Ok, so I will admit, I rarely finish a project and it is just done! I find new ways to improve it or I tinker with it for months after. Sometimes I find little things to add or I just like improving what I have already done.
I am going to show you the progression of this wreath project! I started with a bare wreath and immediately knew I wanted it to have willow plates on it. I got it for $3 at a local thrift store. You don’t find good vine wreaths often, so if you do pick them up!!!
Next I went on a flower hunt at my local dollar store. I always find the pretty flowers there for $1-$3 a bunch. You can’t go wrong with prices like that.
Sometimes I get frustrated with a project because I am trying to make something look like something I have seen on Instagram or Pinterest. Because I am not using the same materials I have to take a step back and realize it will look different. I just have to keep tweaking my design to be what I want it to be and in the end it will be satisfying to the eye.
Above was my first attempt. It felt empty to me, but instead of giving up, I picked it up off of the living room floor and took it into my dining room where I could continue to see my vision. So I kept at it. Next I added some white flowers to help make it look fuller.
This one made me semi satisfied but it still felt like it was missing something. I can’t make a bow to save my life so that doesn’t help. But I finally let it hang. That same weekend I began cleaning out my closet (dungeon!) I came across some pretty green flowers….now that helped!
And well….it didn’t stop there. I stopped into the dollar store this past Sunday and saw these beautiful vibrant blue flowers and well, I had to have them.
I felt like the additional blues tied it in better next to the blue willow cabinet I painted with a dark shade of blue. I was pleased and that was the end to adding flowers…I may add more plates soon…but for flowers I am finished.
Then, I found a treasure in a thrift store….a deer head! Oh how I love these and have always wanted one but couldn’t spend $90 on such a thing at Hobby Lobby…although I can stand and drool for a while.
So there she is. I am now satisfied with her. I don’t have a bow so I have a deer instead! I am rather excited to show you the final project as we often give up and walk away when we don’t have it turn out exactly as we want. I mush say I am pretty excited about this one.
Keep crafting and loving your willow!
Christine
Blue Willow Treasures - A collectors showcase 