Harvest Wreath with a Leather Arrow Quiver

First published in September 2014, this harvest “wreath” was one of my earliest projects as a blogger. In fact, I’d sourced the vintage leather quiver long before I even launched my blog. It was destined to become autumn door décor, so OF COURSE I had to write a post about it.

I’m a bit of a hypocrite, I suppose. You see, I’m fascinated- even drawn to- the sport of archery. Probably because I am a sucker for all things Robin Hood…

But I can’t stand the thought of bow hunting! So, perhaps I’m sending mixed signals with this project. I guess it’s fair to say that the only thing I’m actually “hunting” for is romantic Fall vibes- here’s hoping this door décor idea gets the job done.

So, let’s get into it, shall we?

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Filling a Leather Arrow Quiver

Starting with a vintage leather quiver meant I needed to find some vintage arrows to pair with it. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure how easy that part was going to be.

Luckily for me, I happened upon some at an antique mall in Braselton, Georgia- albeit, many, many moons ago.

They weren’t in the greatest shape (especially the fletching), but beggars can’t be choosers, right?

So, I plopped them in the quiver and hung it on our bright red door.

I mean, it wasn’t bad, per se. It just didn’t blow me away. So, I decided to improve the situation by adding some faux fall foliage from Michaels.

And that made a WORLD of difference- much fuller and more eye-catching, eh?

But then I started to think: What if someone couldn’t find (or afford) vintage wooden arrows? What other options were there?

Alternatives to Wooden Arrows

I don’t recall how much I paid for my well-used wooden arrows, but (a) it felt like A LOT at the time, and (b) that was 13+ years ago. So, I KNOW they’d be cost-prohibitive and even harder to find now, unless you lucked out at a garage sale or something.

But, there are a few alternatives you could tinker around with to get a similar look. First, dried wheat is an option- when you think about it, they really do resemble arrows, don’t they?

Admittedly, that picture isn’t a great sell. But had I zhuzhed it up with some fall foliage and such, it would have looked pretty darn good. And dried wheat stalks are far more affordable than arrows.

Then, I thought about making wooden arrows- which I did years ago for an ill-fated “Thrift the Look” post.

I gathered some simple supplies- straight(ish) branches, humanely-sourced feathers, and jute twine.

And crafting scissors. And my hot glue gun. Plus, make sure your branches aren’t brittle- and cut to similar lengths, long enough to peek out of your quiver.

First, I selected four feathers of similar size and hot-glued them around the end of one branch.

Then, I used a gathering knot to hide the ends of the feathers with jute twine.

And yes, my humanely-sourced chicken/rooster feathers are fluffier than typical arrow fletching. But this is a great craft idea if you save and clean feathers found in your yard or on a hike.

Once again, I’m lacking a decent photo here (of the finished faux arrows). But they were props in the terracotta jug in this photo, on the right.

Either way, I think there are work-arounds when it comes to wooden arrows for your own version of a harvest wreath.

Harvest Wreath with a Leather Arrow Quiver

Now, in the original September 2014 post, I showcased my harvest “wreath” on our bright red door.

But that cute little house has been in our rearview mirror for several years now. And since I still had the quiver and arrows (of course!), I decided to revamp it for our current house.

With a little help from some leftovers from this project, I re-assembled my quiver for our present-day front door.

The quiver has aged a bit over the years and the arrows have lost some additional fletching. But all in all, I still love this alternative idea for an autumn wreath.

And I hope this has given you some crafty inspiration for your own autumn decor- especially if authentically vintage arrows are a little out of financial reach. But heck, coming up with affordable, sustainable alternatives is half the fun of being a blogger for me.

Speaking of which, if you’d like some additional Fall wreath inspo, this collection is a great place to start.

Craft on!

S

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