Thursday, December 27, 2012

Better Late Than Never (I guess)

I planned to get this post up BEFORE Christmas, but obviously didn't. Can you say blog fail?? I was just too busy with holiday stuff- decorating, shopping, wrapping, and lots of family gatherings.
I did manage to work in some crafting during all of this, in the form of gifts and Christmas decorations. I think most, if not all, of these ideas were found on Pinterest . I just read several blogs from pins I pinned, and put my own spin on them. I made some ornaments, a wreath, some pin cushions, and LOTS of coasters. All of these projects were easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. I did not, however get many "during" pictures- mostly just "afters".

First up- Glitter Ornies. Yes, I know. These are EVERYWHERE, but they are super-easy and I just love them. All you need is the Pledge floor wax with the blue lid (at least, that is what it said in the tutorial I read here), glitter, clear christmas balls, and something to use for a funnel (I cut envelopes in half and then trimmes off the bottom corner-worked great!)







I won't go into the step-by-step since I have the link for a great tutorial above. I do think I will add some ribbon to them though. I just love how they look on the tree! (And no, I did not leave them this close together- just hung them close for good photo! )


 The red, green, and gold looked the best. The white glitter didn't cover as well. I wound up using sharpies to draw snowman faces on them. 


Not great, but cute.

Next up- deco mesh wreath. I couldn't find the site where I originally read about this idea, but if you search pinterest (or google for that matter), you can find a ton of great tutorials. This was easy (of course- I don't do difficult!) and I love how it turned out. I wound up hanging it on the inside of my front door, since no one uses that door and would never see it on the outside. It makes my entry way much more festive!
For this project, I bought a pain wire floral wreath frame (12 inch) at Hobby Lobby, some deco mesh, pipe cleaners, ribbon, a sign, and some picks. (Sign from Hob Lob and picks from Walmart).


First, I wrapped pipe cleaners around the little cross bars of the wreath. They were a good distance apart, and I thought they would make for good-sized loops for my mesh. In hindsight, I think I would use floral wire   instead of pipe cleaners because I think they would be easier to disguise beneath the mesh.


Next I attached the end of the mesh to the wreath with a pipe cleaner.


Next, I made a loop, or hump, whatever you want to call it, and secured it with the next pipe cleaner. I just played around with it until I got the size I wanted.



I continued this all the way around the wreath, using every pipe cleaner. When I got back around to the starting place, I could see that there was too much open space between the loops, and it wasn't nearly as full as I wanted it to be. I then continued with loops around the wreath just like I did for the first round, going to sides of the first set of loops (not on top). I alternated sides so that one loop went to the right of the first loop, and the next loop went to left of the second loop, and so on. Is that clear as mud?? Basically, I just snaked the second row of mesh around the first row. It turned out great, or at least I think it did.


I then took some wide, wired ribbon and made double loop faux bows. I wired the ends and then hot glued them into the wreath. I also clipped the picks in here and there. They had nifty little alligator clips on them, so no need for hot glue there. I made a bow with the same ribbon, attached it to wreath with wire, and then wired on a cute little sign I found on sale (holla!) at Hob Lob. They look pretty without the sign too, or you can put a Santa, snowman, or anything. I think a fake present would look really cute too!



More ornies!! For these, I used the bigger round balls (from Hob Lob of course). I put some fake shimmery snow in them (what a PAIN!) using the envelope funnel method I used for the glitter ornies. I used my Cameo to cut out initials for the Hubs, the kiddos, and myself. Then I added some cute ribbon. Bows for us girls, and a more manly tie for the Hubs.




If you are still with me, thanks for hanging in there! I know that is A LOT of Christmas crafting to cram into one post, but I though I should get it all in or some of it might not make the blog until next year. I also made some craft gifts (coasters and pin cushions) but I will save them for a post in the new year!

I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year! Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

For Me???!!!

