Christmas wreath

right after Thanksgiving we went out to east Texas for the weekend and I swiped a bunch of pine cones to use for another wreath.  I got my wreath form on sale, and picked up some ribbon and poinsettias from the Dollar Tree, and used plastic ornaments I already had on hand.  this was a group project, so I needed it to be less expensive, and it ended up only costing me about $6!

it was really simple to make.  we wrapped ribbon around the wreath and filled in with the pine cones, ornaments, and flowers.  we were a mix of seasoned and green crafters, but everyone's wreaths turned out great!

I'm so happy when my group craft projects turn out well and with minimal injuries :)  staying away from hot glue helps, but because these weren't store bought pine cones they were sharp and there was still the occasional "ouch!" whispered in the making - between the wire twisting, pine cone pokes, and wreath scratches I know I had my fair share!

one thing that I learned doing this wreath was not to turn my nose up to cheaper "silk" flowers.  the Dollar Tree by our house has a bunch of poinsettias, but they're all mushed together and crumpled and just not really all that attractive, so I was a little anxious about finding filler there for these wreaths.  I got some just to see if I could straighten out the petals and it wasn't working :(  then I looked over at the corner of the room and spotted the steamer and thought I'd see if I could get the fabric to relax with a little steam - and it worked awesomely!  I will be going back to get more just to use for holiday arrangements around the house now that I know I can fix them easily :)

belts for Leo

Leo is in a long and skinny phase where for his pants to be long enough they're too big in the waist, so I made him some D-ring belts.

to make a simple ribbon belt you'll need:

• ribbon (grosgrain works best for me, but experiment and find what you like)
• D-rings
• sewing machine/needle & thread
• optional: fray check or lighter

determine the length you want the belt to be (I made Leo's  24" long), double it, and add 3/4".  cut to size and melt the ends of the ribbon if it's synthetic, or glue them if it's natural fibers to keep them from fraying.

overlap the D-rings by 1/2" and sew across. with the other end, fold in half and overlap the end you just sewed by 1/4" and sew across really well.

sew from the end with the d-rings all the way down to the other end. turn and sew across the folded edge, then turn again and sew back up the other side to the d-ring end. turn again and sew across to where you started from, back stitch to secure your stitches, and that's it! 

advent calendar

I totally went in a different direction than little boxes like I was planning on doing for my advent calendar when I saw these pictures!

I found a hanging basket hidden in the lawn and garden section that I hung from my kitchen light, took some gold floral wire and wove little swirls around it, hung some fillable ornaments from ribbon with number tags on them, and loaded it down with candy, cookies and some other surprises for Matt and Leo :)

I ran out of time (I was still working on it last night!) so I just pinned the ribbon with some decorative straight pins I made a while back.

it's not quite what I had in mind, but I still like it. maybe next year I'll decorate the ornaments so they looks prettier, find better ribbon and put Velcro or some other closure on them, and have a better design of how they hang. they look sorta jumbled to me, but I was trying to make them look random... I dunno. it was fun to make and it'll be fun to eat on all month long!

boy, oh boy

my best friend is having a baby in January, and the shower is coming up.
I skimmed through her registry and decided on a changing theme - changing pad, wipes, powder, butt paste, etc... - I saw some pee pee teepee's in an online shop, and thought they were cute and figured it went well with my theme, so I decided to give them a go.

I did a search for instructions on how to make them (not that they're difficult or anything, just needed some basic guidelines - size, shape, whathaveyou) and found a good one at Little Birdie Secrets.

I altered it a bit so it was easier for me. I think they turned out great, and hardly took any time at all.

I found a sheer draw-string bag to put them in so it's a little see-through for the poem I added :)

don't worry if he tinkles

you'll avoid shooting sprinkles

if you put on a little teepee

you won't get hit with pee pee