Fall Wreath Alternative: DIY Birch Sunflower Basket

After I decorated the backyard patio for Fall, I figure I better turn my attention to the front of the house. My plan is to transition the front porch from summer decorations to a Fall outdoor décor theme that I can transition to Halloween if time permits (life happens!) and back to Fall for Thanksgiving (wishful thinking because of that time thing, ya know) until it is time to pack it all up and decorate for Christmas.
 

 Pin this wreath idea for later!

Instead of decorating with something like the DIY Fall wreath I made for the back patio, I decorate with a half wall birch basket.


It has seen better days.I fell out of love with the foam Fall “berries”, especially now that they are chipping. The rest of the silk flowers are faded. I still like the birch basket part because it is unique.
And while I have a whole Pinterest board devoted to clever wreaths (follow me @condoblues on Pinterest pretty please?) I can barely find one I like. So when I do, I keep them forever so I don’t have to go on the Great Cute Seasonal Wreath Hunt every year.

 Tip: Your door wreaths will last longer if store them  in a wreath storage bag like the one I use from Amazon (affiliate link for your convenience.)

 I decided to try to repair the basket and replace the decoration for Autumn. If it works great. Being green, repurposing, and most importantly, I can put off the Great Autumn Door Wreath Hunt for another year. If it doesn’t work, I buy a replacement.

I glued the birch basket to the frame with Gorilla Glue. The half round shape wouldn’t let me clamp it gather while the glue dried so I cringed and with Plan C: a staple gun. Why? because Plant B: Brand Nails wouldn’t hold the warping wood in place. It is not an elegant solution but it works.

Hopefully after the Gorilla Glue dries, I can remove the staples for a cleaner look.

Now it is time to replace the faded glory in the basket.

Fall is a fanatic time to decorate with the greenest of eco friendly materials – Mother Nature. It doesn’t take much effort to find real pinecones, sweet gum balls, autumn leaves, and such to use to create pretty seasonal décor.

Unless you are allergic to almost all of it.

That’s why I’m going the silk flower route for this craft project. At least it will last and allow me to reuse it year after year, so that’s something, right?

How to Make a Sunflower Door Basket Wreath

 

You will need:

Half Door Basket

Silk Sunflowers

Wire cutters

Hot glue (unless your basket has a foam base like mine already does)

Make it:

1. Use the wire cutters to cut flower picks apart.


2. When I decorate  like to follow the High – Middle  – Low design philosophy.

• I anchored sunflowers with the longest stems in the back of the basket. This is my High. 

I fully expected these sunflowers to move and sing like those solar sunflower toys. I am sad they didn't.

• I experimented with adding leaf and pumpkin flower picks to my basket but eventually took them out because I like the single flower design better. Also by leaving out the Fall leaves, I can get away with decorating with the hanging sunflower basket for summer.

3. Next, I used the wire cutters to cut the next row of sunflower stems shorter than the back row. This is my Medium design element.

Looking better!

4. Finally, I cut the stems of the front row of sunflowers shorter than the middle row for my Low design element.

It's so fluffy I could die!

5. After a little fluffing of the flowers, it was time to hang it up!


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