This year, I decided wanted a bay or bay-inspired wreath for my front door. I was going for something Christmassy without whacking visitors over the head with it. 

I thought about trying to source and buy fresh bay. But a recent trip to The I.D.E.A. Store turned up green construction paper, a scalloped rectangle paper punch and some fun little plastic flowers I thought might work well as accents.

I made tons of scalloped rectangles with the paper punch, and spray-painted the plastic flowers copper, which is way cheaper than using actual copper, I might add.

When it came time to assemble, I covered my wreath with a red-and-white ticking-style ribbon (also from The I.D.E.A. store), adding a large loop for hanging, and a small loop at the bottom.

I rolled and folded the rectangles diagonally to look a little like bay leaves, and glued them as close together as possible.

I added the now-copper flowers, and was tickled that the wreath came out looking sort of funky and retro.

I tied my front-door chalkboard to the small bottom loop for a longer door centerpiece. I added one of my favorite Advent-themed Bible verses (I always sing “The Messiah” in my head when reading it) and Rob illustrated it with a mountain and a couple tiny skiiers.

It strikes a balance between a lighthearted Christmas decoration and another way to observe the season of Advent.