Living La Vida Holoka


How to Make a Modern Pastel Fall Wreath

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Whether you’re anticipating all things fall or not ready to say good-bye to summer, this DIY Modern Pastel Fall Wreath will make that seasonal transition a little easier with its unconventional fall colors and florals!


Recently, I got to thinking about the first craft I ever made.  I think it was a wreath.  My mom used to make them all the time! I loved all of the little details she used to add into them like ribbons and fun, floral picks, so I used to get involved when she made a new one.  Since then, I’ve made plenty of wreaths for all sorts of occasions! Back in June, I made a Simple Floral Summer Wreath for our door.  So I figured I should probably make one for the Fall, too!  Okay, okay.  Maybe I just really wanted to get my hands on some of the gorgeous florals Michael’s has out right now! 

If you’ve taken a trip to Michael’s recently, then you’ve seen that there are such pretty pastels out for the fall season.  It’s not your typical rust oranges or mustard yellows.  We’re talking pretty corals, lavenders, and cream colors.  I even managed to find a few pastels in the Halloween aisle, like the purple hydrangea in this wreath!

So I thought it might be fun to go away from the normal fall color scheme and make a pretty pastel wreath for the door.  I spent way too much money on floral bunches (some ended up being unused and have since been returned – yeah, that many!).  But if you’ve been through those floral aisles, then you know they’ve been hard to resist!  I even managed to find some of last year’s fall florals in my craft stash to use for this project!


Now, I know that some people are still hanging onto summer as long as they can, but I’ve been dreaming of PSLs and sweaters ever since our first heatwave! So you’re lucky that this wreath isn’t still hanging up on our front door willing the cooler weather to come!  I’m basically over summer at this point.  This isn’t anything new, guys.  My anticipation for cooler temps always seems to kick in this time of year! 

While I’m still wrapping up a few summer posts this month (it ain’t over til it’s over, after all), I thought I would sneak an easy Fall DIY in-between – just in case I’m not the only one dreaming about all things Fall right now!  Then again, the pastel colors in this wreath might make it a little easier to make that seasonal transition when the first leaf drops.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Heat your hot glue gun.  While the glue gun is heating, plan your wreath.  Lay out all of your florals and decide where everything will go.
  2. Trim down the stem of the eucalyptus branches until there’s about an inch left.  Glue the stems down onto one side of the wreath, tucking the bottom of the stem into the grapevine branches.
  3.  Next, cut the ranunculus flowers off of the stems.  Glue them onto the wreath.
  4. Finally, add the air plants to fill in any gaps on the wreath.
  5. Allow the glue to dry completely, give the flowers a little fluff, and hang on your front door!


Even though I do love those golden yellows and rusty red and orange colors found in all of that breathtaking fall foliage, I like to break a rule or two every now and then.  This definitely isn’t your conventional fall wreath, but the pastel theme will be a nice, modern touch to your front door!

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Do you like to play around with color in the Fall?

How to Make Tropical Drink Stirrers for Your Summer Sips

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Summer officially starts tomorrow!  In my family, we have lots of reasons to celebrate during the summer.  We’re talking loads of birthdays, a graduation, and our wedding anniversary.  And honestly, I’m probably forgetting something because there’s always so much going on! I feel like the summer itself is just one, big celebration. Forget the birthdays, anniversaries, and everything else that’s happening during the next couple months.  We made it through a cold, snowy winter and summer is like our prize for patiently waiting for its return!

Or not-so-patiently waiting.

The entire summer season seems reason enough to gather with friends and family and pour a few cocktails or a tall glass of lemonade or sun tea!  So I thought it would be fun to make some tropical drink stirrers to have on hand for our summer celebrations!


These simple drink stirrers start with clear swizzle sticks.  I made little, tropical shapes out of oven-bake clay to glue on top of the sticks.  I found a cute pineapple mold at Michael’s. Then, I found a set of tropical molds on Amazon to use to make palm trees.  

I would suggest sticking to shapes that have a sturdy base.  While the palm trees definitely worked out in the end, I had a little patching up to do on the tree trunk when I glued it onto the swizzle stick.  The pineapples, on the other hand, came out ready to party!  

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Start making your pineapples and palm trees.  Press yellow clay into the pineapple mold leaving room at the top for green clay.  Then, press green clay into the top of the palm tree mold leaving room for brown clay at the bottom.
  2. Carefully remove the clay shapes from the mold.  Smooth any edges, if necessary.
  3. Gently push a clear swizzle stick into the bottom of the clay shape.  Remove the swizzle stick and set aside.
  4. Place parchment paper on a small baking sheet.  Bake the clay according to package.
  5. Remove the clay shapes from the oven and allow to cool completely.
  6. Once the shapes are cool, add a little super glue into the opening and, once again, gently push the swizzle stick into the bottom.
  7. Set the stirrers aside until the glue has completely dried.  Then, whip up a batch of cocktails and get your stir on!



So even if you’re just serving up lemonade and tea to the kiddos this summer, these tropical drink stirrers will make those summer sips all the more fun!  Want to designate drink cups?  Make a bunch of different shapes for everyone to choose from!  

