Happy October, everybody!! This is my absolute favorite month of the year!  My husband and I got married this month, the weather is fabulous (and wonderfully unpredictable), leaves are falling, and Halloween decorations are popping up all over the place.  Good stuff!!

This week's project was actually one that my mom recommended - and I LOVE how it turned out!!

The inspiration came from Pottery Barn, which is one of my absolute favorite retailers.  They always have such cute stuff!! In this case, it's an over-sized grapevine witches hat.  Love!  But then, there's the price... $299.  Oh, Pottery Barn.  Why do you hurt me so? 

Source

As my mom pointed out, however, an upcycled grapevine Christmas tree and a few bare wreaths could garner me some similar results... and at much less stroke-inducing price!

Luckily my mother just so happened to have a tree and I had a grapevine wreath, lights and some fun embellishments.  I decided a second wreath would add some needed weight to the brim of the hat, so I picked one up at Michaels for $2.50. 

The first step was a little prep work.  I removed the string of Christmas lights from the tree, and pulled a few pieces of grapevine out around one of the wreaths to give it a wider circumference and a bit of a wispy look.


 Using florist wire, I secured the two grapevine wreaths together (placing the widest on the bottom, of course, and then attached the tree to the center.  Because the materials are light, I didn't need a lot of wire, and will be able to disassemble it to use the items for their original purpose if I want to.  Bonus!

I used two 100 light strands of orange lights to wrap the entire thing, which added a bit more strength to the fixture as well as unifying the pieces in appearance.

 
The final step was the most fun.  I raided my ribbon and floral supplies as well as some of my Halloween decorations.  After tying a bit of 6" mesh ribbon around the base of the cone, I added glittery black ferns and berries, sparkly white curlicues, feathers and a big fat crow right in the center.  Pottery Barn, eat your heart out. 



I LOVE how it turned out.  I initially put it on the porch, but, as we're expecting a hurricane this weekend, I decided inside might be a better place for it for now.  Happily, after sticking it on my giant pumpkin (which was just waiting in the corner until I figured out where I wanted to put it) I discovered that I quite like the two together and may wind up keeping them like that. 


Ultimately I spent about $5 on materials - $2.50 each for an extra wreath and some mesh (which I now have a TON extra).  Granted that's because I already had a lot of the supplies, but even had I bought each of the parts the cost would have come in WAY under $300.  Even better, I feel like my embellishments are far more fabulous than the drab burlap ribbon and buckle on the PB version.  Woot!




I'm so excited for this weekend when I will pull out the tubs, put on some spooky movies and go full Halloweenophile on the house.  I'd love to hear about your Fright Night prep plans - drop me a note in the comments!

XO
Emily-Grace