Christmas 2015 Back Hallway and DIY Wreathe for $5

Hello all!

I hope this post finds you deep in the middle of Christmas shopping and decorating!

Today I have some pictures of our back hallway decorated for the holidays .  This year is our first Christmas to have the door painted a dark black color (Mopboard Black by Benjamin Moore) so I wanted to do something different with the wreathe I usually hang on it.  If you missed the post on our “Back Hallway Makeover” you can read about it here. 

So I knew I wanted something light and fresh to contrast with the door but didn’t want to spend one penny!  Well I broke that rule (shocker) but I did come pretty close to spending next to nothing.  I saw this lovely wreathe on Pinterest and thought, “I can totally make this for CHEAP!”…

Found on thegirlinspired.com via Pinterest.  direct link here. *Sidenote- she has some AMAZING DIY wreathes on this page Original post from Xenia Nova

I already had 2 paper grocery bags full of pinecones from previous years so I got those down from the attic, and some red cardinal ornaments that I had saved from my teaching days.  (my last school’s mascot was a cardinal, how lucky is that!?!)  So I already had those 2 materials in my arsenal.  Now I just needed a base to attached them to. I pulled some decorations off of an old birch wreathe (originally purchased from Hobby Lobby for $4.99) and used that as my base so I didn’t have to purchase another one.  Sidenote-If I didn’t have this extra wreathe laying around, I would have cut my own wreathe-form out of a cardboard box and used that as a base.

First, I laid the wreathe down flat and placed my pinecones around the circle exactly how I wanted them.

Then, I hot glued each one into place.  After hot gluing, I took some fishing wire that I found in my husbands stash in the garage and wrapped it around each pine cone with 1 very long continuous string until all of the pinecones were held into place.  Then, I tied it off with a knot in the back of the wreathe.

Last, I used the same $3 can of fake snow leftover from the fireplace mantle and sprayed 3 quick, light sprays over the pinecones to make them look like they had a touch of snow on them!  After letting the snow dry completely, (it took a lot longer than I expected) I secured the cardinals to the pinecones.  *Sidetone-these cardinals are sold at Dollar Tree 2/$1 around the holidays.  They come with a wire attachment at the feet.

rug-World Market wall of hooks tutorial door color-Mopboard Black Benjamin Moore wall color-Revere Pewter Benjamin Moore trim-Moderate White Sherwin Williams

plaid shopping bag-Target (free with purchase of a lot of groceries) frames-Dollar Tree painted with Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore jacket- Nordstrom (years ago!) hooks-Target