Daily Drawing #1

Taking time to draw something new provides inspiration for new projects, and gives your mind a creative break from current ones.

I try to keep daily drawings, but sometimes its hard to find the time... or to be honest, I just get lazy. And then if I do draw, I don't take the time to scan, archive, and post it.

Completing my book for The Sketchbook Project reminded me how beneficial it is to draw something new each day, so this year I'm going to really try and keep daily drawings (or at least semi daily), and post them when I can!

Tuesday Tutorial: Eco-friendly Autumn Wreath

I’ll admit, I’m a little early with my autumn excitement, but the moment it gets even a little cool I automatically shift into gear wearing sweaters and drinking hot apple cider!

If you can’t wait to start getting your place looking festive for autumn, what better way to start than a welcoming wreath at the door (and an eco-friendly one at that)!

These flowers can take a long time if you decide to make a lot of them, so it’s the perfect project to slowly chip away at while winding down at night or something. With any luck you’ll be done before autumn ends!

Materials:

Wreath form (not pictured), or branches to make your own

Old magazines

Scissors

Needle & thread

Buttons

Glue gun with glue sticks

Ribbon (optional)

Instructions:

1. Choose a color theme and pull those pages from your magazines. I chose pretty traditional warm and neutral autumn colors, but you have endless possibilities! You can choose to be inspired by fashion trends for fall, warm cream colors that can transition from autumn to winter, etc.

2. Cut circles in varying sizes out of the pages you pulled. My circles ranged 1”–4” in diameter. Experiment with different edges on your circles; try things like points and flower petal shapes. Each circle will make one flower, the number you need depends on how much of your wreath you want covered. I used over 50 to really cover most of the wreath, but you can choose to use them more sparingly.

3. Pinch and fold the center of each circle to form a flower—there is no right or wrong way to do this, just trial and error until you get the shapes you want.

4. Sew a button to the center of each flower. This is where you can fiddle with the shape to be sure the flower stays how you want it. Remember this is paper not fabric, so it will start to get fragile if you poke too many holes, you really only need to sew the button 2–4 times.

5. Glue your flowers to the wreath form. Use a small amount of glue on the back of each flower. You can cover the entire wreath, spread the flowers sparingly throughout, or do a more asymmetric layout like I did.

6. Tie a ribbon to the top of your wreath for hanging. This is optional; you can always just hang the wreath itself right on a nail or hook.

So have fun and start crafting! As always, post any questions in the comments, along with links to photos if you do the project yourself!