It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on the progress in our master bedroom.  It’s been slow going, but we are thiiiiiiissssssss close to being finished.  Today, I’m going to show you my little chandelier that now hangs in our bay window.

A few months ago, my sweet friend JJ from Blah Blah Blahger came to visit, and we hit up some thrift stores looking for a project.  I needed a small chandelier for the bedroom, and she had the brilliant idea of gutting this early 1990s brass beauty that we found at the ReStore for about $15.

I’ve shown you that photo before, and several readers have emailed that they have the exact fixtures hanging in their entryway and want them gone.  Have no fear!  I can help.

The process I used to transform this outdated fixture is very straight forward.  I simply unscrewed the pieces until I was able to separate the glass enclosure from the chandelier.  I then took apart the top section of sockets from the bottom section so that it would be easier to paint.  When I am taking apart wiring that I want to put back together, I always take pictures so I’ll know how to reassemble it.

Once I had it apart, I spray painted the pieces I was reusing – the 2 sections of lights, the socket covers, the pipe that holds them together and the pieces you use to connect the fixture to the ceiling.  I spray primed them with gray primer and spray painted them a black gloss.  Then, I used the new Krylon Glitter Blast in Starry Night on just the main part of the chandelier.  I also sprayed the Glitter Blast clear sealer on it so that the glitter wouldn’t flake off.  I’ve been wanting to try the Glitter Blast for a while, and I really liked the look it gave the fixture (although I wish the glitter was solid black and not black and silver – there’s currently no solid black option).  You can see that it’s not incredibly sparkly, but it glimmers in the sunlight, which is perfect for my space.

I rewired the chandelier back together (here’s a step by step tutorial if you need it) and hung it using a new black chain that I picked up at Home Depot.  My sweet husband had to add a box in the ceiling for this since there was no place to install it where I wanted it to go.  At one point, he was hanging from a ceiling joist in the pitch black attic with one arm, looking for a tiny LED light and hoping not to fall through the ceiling.  He’s a good man.

In the end, it looks so charming hanging in our bay window by day…

…and by night.

Next up, accessories and non-temporary shades.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Have you ever taken apart an old light fixture to create a “new” one?

Back when Zack was about 3 years old, I created an adorable fall themed t-shirt for him.  On the front, there was a woodpecker saying “Knock, Knock!”.  On the back, an owl answered “Who’s There?”  I thought it was a clever play on words, and I hated that he outgrew it so quickly.

This past weekend, that shirt popped into my mind and it occurred to me that the idea would be so much fun on a front door.  I pulled out my applique patterns from my sewing archives (I sound like Rachel Zoe!), and a whimsical autumn wreath was born.

This wreath is incredibly simple to put together – if you can use scissors and a glue gun, you have all the skills needed.  I even turned my original appliques into a free, downloadable template, so it takes all of the “I can’t draw!” fears off the table.  Follow along and create your own.

DIY “Knock, Knock!  Who’s There?” Wreath

The owl and woodpecker wreath can be put together for under $2o, and likely less since you probably have some of the supplies on hand.  The list is long, but it contains very inexpensive items. You will need:

• Scissors
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Brown felt (9″x12″ size) – 2 sheets
• Black felt (9″x12″ size) – 2 sheets
• Olive green felt (9″x12″ size) – 1 sheet
• Gold felt (9″x12″ size) – 1 sheet
• Crimson felt (9″x12″ size) – 1 sheet
• White stiff felt (9″x12″ size) – 2 sheets
• Medium brown buttons (2) or brown fabric paint
• Tiny white button (1) or white fabric paint
• Needle
• DMC Embroidery floss – black and brown
• Polyfil
• Craft wire
• Ribbon (at least 1 1/2 inches wide)
• Grapevine wreaths – 18″ and 14″ diameters
• Sharpie marker
• Pencil
• Chalk or white paint marker
• Printer
• Barrette clips (optional)

Let’s get started on the wreath!

1.  Gather your supplies and download the free template I have put together for this project.  Click HERE for the templates, and the PDF will either open on your screen or save to your computer (depending upon how you have your browser set up to handle downloads).  Cut out each printed pattern.

2.  Trace your patterns onto the felt with a Sharpie marker (except for the black felt, which will need chalk or a white paint marker).  Cut out the patterns along the inside of the Sharpie line (do each shape won’t have a black outline). Each pattern tells you how many you should trace onto each color of felt.  Note: Per the template, the squiggly feather detail for the woodpecker is to be cut out of one of your black woodpecker cutouts.

3.  Set aside the leaves, speech bubbles, 1 brown owl body and 1 black woodpecker body, and assemble the rest of your owl and woodpecker with hot glue.  Use a sparing amount of glue so that it doesn’t ooze.  The white portion of the woodpecker is glued behind the wing detail that you previously cut.

4.  Add the wing detail onto the owl.  I used brown embroidery thread and a needle to free hand stitch along the blue line below.  I tried to take photos of my stitching, but it’s the exact same color as the felt and didn’t show up in the photos.  I stitched along both of the owls wings.

5.  Add eyes to both birds.  I had two brown wooden buttons in my button stash and hot glued them onto the owl.  I didn’t have a small enough white button for the woodpecker’s eye, so I just applied a dot of white fabric paint.

6.  Take the brown owl body cutout that you set aside and hot glue (along the edges only) it to the back of the owl.  Leave it open about 3 or 4 inches along the bottom.

In the open hole, stuff a bit of Polyfil to give the owl some shape.  If you can’t reach the top of the owl, gently push some Polyfil up with your scissors.  Once it’s stuffed, glue the hole closed.   Repeat the process for the woodpecker.

7.  Grab your speech bubbles.  With your pencil, write out “Knock, Knock!” on one and “Who’s There?” on the other.  Using your black embroidery floss and needle, embroider the phrases with a back stitch.  If you don’t know how to do that (and it is CRAZY easy once you learn it), check out this tutorial that Shelli from Needle in a Haystack shared with us a while back.  I also stitched around the edges of the speech bubble to give it a more whimsical look.  Remember, whimsy means that it doesn’t have to be perfect!

8.  Optional step: Hot glue some barrette clips on the back of your birds and speech bubbles. I used two on the birds (owl glued vertically and woodpecker glued horizontally) and one on each speech bubble (glued horizontally).  You could probably just hot glue the birds and speech bubbles directly onto the wreath, but I thought the clips would help them to stand up better (particularly the owl).

9.  Wire your two grapevine wreaths together with the craft wire.  Mine are wired in four places on the back of the wreaths.  Then, attach the birds and speech bubbles to the wreath using either the barrette clips or hot glue if you didn’t use the clips.  I always loop my wreath hanging ribbon around the wreath when I am attaching elements so that I know how it will hang.

10.  Lastly, hot glue your felt leaves around the wreath.  I put some around the owl to look like he was sitting in a tree (the grapevine represents the branches) and a few around the woodpecker.  The rest I added in clumps around empty parts of the wreath.  You can add more or less depending upon your own aesthetic.

11.  Hang the wreath with the ribbon in the place of your choice.  If you hang it on your front door, please make sure that the door isn’t directly exposed to the elements – I’m not sure how it would stand up to getting soaked from the rain or snow.

I often get asked how I hang my wreaths with ribbon.  I loop the ribbon around the wreath and tack it with a finishing nail on the top of my door.  I have one little hole on the top of my door and just use it for every wreath I hang.

I think this wreath is such a hoot!  You knew I was going to go there at some point, didn’t you?

Do you think you have time to put one of these wreaths together before you haul the Christmas decorations out of the attic?  If you have any questions, let me know!