DIY Harvest Door

When we moved and Mom & Dad moved in to our old house, they chose to eliminate some of the big doors that separated bedrooms. This way, they could have a nice entry way to a den and then change out a closet door. What that meant was that there were extra doors in the house with no where to go. Math Man and I called dibs, and we’ve been decorating doors as the seasons arrive. This season’s door called for a Harvest Door theme, and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

We already knew we’d decorate for fall, so when my Blog with Friends group decided on “Apples” for our September theme, I thought and thought about how I’d incorporate apples into the door decor.

I considered a school theme, but I knew that past September, that might feel out-of-date, and I didn’t want to pigeon hole the door. I wanted it to last for a couple of months.

Off to Pinterest and Google Images I went to try to decide how I could use apples without a school theme. My original plan had been a big basket of toppling apples and a fence behind. I considered using sunflowers coming up high in the background.

But my search of apples and harvest brought me to the idea of an apple tree and an apple cart. Easy peasy.

I planned my drawing on paper first — although I forgot to consider the size of the paper in relation to the size of the door — and decided upon half of a tree. We had all the colors, but I wondered if I could complete the door in just one day. It was beautiful outside without too much wind, and it appeared that the weather would stay nice for a few days.

The first thing I had to do was paint a white base. The old door had white on it, but from sitting on the porch with the summer theme, it had gathered a bit of dust and mold. Flash (4) helped me cover the mess with a blank slate.

The Animal (6) came out and requested to assist, so I slowly helped them do little bits of each portion of the door. The brown on the tree was a struggle for both boys. They really wanted to paint it in completely where I wanted to keep it sort of striped and distressed looking so as to mimic the bark on the trunk.

After the boys helped with the brown, we added some green for grass. I did hold their hands and help them with the stroke so that they were participating but doing what I needed them to do (I couldn’t give up control completely!).

That seemed to be enough effort for the boys, so I was able to finish the last few details on my own. I added the apples (Math Man was kind and gave me artistic advice only when I requested) and the words.

I think it turned out pretty great. I will say that when Sassy Pants (12) came outside to look at it, I received the vote of confidence with a very positive, “That looks great! Wow!” You know if the tween has approved, it must be ok!

We’ve decided that for Halloween, we’ll use some of the old playground to make a spooky door-like creation. Stay tuned!

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Be sure to visit my Blog with Friends buddies to see what they did with the Apples theme.

Apple Pie Cheesecake from Baking in a Tornado

Apple/Sweet Potato Muffins from Part-Time Working Hockey Mom

Mini Apple Crisp Pies from Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

Comparing Apples and Dragonfruit from Think in English

Scents of Autumn from The Liebers

Tags: apples, blog with friends, diy, fall, fall decor