Over the past few days, the temperature has dropped significantly, creating that crispness in the air that declares Fall has arrived.  FINALLY.

Fall is my favorite season, and last week’s 90 degree temps were irritating at best.  Now that Mother Nature has decided to cooperate, I’ve been welcoming the new season with lots of baking and DIY projects. Among them, a cute little Fall wreath, inspired by photos found on Pinterest.

My DIY Fall Wreath

Inspired by…

{via Etsy}

{via Pretty Handy Girl}

{via Jones Design Company}

I decided to use some grapevine garland I already had in the house. To be completely honest, an actual grapevine wreath would be a much better option since it provides a more solid base, but since the garland was just lying there, begging to be put to good use, I thought I’d give it whirl. I also found some fall folliage and berries on major markdown at JoAnn’s. Tip: If you’re going to buy artificial plants from a craft store, you should always get them on sale because they are completely over-priced otherwise. I also bought some thick satin ribbon in a golden ivory color. The total for everything came to under $8.

The first step was to conform the garland into the size and shape I wanted by creating a circle with one half, and spiraling the other half continuously around it, like a corkscrew.  Using hot glue, I secured the base in place. Then, I  cut my red leaf bundles into more manageable sizes and secured them to the base by gently weaving through the lose pieces of grapevine. Anything that couldn’t be woven, was hot glued.

Next came berry placement. I wanted the light dripping effect of the green berries, so I cut larger pieces from this bundle than I did for the red leaves. This is also where my own creativity and vision came into play because I simply manipulated and maneuvered both the green and yellow berries until I liked the way they looked, then glued them into place.

The final step was tying the satin ribbon. Make sure to measure your ribbon based on the door or mirror where you plan to hang your Fall wreath. I secured mine with a staple to the back of the mirror. And that’s it. All done!

I am pretty proud of my first attempt at making a wreath! The best part about a DIY project like this is that you can completely customize it to your own color and style preferences.  What do you think? Will you be giving a Fall wreath a try?