Fall Decorating Tutorial

Getting a little jump start on my fall decorating this year. Even if the heat is near 100 today. I thought I'd show you what I made and try my hand at sharing a tutorial with you. Hopefully I'll remember to show you all the steps!

Here's the finished project. A bountiful fall vase to hang on your front door. It has lots of vintage items tucked in here and there, which of course, I love.

So here goes...the supplies. Give or take a few I forgot to photograph, so sorry. Already forgot something, see?

You will need:

• Piece of chicken wire
• Wire cutters and scissors
• A pair of gloves
• Thin wire to secure pieces to your arrangement
• Assorted ribbons, trims, picks, feathers and vines of your choosing. My ribbon is from Costco.
• A mason jar
• Decorative bird
• Assorted vintage pieces such as broken jewelry bits, seam binding, old netting, etc.
• Fresh or dried flowers or branches to fill your vase

First step is to cut your chicken wire to fit around your mason jar. My hand model should be wearing gloves, but then again, she didn't actually do the project.

You can secure the sides together by folding down the cut wire over each other. At the top leave about 6" to roll down to form a rim around the vase. Also, be sure to leave some room at the bottom, say 4" or so. Then you will twist the bottom together to look like this:

Next, I'll show you how I transformed my new holiday ribbon from Costco to look old and tattered. Just the way we girls like it! The ribbon had gold wired edging on both sides, so I cut it all off.

And next, I rolled it up into a ball and kept rolling it in my hands until the edges frayed and the ribbon appeared wrinkled.

Ahhh, that's much better. I used the ribbon to make a handle to hang the vase and tied it securely to each side of the chicken wire holder.

You can see here how I rolled the top of the chicken wire down to form the rim. It's not suppose to be perfect, no worries. It will all be covered with trinkets, ribbon and flowers.

Usually when I work with floral picks or sprays I cut them apart. I find it easier to place them exactly where I want them. You can secure them with florists wire or hot glue if you're so inclined.

Almost forgot, before you place your bird you might want to add a ribbon around her neck and some vintage jewelry trinkets, just to spruce her up for the holiday season. I also rubbed mine with some craft chalk because she was too pretty for me. I like a dirty bird.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please forgive me if I left anything out. I decided to make this a tutorial after I made the arrangement so you know how that goes. If you decide to make something similar for yourself, be sure to leave me a comment or email so I can take a peek!