Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Beauty On A Budget

When it comes to the outside of the house, if there is one thing that I love, it is definitely a door wreath. Wreaths provide the perfect opportunity to add a little décor and showcase your personal style. In my opinion, wreaths can instantly upgrade the entire appearance of a residence--separating the houses from the homes. Wreaths say that you care...or at least that you're trying.

As soon as we got our new door, the next order of business was to get a wreath (I wanted one long before, but there was no way in the world that I wanted to bring attention to the ugly thing that we were calling a door at the time). I instantly hit the internet searching for something that I liked, and what I found was some really nice wreaths...that were criminally overpriced.

A $140 for a baby breath wreath?? Is it the breath of baby Jesus??
 
When it comes to style mine is quite eclectic, the only requirement is that I like it, easy enough. So I should have found plenty of things right? Not so. Everything was a tab bit more expensive than what I willing to pay. I hit up the internet to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:
 
Price: $215. I loved the fullness/messiness of it...but nope. I am definitely not paying that!
Let's move on...
Price: $72. I love burlap. I also love that this is clean and simple--but it's a little too simple in my opinion for the price...
Price: $179. Nothing puts me in the Christmas Spirit like festive décor. But at this rate nothing would put me in debt like it either.
Price: $70...Pretty, but WHY does it cost so much?
 
Just for laughs, check out this article on the world's most expensive door wreath: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/12/worlds-most-expensive-christmas-wreath/
I swear, sometimes I think that rich people just don't know what else to do with their money. SMH.
 

 
 
After several 'heck nawl' searches, it finally dawned on me that it would be cheaper to just make my own wreath. Well, to have my mom make it. She is awesome with arts & crafts--even had her own booth at our local flea market for a little while and it was very well received. If I could trust her with my wedding bouquet and centerpieces surely she could make something for my door, why hadn't I thought of that earlier? I asked her if she could do it, she happily agreed, and that should have been that--but it wasn't.
 
The first Michael's that I went to had nothing--I'm not exaggerating--they had nothing. Some sort of sale was going on and the flower department had been practically cleaned out. The second Michael's I went to didn't have a thing either, at least not a thing that I wanted to pay for. There is nothing that anyone can tell me that constitutes one silk flower being $7.99 or more. I know the old saying rings true, you get what you pay for. But I place value where I will, and a handmade/factory created flower is just not that valuable to me. Sorry. I did, however, use my 40% off coupon to take my grapevine wreath (the bones of it--just the frame) down to about two bucks. Score? :-/
 
After trying a few more stores with absolutely no luck, my mom suggested that I go to the Dollar Tree. At first I just laughed, there was a certain look I was going for and the dollar store wasn't a part of it. But after a few more disappointments I stumbled into my local dollar store, somewhat mad that I was there. This is going to be a wasted trip I said. I guess it's not meant for me to get a wreath I thought. And then it happened. My eyes landed on some bright yellow flowers that were "good enough"! They may not have looked like the $7.99 flowers at Michael's, but they were about the $3.99 grade, and they were a dollar--on bushes...
 

 
*Insert angels singing* What I felt like the moment I saw the flowers! :-)
 
So I grab up a few yellow flowers, some green berry things, a brown bird, and skipped up to the register like I was on the yellow brick road. If there is one thing I'm certain of, it's that my momma can work her magic...my wreath was just as good as made. So without further ado, here is the result! 


How lovely is this?! MyMommaIsTheBomb.Com
I like that it's simple yet stunning. The bright colors are sure to catch the eye from the street, and the earthy vibe nods to my hippie chick side. Unfortunately, the bird isn't pictured in the photograph. My mom told me to clip it where I wanted it.
Price: Under $10 :-)
And that's it. It took a bit of effort, a whole lot of disappointment, and a mother's love, but THIS is what I call beauty on a budget.
 

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