2 October-Worthy DIY Fall Decorations

I have to say, October is definitely one of my favorite months.

Where I grew up, October meant yellow and orange leaves in piles on the sidewalk and breaking out my favorite green turtleneck on days I felt extra sassy. I love the chill in the air and the pumpkin-spice drama and the amazing boots that come out of hibernation.

In Morro Bay, however, it’s currently sunny skies and 75.

October looks a lot like July.

In true Amanda fashion, I take this offensive affront as an opportunity to absolutely overcompensate with the most fall DIY decorations possible (just to remind everyone that there are actually seasons out there). This week, I wielded my hot glue gun and spent an embarrassing amount of time in a Michael’s floral department to bring you these super-easy fall DIYs: floral arrangements in mason jars and an incredible fall wreath.

Flower Arrangements in Mason Jars

What You’ll Need:

-mason jars (I used three)

-your paint of choice and a paintbrush, or

-rope/yarn and hot glue

-several artificial floral pieces or leafy branches

-strong pair of scissors or wire cutters

How You’ll Do It:

1. Decorate your mason jars!

I chose to paint two of them and wrap the third in rope. To accomplish the latter, I applied a dab of hot glue to the rim of the jar and held the end of the rope to it. Then I wound the rope around the jar and added a dab of hot glue about half-way around. The goal is to not have slouchy parts of the rope where jar shows through, so keeping the glue applied consistently throughout the wrapping process is key!

2. I loved the wrapped look so much that once my painted jars were dry, I hot-glued a couple of rows of rope around the mouth of them, too.

3. Time for flowers! If you’re nervous about arranging flowers because you’ve never tried it before, let me be the first to say ME TOO. I had actually never touched anything floral before this project, so we’re all in this together (and they turned out beautiful anyway)! Here’s a couple of tips for us nervous flower-folk:

• Stick with a color scheme. Arranging is going to be much easier later when you’re working with a bunch of flowers that look like they belong together, so try to come up with a color scheme and stick to it. I chose typical fall colors (oranges, reds, yellows) and grabbed a few pieces of leafy greenery to pull it all together.

• Keep the stems short. Cut your flowers and leafy pieces short enough that there isn’t a ton of stem showing. Keeping the bulk of the larger flowers closer to the rim (and closer together) makes the whole piece look more cohesive and full.

• Equip yourself with a pair of hardy scissors. Those wires are no joke. Make sure you’re ready with a strong pair of scissors or wire cutters.

There you have it: a gorgeous set of floral arrangements to brighten up a shelf or table!

Floral Wreath

What You’ll Need:

-a grapevine wreath (I went with this one from Michael’s)

-artificial floral and leafy pieces

-hot glue

How You’ll Do It:

1. You’ll never believe how easy this is. Take the leftover floral pieces from the mason jar project and start tucking them into pieces of the grapevine wreath. I like the look of having a partial floral cover (keeping some of the raw grapevine exposed), so I started at the bottom and worked my way up the right-hand side of the wreath.

2. Once you find an arrangement you like, grab your hot glue gun and affix the flowers so they won’t fall or get damaged in storage.

3. Hang it up (I used a command strip) for everyone’s viewing pleasure. Be extremely pleased with yourself.