These drink stirrers took just minutes to make!  Even though I used mine in simple glasses of lemonade, imagine how fun they’ll look in your favorite mocktail or cocktail!  Cheers to summer!

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Looking for some drink inspiration for your tropical drink stirrers?  Check out these posts:

How to Make a Simple Floral Summer Wreath

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A couple weeks ago, I decided that it was time to change the wreath on our front door. I wanted something new, but I didn’t want to pay over $40 for a really nice wreath.  So I took a ride to the craft store to gather supplies and a little inspiration.  I was looking for something with a muted color palette that wasn’t your typical summer wreath.  No seashells, beach themes, or super bright colors.  I just wanted something modern and minimal with just enough color to stand out on our white door.

The first thing I grabbed at the craft store was an 18 inch grapevine wreath.  I would say it’s basically the perfect size for a wreath.  Not too big, not too small, and a great, natural canvas for florals.  The hard part was deciding what kind of flowers and greenery I wanted to add to it!  


I found some pretty trendy stems while I was wandering around the floral aisles.  The best part was that they were 40% off!  So I got two eucalyptus branches, a really cool air plant stem, and a couple ranunculus stems in white and a pretty, peach color.

The first I did when I got home was plan my wreath.  My grapevine wreath wasn’t a perfect circle.  It had a flatter side to it and that’s where I decided to fill it with flowers and greenery.  The next step was laying out my florals.  Once I knew where everything was going to go, I used my hot glue gun to glue everything into place.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. Heat your hot glue gun.  While the glue gun is heating, plan your wreath.  Lay out all of your florals and decide where everything will go.
  2. Trim down the stem of the eucalyptus branches until there’s about an inch left.  Glue the stems down onto one side of the wreath, tucking the bottom of the stem into the grapevine branches.
  3.  Next, cut the ranunculus flowers off of the stems.  Glue them onto the wreath.
  4. Finally, add the air plants to fill in any gaps on the wreath.
  5. Allow the glue to dry completely, give the flowers a little fluff, and hang on your front door!


This wreath only cost me a little over $20 to make. Way under what I was willing to spend for a store bought wreath!  The other plus is that this wreath is totally unique to me.  No one else is going to have this exact wreath!  I absolutely love the way this turned out and I hope it’s inspired you to make something new for your front door!

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What are your favorite summer florals?

Stenciled Pallet Photo Display

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Guys, I am getting so excited for some of the home updates we’re planning on doing this summer!  So far, the kitchen’s getting just about completely made over.  We’re keeping the appliances and counter tops as they are, but putting in new flooring, painting, and cabinet fixtures.  The other room I’m really excited to make over is the bedroom.  We’re going from completely outdated, ugly furniture to some gorgeous, solid wood pieces with loads of storage space!

As excited as I am to move new furniture in and have new flooring down in the kitchen, I really can’t wait to redecorate!  I keep telling myself to wait until the rooms are done, but it’s so hard not to want to buy decor.  In the meantime, I decided to DIY some new decor that would be fitting for either room.  My husband and I are both fans of farmhouse style rooms, so that’s basically our inspiration.


The kitchen flooring we’re going with is going to look weathered and worn in.  You know, that rustic charm that doesn’t make a person go, “OMG!  What happened to your floors?”  Yeah, that.  The furniture we’re looking at for the bedroom is going to be classic solid wood.  Simple, traditional, and sturdy.  But that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to country chic it up in there!

So I wanted to make a pallet decoration that we could use in either room.  I wanted to keep the DIY simple, but pretty.  Nothing that really screamed “farmhouse,” but would certainly fit right in to that decor style or any other room in the house.  The craft pallet I bought was already stained so I got to skip a step.  Then, I added a small “family” wood word and bulldog clip to one side and a floral stencil to the other.  


I used a dry brushing technique for this project. Basically, you add paint very little to a brush, wipe off the excess, and use a quick, sweeping motion across the surface.  So I did that for both my “family” wood word and the stenciling.  Once the word “family” was painted and dry, I used sandpaper just to give it more of a weathered look.



Once that was done, I used a ruler and a pencil to mark off where I wanted to eventually glue the word and the clip and place the stencil. I taped the stencil down with painter’s tape. Then, I once again used a dry brushing technique to give the design a worn out, aged kind of look.


The last step was to fire up the hot glue gun and get busy attaching the word “family” and a clip to hang a 4″x6″ photo.

SUPPLIES

STEPS

  1. If necessary, stain your craft pallet.  Allow it to dry overnight.
  2. Dry brush paint onto the surface of the “family” wood word.  Allow paint to dry.  Use sandpaper to give the paint a rougher look, if desired.
  3. Position the stencil.  Use painter’s tape to keep it in place.  Then, use the dry brushing method to fill in the stencil. 
  4. Allow paint to dry completely.  Then, remove the painter’s tape and stencil.
  5. Heat a hot glue gun.  Then, glue the word “family” and bulldog clip into place.
  6. Clip your favorite photo and display or hang with twine!

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Have you made any pallet projects lately?



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