The Thomas Family Blog

"And wherever we are, Home is there, too."
~ Jack Johnson

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Front Door Chic

Here I go again all out of order. Feeling rebellious, I guess... but I also figured that this post is time-sensitive, so I better get it out there to my blog-reading audience of... well, as far as I know, one. So, here's to you, faithful reader :) You know who you are.
I LOVE to piddle around my house. I also LOVE to save money (and it's a darn good thing because I don't have much). Of course, Pinterest is for me, like millions of other people, a great source for ideas and inspiration. A lot of what I attempt around the house is Pinterest-inspired. Most of it turns out alright, some is a total bust, and virtually everything deviates a bit from what was originally presented. One of my favorite design/decorating events of the year is decorating our porch for fall because (a) I have a small but very welcoming true southern-style front porch and I like to take advantage of it, (b) fall colors are beautiful and (c) fall is a visitor-rich time of year at our house so our front porch gets a lot of mileage and I want it to be welcoming and fun. So, here is what I did this year... you may find some inspiration.

Rule number one: If you have a front door (and most everyone does), it should always be decorated with something. I have a great (well, I think it is perfectly fabulous) way of making this happen year-round. I will get into the details of that a little later, but let's focus on the fall theme for now. I start with a really full, large scale wreath. You can go buy a pre-fab wreath, but be prepared to shell out a good $60-$75 minimum for a good one. The good news is that you can very easily create your own fall (or any type) wreath for your front door for about $10. These can be stored and used year after year, as well, so it is money well-spent. Simply head to any craft store, I like Michaels or Hobby Lobby (never visit Hobby Lobby without using the 40% off coupon), and get a nice-sized plain, unadorned grapevine wreath. You will also need one or two garlands of artificial fall leaves. Top this off with a large suction cup hook from which to hang your wreath. You simply hot glue (or, if you are feeling really snazzy, you can use florist wire) the garland of leaves around the wreath until you run out. So, yeah, that's done. Slap that baby up on the front door and you're Martha Stewart. The next step is to dress up your wreath. I do this by personalizing with our family's monogram. Here's what you'll need: wooden letters (again, I really like the Hobby Lobby ones), 2-3 inch ribbon, scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, and the glue gun (if you don't own one, get one - you will use it all the time). Scrapbook paper comes in 4,389 patterns, so you just choose one that fits your theme (for me this time it was fall leaves) and then pick some ribbon to match. All you do to complete the letters is trace and cut out the scrapbook paper to fit the letter (always go a bit smaller when you are cutting out so you don't overlap), Mod Podge the paper to the letter, then Mod Podge over the top of the scrapbook paper, and add ribbon to hang the letter. Super easy and a custom look for your front porch! Here's the finished product:



Remember, a whimsical, inviting home is not expensive - it just takes a lot of heart, a lot of elbow grease, and some ingenuity (borrowed from the Internet - absolutely acceptable!).

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