31 Things I've Been Wanting to Do, Day 14: Pumpkin Wreath

Okay, so I have totally been picturing this 'pumpkin wreath' in my head. I haven't seen it anywhere but I've been searching (without any luck).  

I wanted a fall wreath that I could keep up longer than October 31st, so I headed to Hobby Lobby for some inspiration. That was mistake number one. It is not good for me to go into that store without a list of specific things I need! Mistake number two, only giving myself an hour to shop!

I stopped at Chick-Fil-A to get the little buddy some chicken, and away we went. (He is a MEAT eater. Forget the yummy chicken biscuits, just give him the chicken! The longer I feed him, the longer he sits in that cart for me!)

I ended up finding this roll of orange mesh decoration in the party isle. The rolls of ribbon and tulle were 1/2 off this week, so I picked up a roll of lime green, sparkly tulle. Then I spotted this oblong wreath and was shocked because I hadn't ever seen them this shape. They were 1/2 off too. (This is when I was thinking it's 'okay' to not have a list. Then I hit the clearance section, scrapbooking section, etc. When I saw my cart fill up, I was reminding myself why I need a list!)

(I also bought green raffia, but didn't use it.)

I knew I wanted the left side covered in orange, and I wanted some of the bare wreath showing because I love how rustic it is. I decided to try making 'bubble gatherings'. I pulled out my wire and wire cutters and then decided how I was going to gather the mesh.

I pinched the mesh like this....

Gathered it tight...

And then did that again....

I joined those two pinches and wired them together to make a 'bubble'...

I left some room between the 'bubbles' because I wanted to have some wiggle room when I attached them to the wreath.

Then you just keep pinching, gathering, wiring.... ( I was about 1/4 of the way done here. By the time I was done, I used almost the whole roll of orange mesh.)

I attached the mesh to the wreath with wire. If you don't trim the wire ends after wiring the 'bubble' together, you can use the end pieces to wire it directly to the wreath.

I continued wiring my mesh 'bubbles' up the left side of the wreath. When the wreath was 1/2 covered, I started to think of the 'green stem part' on a real pumpkin.

I unrolled the green tulle. Because it is so thin, I decided to continually wrap it in a circle. Ending with this...

Then I gathered it in the middle, secured it with wire and cut the ends so they were free...

I attached that to the top of the 'pumpkin' and this is what I had...

It was fine, but it just needed something else....  Then I remembered some 'viney things' that I bought last year after Christmas on super clearance at Target....

I loved the unevenness of the wreath itself. I especially love the 'wild vine' that is coming free of the wreath shape. So, I stuck a few pieces of this extra twig decoration into the back of my 'pumpkin'.

And wha-la! A pumpkin wreath...

( And no, not an 'O' for October as my husband said....) :)