Whimsical ideas to welcome Autumn

Check out these five wreaths made from treasures, found objects, flea markets, junk boxes, curbs, and the garden!

Bittersweet berries brighten up the season looped with dried vines around this family keepsake lantern photographed by Dean Jacobs McCall.

Another colorful circle of bittersweet berries is shown here on a candle holder photographed by Jeanne Sammons. Jeanne adds new berries each season to this wreath since discovering a source for these flame-colored jewels. The raffia bow adds both a complimentary color and lots of texture and interest.

I made the wreath above with salvaged glitter-wire wrapped with raffia string, and red leaves trimmed from a discarded silk tree (I literally found it on a curb in a near by neighborhood). To recycle silk leaves that are over-size, simply cut them to a new shape with scissors. Flipped over, this wreath reveals a green side  for Summer.

I’ve hidden bits of jewelry and clock gears between the dried flowers and it seems to say to me “time stops for no one, but with new memories along the way, it is never wasted.”

Kirk Willis photographed this wreath of Thumbelina-sized flower pots kept together with wires through the drainage holes. Handled gently, this treasure can last many years and celebrates gifts from the Earth and the garden, with terra cotta coloring in soft shades of rust and burnt orange.

I remembering seeing something like this in my barn, but was amazed to see a similar coil of barbed-wire photographed by Cherrie Carine, embellished with 3 bright ears of Indian corn and turned into a wreath that compliments the weathered wood background. The corn still has its papery husks, and with the addition of a few scarlet leaves the overall effect softens the rusty metal. This is definitely one design you will want to wear gloves and long sleeves when handling, keep out of reach of children, and hang well out of the way of any passersby.

Making or personalizing a wreath with one of a kind objects found along the way, and a sprig or two from your garden is easy and fun to do—look around and you may be surprised what you will find!

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