vinyl + zipper wreath.

well, when the nester threw down the gauntlet and challenged us all to make wreaths out of unexpected items, i knew that i wanted to do something to impress my hipster neighbors. because i'm the new kid on the block, and i don't want them to think their new neighbor is martha stewart. (gag me with a spoon, or whatever the kids are saying these days.)

and i decided that something industrial would be in keeping with some of the other projects i'd been working on (i'll share a really cool industrial tiki torch i put together later this week). so i used last year's nonna wreath as a base idea and added a little zipper influence from jeffrey of project runway and here's what i came up with...

the biggest difference from my previous fluffy ruffly wreath is that i used vinyl as the fabric. because unlike the desert of southern arizona, balitmore gets rain. a lot of it. so i wanted something a little more waterproof to hang on my front door.

it was a little more challenging than the cotton duck i'd used in the first wreath because it has a right side and a wrong side, which meant i couldn't twist my ruffles as much. i had to be a bit more aware of the way each laid. even then it wasn't perfect. but who wants perfection any way??

 
and because our house is brown [wouldn't have been my choice, but ah the joys of renting], i opted to shoot for a neutral. i have a lot left over, and i think it will be perfect for a pinterest-inspired project i'm going to attempt ... as soon as i dig out the ole sewing machine, that is.

and to add a little color and surprise, i channeled my inner jeffrey sebelia and added a zipper bow. i went with red to make it pop, and because it will last me through valentine's day ;-)

not gonna lie, the zipper bow is probably my favorite part.

the technical break down is that the base was an embroidery hoop, the vinyl is hot glued on (low temp glue), and the zipper is held on by fishing line. [every window-dresser's best friend.]

i'm pretty happy with the finished product, and Lord willing, it will make it through the tropical storm that's headed our way this weekend. :)