Adios Christmas

I may not have changed out of the yoga pants I wore to bed last night, but I fed both girls (six times each), changed 2,483 cloth diapers, ate too many cookies, indulged in my daily cup ‘o joe and a coke, and made this:

Which means that, up until this afternoon, our front door looked like this:
 
Yes, we are those neighbors that keep our Christmas decorations up alllll year long…nope, just kidding.  Just this year…

While perusing the endless abyss you all know as Pinterest, I stumbled upon the prettiest tulip wreath from Etsy.  Needless to say, as much as I wish I had 48 bucks to spend on a wreath, I knew I could do it myself.  And so can you.  It’s easy peasy.  In case you’d like to, here’s what you’ll need:

I bought everything at Hobby Lobby yesterday because they were having a 50% all their floral.  The sale ends this Saturday, fyi.  (Michaels is having the same sale, however I really wanted magenta tulips and they only sell light pink and red in that color fam.)

First, bend each stem down at the base… 

and, using a wire cutter (mine is on the handle end of our needle-nose pliers), cut…

until all stems are separate.

Then, starting on the inside, place individual tulips around the entire wreath by sticking the ends amidst the branches.  Make sure you don’t stick them all the way in; you want a few inches of the stem showing.

Once you’ve done the inside, stick some tulips around the outside of the wreath.  They should stick out a few inches from the outer circumference of the wreath.  Also, make sure that your stems point out at an angle, they don’t have to follow the direction of the wreath exactly.  And don’t worry if the tulips aren’t evenly spaced or sticking out the exact same length, imperfection is pretty in this case.  :)

When you’re done placing tulips, carefully turn your wreath over and use a hot glue gun to glue each stem to the closest branch.

And that’s it!  You’ve got yourself a brand new wreath that will usher in spring faster than you can say “groundhog”! 
Cost:
Tulips:  $12 (50% off sale)
Grapevine Wreath:  $4 (with a 40% off coupon)
Hot glue and gun:  already had
Trip to the attic to stow Christmas wreath:  50 calories
Total:  $16
(Side note:  I wanted a big ‘ole wreath at 24 inches, but you can also get smaller sizes which means you won’t need as many tulips, which means less moolah, which means…well, you know.)

 

 

P.S.  It’s party time!!!  Linking up with Gingerly Made!  See lots more craftiness over yonder!