$5 challenge: the entry

I really had no idea where to start with the $5 challenge this year. That's probably why I put it off until the night before it was due. Luckily I finally reconnected for craft night with my lovely friend HH and we hit the Dollarama looking for supplies. Incase you missed it before, the challenge is put on by blogger Living with Lindsay and the rules are simple: Spend just $5 (before tax) at a dollar store and create something new for your home. You're allowed to use items you already have in your crafty cupboard as well. Here's my entry from last year.

This year, I wanted to try something totally different, and I wasn't sure it would work.

Here are my supplies:

- 2 packages of decorative straw/grass/reeds ($1 each)

- 1 package of decorative curly straw ($1.25)

- 1 package of rafia ($1)

- 1 roll of twine

- Scrapbooking embellishments

The blades of grass had little seashells attached, so the first thing I did was cut those off. Then I spread the straight strands out and using twine — and a whole lot of patience — formed them into a wreath, like so:

Not too pretty, I know. This is the moment when I thought I wouldn't have an entry to this year's contest. But I sat back, took a deep breath, and carried on.

I tucked in as many of the edges as I could and started adding in the curly straw.

After a whole lot of tucking, trimming and hot gluing, it actually formed together pretty well. To embellish the wreath, I wound it with a narrow strip of the rafia and added some scrapbooking embellishments, like flowers and leaves. The rustic stars were saved from an old centrepiece that I parted with years ago. I love it when I make use of something I've saved.

Here's how it looks up close:

And here's the finished product. I'm very pleased with the final result and wish I could show it to you in person. I photographed it in front of a red wall because the front door of our new home is nearly the same shade. I can't wait to hang it up on moving day!

What do you think? Now head on over to view all of the other entries here. Wish me luck! The finalists will be announced at the end of next week.