I like to change the wreaths on my doors with the seasons and came up with this one for our front door. I really stepped outside of my traditional tastes with this super easy and fairly inexpensive door decoration that I think really says, “Summer”.

I found just about all my supplies at the Dollar Store (2012 cost break-down included):

• 1 pail and shovel set ($1)
• 1 pair of children’s flip flops-smallest size I could find (.50 –they were 2 pairs for a $1)
• 1 pair children’s sunglasses ($1)
• 3 bushes of sunflowers ($1 each: $3 total)
• 1 bush of grass with butterflies ($1)
• 1 bush of berries (I think those tiny balls on the sprig are supposed to be berries)($1)
• A length of wired ribbon (purchased a Hobby Lobby regularly $3.99 for 3 yard roll, on sale for 50% off -$2.00, only used about 2 feet- actual cost about .44)
• Stiff floral wire stems (had on hand but available at Dollar Store)(not shown)
• Piece of floral foam (had on hand but also available at Dollar Store)(not shown)
• Wire cutters
• Scissors

(Ignore the twine in the picture-I decided not to use it)

My total cost: about $8

This was super simple to arrange. I just bent the large stems of 2 of the sunflower bushes so they would be at the height I wanted once I put them in the bucket. I cut the individual flower stems off the third bush so that I could add them where I wanted as filler.

I then took a piece of the stiff floral wire and push it into the heel of one of the flip flop. I did the same thing to the other flip flops. I folded the wire up to give it some added stiffness to support the flip flops.

I put the green florist foam into the bucket, stacking pieces of it so that when I pushed the wire into it, the flip flops would be the height I wanted them to be.

Then I just added the cut sunflowers around to fill in the space adjusting the height as needed. I cut sprigs of the berries and added a few here and there (I only used half of the bunch) and tucked the grass sprig in behind the flowers.

I then tucked the shovel (wish I had selected a different colored one though) into the bucket and hung the sunglasses off the side.

I cut a length of the wired ribbon about 24”, enough to go around the bucket and tie a bow. I used a small piece of stick-on velcro to the front of the bucket to keep the ribbon in place (it kept sliding down) but you could probably use glue to keep it where you want.

I hung the arrangement on the door by the bucket handle. At first I hung it straight but I didn’t like the way the sunglasses and bow hung so I tilted it and I think it looks so much more like a trip to the beach, don’t you?