The Halloween Wreath

So last night I started with this steering wheel cover and ended up with a Halloween wreath. Why would I do that? That's a funny story.

Our "wreath" before decorating

Earlier in the day we had stopped in a Michaels. I am kind of a Michaels nut, it has has so much besides just crafty stuff and I can get lost in there going up and down the aisles envisioning the possibilities. Granted, I don't have the time/money/talent to follow through with most of it, but every once in a while seed is planted to blooms into something fun!  Plus I have the Michaels app for my phone so I always have a coupon handy!

That Saturday I had been promising Carolina a trip to Michaels so we could find a Halloween craft or two to do together as well as maybe a few Halloween decor items to add to our small, but growing collection. Now one rule of thumb when shopping for pretty much anything except food is that you don't take Isaac. He's a typical guy who can not comprehend spending money on pretty much anything unless it will fix the house, make a healthy meal or is a protein powder. However, time wasn't on our side Saturday so he offered to come with us to Michaels after we went to see Hotel Transylvania. He promised to be nice.

This promise lasted until 1 minute after we got in the door and I saw a Styrofoam wreath and picked it up commenting that I had wanted to try making my own Halloween wreath this year. Isaac immediately scoffed, used the wreath as a ring toss and placed it on my head.
"I have a steering wheel cover, that is exactly the same as this, make that a wreath. I'm saving you $7, is all I'm saying." I started a comeback, but for some reason stopped and decided to take the challenge.

"Fine, I'll do that. When we get home, I'm going to take that steering wheel cover and make it a very cool Halloween wreath"

Carolina stared at me, mouth agape. I looked over at her and nodded my head as to say
"No worries, kiddo, we'll make this work." She didn't look completely convinced, but agreed to help me with my project.

We began selecting plastic creepy crawlies to go decorate our wreath, and soon we had all found fun decorating pieces we liked. Even Isaac talked me into a framed photo of an old man that turns into a monster as you walk past it. He says it will stay up all year...we'll see.

However, we were having a hard time finding a garland we liked, so Isaac suggested running across the road to Wal Mart and checking out their Halloween selection. I'm not a Wal Mart person at all, but they do usually have a decent well priced holiday section so I agreed to check them out.  We hit jackpot, finding the garland we wanted and a sign to hang across the middle.

We then had some fun with Halloween masks and costumes. I finally convinced Isaac and Carolina that none of the neighbors wanted me to answer the door for trick-or-treaters in a mini skirt and corset top and we headed home to begin turning our house into a Halloween fun house. 

We started our wreath almost as soon as we got home and it went quickly with us simply wrapping the garland around our "steering wheel" base. There was only a quick break for me to run back to Wal Mart when we ran out of garland. It ended up taking us 3 9 foot garlands to wrap the base as well as fill in any small gaps.

I will be very honest and admit that I took the lazy way out during the construction. I had considered pulling out some hot glue, but I was actually able to just tuck the ends into the steering wheel cover and so far it's staying put. The spider I found had a clip so all I had to do was hook it onto the garland, and for the sign I went lazy again and used a pipe cleaner to tie the sign on to the wreath. It's holding for now, but I may end up going back and securing it with some hot glue. I just wasn't in the mood that night to get the glue out and spend the whole time worrying about Carolina burning herself on the gun as she has in the past.  We considered adding a couple other spiders around the side, but felt they made it feel too cluttered so we stayed with just the one! The only thing I forgot was a wreath holder so as soon as I grab one later this week the wreath will go on the door!

 Carolina and I had a great time working together on our wreath and have decided that we will now be making a wreath for every holiday! Next up is Thanksgiving and my head is full of ideas...

finished project!