Fresh Magnolia Leaf Wreath and a Revelation About Me

Last weekend my niece and I collected a few branches from my mother's massive magnolia tree, the one I actually climbed as a child:) My niece loves anything crafty and has been my helper and my only craft partner since the rest of my family and friends don't really like crafting like I do, she's wonderful! I had decided to make a simple magnolia wreath for my kitchen with the leaves and I actually collected so many that I called my mom today to ask if she wanted me to make her one as well, her response was "yes I'll take it!". It took me maybe two hours but that was with interruptions by my 2 year old so if I had been making it non-stop it probably would have taken only an hour. So here it is! I just love it:) This one is going to my mom's house today to hang on her front door, I'm curious to see how long it will stay green...

Okay and now for my revelation! This has been something that has taken me quite a while to figure out but today as I was assembling the wreath it just kind of came to me that it makes total sense... I love flowers and I love making floral arrangements and wreaths, in fact I used to have a wreath business but when my father passed away last year I sort of went into a depression and didn't have the motivation to make it grow. What I have discovered about myself lately is that I love design but I adore flowers and anything to do with them, I would do it for free, and gladly play with flowers all day as a career.. So I guess my next step is getting some formal training in the art of floral design. There are some local classes I can take but also some online classes that I've seen that I'm thinking of taking. Anyway I just wanted to share with you my revelation that sometimes it takes a while to come to the conclusion of what you really want to be when you grow up.. I mean I'm 35 people! I grew up knowing a lot about flowers because my mother is a big gardener but I didn't love flowers until I was much older. Anyway I just had to share and let you know that I may start another blog devoted entirely to floral arranging since this little blog is supposed to be about decor and I'm not sure if you guys really want to read about my little arrangements and wreaths but please let me know if that is of interest to you! As always thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment, I truly appreciate it.

My Ballard Inspired Pinecone Wreath!

Just like so many other bloggers I really get inspired by the Ballard catalogs that I get in my mailbox.  My dream house would have lots of Ballard furniture with vintage pieces as well, but of course that's only in my dreams since Ballards prices are a bit out of my budget!  I had been admiring their pinecone wreath since I first saw it in the holiday catalog

So pretty!  so I decided to try and make a similar one but with smaller pinecones. 

I decided to add a little color to mine but still not sure if I like it or not... what do you think? (I still have to pick all the hot glue gun strings off)?  The little red balls were in the mix of mini pinecones and cinnamon sticks I purchased at Michaels and they smell great and have a little sparkle which you can't tell of course since I have the worst camera ever!  Should I add a ribbon too it as well? 

I would also love to try and make these little pinecone topiaries from Ballard, we'll see....