma fan I've always wanted to buy a wreath from them. I have no idea why. I'm sure any other wreath I find would be just as good. It must be that "oh this, Williams Sonoma" opportunity many of us can't live without. (let's face it, many of us are name droppers!) After looking at it closely I decided I could probably make it! So I tried:

Original: Williams Sonoma (store and website) $99.95

$1 Store Materials: 5 bags assorted gourds
1 foam floral ring
1 bag Spanish moss
1 spool wire ribbon

Additional Materials: hot glue gun
Push pins
Acorns (I collected them from my front yard)

I started by gluing most (almost all) the Spanish moss onto the ring. I recommend doing it outside, it got a little messy! After letting it cool for a little bit, I started placing the gourds around, seeing where I liked them best. I took a picture of the placement I decided on. (as good as my memory is I knew I would forget if I didn't snap a picture) After deciding where each gourd would go, I glued each of them on carefully. Once all the gourds that would fit were placed, as extra security, I placed push pins discretely around to make sure the gourds would stay in place. I thought there were a few empty spots so I took a few acorns I had collected from my front yard and placed them around the wreath. After letting the glue dry, I cut about 2 1/2 feet of ribbon from the 9 foot spool.I cut a small slit through the top of the foam ring and placed the ribbon through to make a loop between the slit and the back of the ring. I found the middle, made a simple bow, and hung the wreath on my kitchen door.

Wreath from Williams Sonoma: $99.95
My total: $8

A little idea started it all....

Over the years I have been tempted by many different places to buy expensive items that can easily be made at home with just a little time and some dirty fingers. As the economy started to fail, I no longer could justify, for example $99.95 for a wreath. I decided to start looking elsewhere. Then an article appeared in the paper and on a few news reports about how $1 stores are booming with the bad economy. I decided hey I'll look and see what they've got. Was I surprised by the goodies I found! I decided to do what I always said I would do: why buy it when I can make it?! So now I've decided that when I see something I like, I would do my best to see if I could purchase the same or similar items at the $1 store or at a discounted price on a website or store and make the items myself. I hope some of the items I've recreated myself make many of you out there rethink some of those expensive splurges and make you pick up your trusty glue gun and carefully get crafting! I know everything doesn't look exactly the same, but if I can make something look similar and save, in some cases $91, I'll be happy with the difference!