Fourth of July Door

So, my front door has been naked since Valentine's Day. It's been really weird, actually, and almost every time I come in or out I say something along the lines of "Self, it's about time you get on that." So today I got on that.

Spring decor is not usually my favorite so now that it's close enough to Summer that I can just jump straight into Fourth of July that's what I did. I liked the simplicity of last years door, so I took that idea and tweaked it a little. I decided to use a yarn wrapped oval wreath that I made last summer (and can't find any photos of the process). It was the foundation of my favorite (and easiest) wreath to date:

It's simply a pool noodle, taped like mad so it wouldn't come apart, and stuffed into a rectangular rubbermaid tub for a week or so while we went on vacation. I just did that to keep it from coming untaped, the squared oval shape just happened to be a major bonus! I really didn't think it would stay, but here it is a year later and it's still oval.

I grabbed the flags from last year, the yarn wrapped wreath, and went to town.

I know it's popular to use the pool noodles for wreaths, and rightly so since it's so affordable, but my favorite thing about them has nothing to do with cost. I have learned that I can decorate a foam noodle wreath by sticking things together with straight pins! They stay really well and are perfectly removable - which means I can stretch that $1 pool noodle a million ways and redo the wreath anytime I want without having to peel a bunch of hot glue off stuff.

Now, necessity is the mother of invention as they say and my ribbon stash is incredibly low. Since I'm refusing to buy anything else (I am already a hoarder after all) I decided to use my last scrap of burlap to hang the wreath with. It wasn't long enough so I stitched two pieces together with buttons using a gold metallic thread to add a little som'n and make it long enough to hang.

Only I didn't love it hanging that way because it put the buttons in the middle where they just looked ridiculous. I wrapped the end of the burlap around the top of the wreath, then using my favorite sneaky straight pin trick tucked some cream tulle under the overlap and pinned it tight. Now it hangs from a strip of burlap off the front of the wreath and a strip of tulle off the back.

And... finished. I think. I can't say how I feel about it. It's ok, but I may have preferred the square frame of last year. No biggie - when it comes down I can just unpin everything and make it into something I love more.

What do you think? Do you prefer the rectangle frame from last year or the oval wreath from this year? At least my dark, miserable apartment door is properly dressed now and can welcome guests with a bit more flair. 

Simple Fourth of July Door Decor

I've always wanted to be one of those Martha types who decorate for every season. Last year before I sold my house I had grand ideas of us staying there and I started to accrue some Holiday decor. I really wanted patriotic bunting for my front banisters at Fourth of July but stopped myself after spending just $6 total for three medium size flags. I stuck them into the ground along the pathway to my door and called it good.

I was awfully proud of those little flags.

This year, I'm glad I didn't spend more than that because I'd have to 1) store what I bought or give it away and 2) I'd have nowhere to decorate with it if I did find a way to keep it.

I've been wanting to make the entry to our apartment look a little better so with 15 minutes and a few on hand supplies, this is what I whipped up:

I started with a gold gilded frame that the Hubs had a wedding picture in (from his first marriage) which I gladly disassembled and repainted. The detail is lost in the wussy iphone picture, but it's one of those early 90's carved designs.

The first order of business was to add three thin coats of white paint that still didn't completely cover the obnoxiousness below. Then I placed the flags on top how I wanted them and used floral wire to tie the sticks straight to the frame behind the flag fabric. I tried putting the flags on with hot glue but it just didn't stick. For good measure I did hot glue the you-know-what out of where I'd tied the wire to keep it intact. I have a history with wire coming undone :(

Wire the flags together where the poles cross at the center, add a bow from leftover Christmas ribbon, and hang it on the door. To keep it from banging around on the door as it's opened and closed I added poster putty behind all four corners.

And that's it.

It's so simple and used only items I had on hand, which fits our grad school lifestyle quite well. Now it just screams for a pot of blooming flowers by the wall. Perhaps that will be tomorrows project.

Have you come up with something simple that completely transformed how you feel about your door? I'd love to hear about it.