Puzzle Piece Wreath

I find this time of year challenging.  November. The weeks between Halloween and holidays.

Especially outdoors.

The fun and festive – and sometimes spooky – Halloween decorations have come down.  The freshly carved pumpkins are now squirrel food.  And those colorful and wonderful mums have shriveled up and died  … well, at least mine have  … leaving our porch steps and stoops bare and sad and bland …

and, well, just blah.

And those colorful autumnal leaves?  Yeah, they’ve come down too.  Gathering on sidewalks and parkways creating mounds of brown decay.  Piles of brown decay that I constantly have to remind my daughter to steer clear of … you see, not all my neighbors think it’s important to clean up after their dogs.

But that’s a post for another day.

Then there’s the weather.  And yes, I am going to go there.  And not because I’ve run out of things to say and have to resort to the weather.  But weather talk here in Chicago is huge.  Monumental.  Lead story kind of stuff …

And weather talk in this house is huge.  Monumental.  Lead story of the day kind of stuff … well, it is for my husband.  The rest of us?  Not so much.

We’ve had a respite this past weekend.  Unseasonable warmth.  But I heard it in the wind.  Smelt it in the air …oh, and heard it on the news.  Or, more accurately, heard it from my husband who heard it on the news.

The weather in Chicago took a turn for the ugly.  And not just any old run-of-the-mill turn. But a high-speed sharp left from balmy 70s this past weekend down to the 30s. There was even snow involved.  And not the good kind of snow that blankets the earth and turns those piles of decay into soft fluffy mounds of white.  No, the ugly kind.  The weak kind.  The wet kind that is just enough to remind you that it’s cold outside … but not enough to have you thinking of spirited snow ball fights followed by steaming cups of hot cocoa topped off with mini marshmallows …

or Cool Whip.

And that forecast of cold and gray and ugly wet snow days ahead was just enough to light a fire in me this past weekend …

and inspired me to add some color out front with a colorful fall wreath made from recycled puzzle pieces … 

It was seriously easy to make.  Some paint.  Some puzzle pieces.  Some sisal. A Dollar Store frame.  And the glue gun.

You can find out more about how I made this project by clicking here.

Here’s hoping my fall puzzle piece wreath is colorful enough to drive away the pre-holiday gray gloom …

~ Linda

Linda is a wife, mother, Chicago homeowner … and creator and author of it all started with paint blog.  You can find her on Facebook here, follow her on Twitter here, and see her Pinterest boards here …