Saturday, January 29, 2011

Valentine's Wreath

A month or so ago I found a wreath online that I wanted to make and have out in time for Valentine's Day. I cannot find it for the life of me to link up the tutorial, so this is my version.

Be warned, this took me some time to do each step, but I was able to do it in waves. I talked on the phone while I traced the circles, I watched t.v. while I cut out the circles late one night, and I also watched more trash t.v. while I pinned the ruffles on. It requires some patience, but worth it for a cute Valentine's decoration.

In total this wreath cost me around $11 to make after buying everything at Hobby Lobby at either 30% or 50% off.

These are the supplies you will need. A foam heart wreath form, scissors, sewing pins (preferably small ones that will hide easily), and 9x12 inch felt pieces in the color of your choice (I used 16 pieces in total). You will also need a ribbon for hanging the wreath, but I don't have that pictured here.

You will also need to make a circle form to trace and cut out the felt with. I used part of a Swiffer Sweeper box that I had just emptied and traced a Carnation evaporated milk can for the size I wanted.
I traced as many of the circle forms on the felt piece that I could and was able to fit in 12 per page.
After tracing the circles, I cut them out. Try to cut inside the pen line so that it is not seen when ruffled up for the wreath.

Take a circle and fold in half, then in half again, and put the pin through the ruffle near the folded edge. You then stick it down into the foam wreath form and just keep folding and pinning into the wreath. You can play with it to make it look the way you want.

After all of the ruffles are pinned in, cut a piece of ribbon the length that you want to hang the wreath from, and pin to the back of the heart. I did not make ruffles on the back side of the heart so that it would lie flat against the front door, but you could do the whole thing if you wanted to take the time for it.
Here is the finished product. I love it!! Happy Valentine's Day!


Changes for the blog in 2011

I have always been a crafty person. I love to make new things and be creative. I have decided that this year I am going to start adding to the blog by showing project tutorials and new crafting ideas as well as any good recipes or cooking ideas I might be trying out. I can't say my posting will be more frequently, but it just might :) I will still post family pictures and stuff on the blog as well though, so you will see more of what I have going on along with us as a family still. I will be putting up a tutorial shortly for a Valentine's wreath I made for the front door.

Friday, January 28, 2011

State Park Fun

My dad gave us a years pass for entry to the state parks for Christmas. We used it for the first time a few weeks ago and on a Saturday headed to Bastrop State Park. We cooked out, made smores, and went hiking. It was a beautiful day outside! We will definitely be doing more of that this year with our state park pass.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!


Merry Christmas!

I didn't capture too many pictures over the holiday except when we were with my family and the kids were busy occupying each other. We had a great holiday and got to see both of our families, and the kids enjoyed their new gifts from Santa!


1...2...3...JUMP!


Waking up Christmas morning at home.

Miss Finley is always playing "hair shop" with my hair. She usually uses Bryson's tool set to pretend to cut and dry my hair, but now she has her own hair styling kit to play with. She was so excited!!

Both of the kids got scooters from Santa, and Bryson also got a Lego Batman Wii game. Finley also got a big girl car seat that she was asking for like Bryson's, but pink. She still can't use it yet, but it sits in the living room and she likes to sit and read in it until she gets bigger to use in the car.
We had a great Christmas, and hope you and yours did as well! :)

Pre-Holiday Gingerbread House

This year we decorated a gingerbread house with the candies the kit came with. The kids loved it, and it turned out super cute!