I struggle with what to hang on my front door in September. School has started, so summer is over and summer decor is all faded from the sun. It isn't really fall yet because it is still 100 degrees and pumpkins shouldn't be out in tank top weather. In Texas, September is football season! So, I decided to whip up a little something for my front door is honor of it.
I started with 1 yard of burlap (all of $3.99 at Hobby Lobby) and using a simple Sharpie made the shape of my football and cut it out. You will want to have the burlap foled in half to cut two footballs of the same size (a front and a back). Set aside one piece, it will be the back. Using one piece as the front, I then used my Sharpie to give me a place for the white "stripes" on each end and the cross lines on the top. I just eyeballed it and looked at Google images of footballs.
With my outline in Sharpie, I used white craft paint and filled in my football's details. I used a foam brush and small paintbrush until they were thick enough and had the detail I wanted.
I then went back over it and outlined the white paint with my black Sharpie. It added so much to the simple white paint. It looked much cleaner with the faded white edges outlined in crisp black lines.
Next, I stapled brown tulle to the plain piece of burlap that will serve as the back side. You can use tulle, ribbon, string, whatever you want. Homecoming ribbon usually in stores right now for your local school would be cute!
Next, line up your two piece of burlap with the detailed piece on top and the staples hiding your tulle for hanging on the inside. Using large pins, pin it all around the edge to line it up for stitching. You can trim any excess that doesn't look right at this point.
Using just a needle and thread, close up your burlap football leaving a small opening for your stuffing. You can stuff this with anything you have- I used quilt batting this time. I have used tissue paper before. Newspaper, old t-shirts, shipping peanuts, it all should work fine. Once it is stuffed, finish "sewing" it shut and knot it up tight at the end.
This is what my hand stitching looked like. I used a large needle and thick brown thread and did a very large in and out of the burlap. Just put the thread through the needle and tie a couple of knots at the end and start at the back and work the needle to the front, back, front, etc. until you are almost done. If you run out of thread, don't worry, just knot up the end and repeat the initial step. If you want it more rustic and done quicker, a stapler will work just fine! Before loading the staples in, use a brown Sharpie to color them. Works perfectly!
Look at this cute, big and fat football! I love it!
If you want to take it another step, you can add fun ribbons and a bow in your favorite school colors. Think NFL, college alumni, or even the local high school where your kids play! You can also paint on a school logo, name, or your son's football number in the middle.
There are lots of options! This simple method would work for other sports, too. A big orange basketball would look awesome in the winter! We made this one for some friends hosting our Fantasy Football draft party last weekend and added the colors of Purdue University, where he went to school.
It is honestly my favorite season of the year and I am happy my front door is joining in the celebration this year!