I can't believe I won a Hubby- this is awsomesauce! I NEVER win ANYTHING (yes, Pioneer Woman, I am talking to you)!! I love Hubby Jack - he is hilarious and great at teaching how to do some cool things to your blog. You HAVE to go check him out! While you are at it, check out his super-cool wife, Big Holly, over at Where We Can Live Like Jack and Sally. I am a stalker avid reader of both blogs and they are great!


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Ok, ok... enough with the  posts about blog awards. My next post will be all about the latest Christmas crafts I have been making! Hopefully I will get it posted BEFORE Christmas!



Saturday, December 8, 2012

An Award Nomination....

So some sweet gal nominated me for a Liebster Award. Her name is Samantha Griffin and you should definitely check her blog out! Thanks Samantha!!

Now, according to the rules for this award, I have to nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers and have not yet been nominated. I had a hard time finding that many blogs that met those requirements. I then researched this award a bit and found that it originally called for nominating 5-8 blogs. Also, somewhere along the way I read that the follower requirement was less than 2000, not 200. Soooo....I stuck with the 200 follower rule, but went with 7 blogs that I like to read and thought you might too.

The other rules require me to answer 11 questions from the person who nominated me, tell 11 things about myself, and ask 11 questions of the people I nominate. Here goes.

Questions I was asked:
1- Are you an early bird or night owl? Neither really, but if I have to pick, I would say night owl.
2- Where would you like to travel (anywhere, any time)? Italy. Now.
3- What book, as a child, did you love the most? There were so many, but as a tween I loved the Babysitter's Club series (classics, I know! lol)
4- What do you struggle with (meant to be a broad question)? Patience with my kiddos and remembering they are just KIDS! Oh yeah, and my weight. Ugh.
5- If you had 3 days to live, what would be the first thing you would do? Spend time with my girls and my husband doing all the fun, silly, messy things they always want to go, but that I put off because I am too tired and it is too messy.
6- Do you talk or text most? Text.
7- What was the address to the first email account you made? My first email account was the one my university assigned to me as a student. I know my name was involved, but I never used it so I can't remember it.
8- When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Lawyer. What do you want to be now? Still working on that.
9- What are you currently obsessed with? Owls. Don't know why, but they are so cute!
10- Team Edward, Team Jacob, or Team I Don't Care? Team I can't choose!!
11-When was the last time you read a great book and what was it? I love the Flavia DeLuce series by Alan Bradley, and also the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (laugh out loud all the time when reading her!!) and it has been a while.

About me:
1- I am a knitter. A very unadventurous one, but a knitter, nonetheless..
2- I LOVE books and libraries!! (Maybe I should have answered #8 with librarian)
3- I love my kindle and my iPad almost as much as real books.
4- I wish I could craft ALL the time!
5- I really think I would open a yarn store if I had the $$$$
6- I have developed a fear of heights since having my second child
7- I have met the Pioneer Woman twice and want to do so again!
8- I heart Harry Potter
9- Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday! 
10- I was a gymnast in my younger days.
11- I also love Friends (the show)

Yes, I am total dork! But I don't care!!

Questions for my nominees:
1- Cake or cupcakes?
2- Books or movies?
3- OCD or spontaneous?
4- Live T.V. or DVR?
5- MAC or PC?
(yes, these are all important questions that readers need to know! lol)
6- What is your favorite recipe blog?
7- What is your favorite holiday and tradition for that holiday?
8- What is your favorite food?
9- Did you have an imaginary friend as a child, and if so, what was their name?
10- Have you met any of your blog idols and who was it?
11- What is your middle name and do you like it?

Well, there you go. Now you probably know way more about me than you ever wanted to. I hope it doesn't scare you off! Here are the lovelies that I am nominating:

www.wherethechildplays.blogspot.com
www.yo-yo-mama.com
www.thepiratemama.blogspot.com
www.mommyslosingrolls.blogspot.com
www.isthishowparentingworks.blogspot.com

Please check these ladies out and show them some love!

(P.S. If you are nominated for this award, you also have to link back to the awesome person who nominated you and notify all the blogstars that you nominated on their blogs!)