Spring Decor Silent Auction Item (Meeting My No Spend Challenge)

My youngest son is fundraising for an upcoming pilgrimage to Spain and Portugal with his church youth group.  This is my third pilgrimage in the last five years, so I’m experiencing a little fundraising burnout.

Nonetheless, when they decided to do a silent auction and wine tasting this spring to help top off their funds, I agreed to contribute something for the auction, of course.  The hubs and I will be on our Caribbean junket at the time of the event, so I figure it was the least I could do.

I could have gone out seeking donations for the silent auction item I’d agreed to provide — and believe me, I thought about it!  But when I really thought about it, I was convinced I could come up with something on my own.  After all, I’d boldly listed “Spring Home Decor Array” as my item of choice.  Not a gift certificate for private golf lessons, or signed sports memorabilia, or a weekend at a mountain cabin.  Spring home decor.

And there it was.  The challenge.  The No Spend challenge.

So I dug around in my ridiculously large stash of crafting supplies and DIY’s waiting in the wings and here’s what I had to work with…

• rectangular wooden planter
• 24 inch wire wreath form
• craft paint
• burlap ribbon
• spring picks
• styrofoam balls
• moss
• stickers
• spray adhesive

When I think of spring decor, I think of something fresh for my front door, a cute planter to refresh the front or screen porch, and anything to bring green into the mix.  With that in mind, I was off to the races.

The planter was similar to the one I used for this fun fall project, just a different color.

I have four planters total and the other three were just waiting to be embellished.  I was envisioning one side reading “welcome” and the other side reading “howdy”.  Just for fun. 🙂

I used the greenish gray planter and white craft paint … isn’t it fun?

Then that wreath form was just crying for me to use Laura’s tutorial to create a burlap wreath…

Seriously, y’all, this is such a great project!  Simple and the results are amazing… I find myself wanting to whip out burlap wreaths for all my friends and family now!    Head over to Top This Top That for the full tutorial;  the only difference is that mine is bigger and used more ribbon.  You’re welcome. 🙂

I then added two spring picks — one sprig of white cherry blossoms and a little nest with two eggs in it.

I attached these with floral wire, so they’d be easy to detach when spring is done, if the lucky winner wants to put something else on the wreath.

I then used my styrofoam balls and the moss to create — wait for it — moss balls.

I know.  Inspiring isn’t it? 🙂  But I do love that look to bring a little green into your decor for spring, they can be used in any container, plus I wanted to make a few for myself, so what the heck?

I did one large and two medium-sized balls for the auction item, and put them in cellophane bags to help preserve them until they’re pulled out to enjoy.

One last little touch was a small glass bud vase out of my Willow House samples… it’s hard to see in this photo, but it’s a sweet little fluted number.

So there you have it — my silent auction donation that cost me no more than a few afternoons at my kitchen table.

And I can cross a few DIYs off my list, too. 🙂

Hope all these goodies go to a great home!  Sorry for the lack of better photos — I was in such a DIY flurry I mostly forgot to take photos as I went.  I’ll be sharing the typography method soon.  THAT I did manage to photograph. 🙂

What’s got you thinking about spring?