New GIANT Wreath - DIY

So, if you read this blog (or know me) you know I love wreaths.  So when our fireplace looked a little empty I shopped around for a new wreath - a GIANT new wreath.  Unfortunately the price tags ($$$++) was just too much.  No fear - imagination and glue gun to the rescue :)

Check out my new giant wreath - it's about 4 ft in diameter.

My secret item?  A giant HULA HOOP.

Here's a quick little picture peak of what I did.

I took an old hula hoop I found at a garage sale a little while ago (30 cents???).  Attached some metal clothes hangers to make sure there will be enough fullness to the wreath and a place for all the stuff to attach to.

Then I attached 2 ever-green (fake) garlands around the wreath.  Make sure to use floral wires to stabilize the garland before hot gluing it together.  I lay out the garland the way I want it look before using the glue gun.

Next DECORATE.  Add any type of flowers, ribbons, etc that you want.  I (again) stabilized it with wiring first then went nuts with the hot glue gun :)

Love the new wreath and I know we'll enjoy here for many many years to come.  And I saved a TON of money.  The whole project cost about $50 per wreath (I made 2 - one for my sister).

Holiday Festivities With the Boys

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday break.  I am loving this downtime with the family - especially my little boys.  They are at such a fun age right now (almost 6 and almost 4). 

Here they are ready for some cookie cutting fun.  Don't you love how everything they do turns into a magical event?  Something as simple as cookie cutters become something...fun :)

And the results of our labor :).  The boys cut and decorating almost all of the sugar cookies.  They did a marvelous job, don't you think?

Just love this time of year!  And yes the kids do grow up WAY to fast.  I don't know how many years of this we have with them like this, but I will cherish each one.  Have a great New Years everyone!

Scrappy Christmas Trees - Revisited

Christmas has been very quiet this year around here.  Time got away from me and it's now down to the wire for decor, planning and gift shopping.  To bring some holiday crafts to the household - I revisited this project from last year - the scrappy Christmas tree :)  Here's the tutorial from last year:

These small fabric Christmas trees will add some holiday spirit every space. Here's a quick picture tutorial on how to make these trees for yourself - and of course I turned to my 12 Days of Christmas Moda Charm pack.

Materials (for each tree): 

• Various sized fabric squares 2" - 5".  Need about 4-5 squares 
• Strip of fabric -  2" x 8"
• Straw
• Small Play-Doh container - emptied
• hot glue gun
• some tiny 'ornaments' to decorate the tree with - I used a sparkly paper cut out for the top ornament and some beaded string for the tree. 

1. Get your materials ready and hot glue gun heated

2. Cut each fabric square into a free form circle - you could make the edges ruffled like pictured or any other decorative edging of your choosing.  Cut out 4-5 of this circles - each one a little smaller than the previous.

3. Starting from the largest fabric circle cutout, hot glue fabric onto the straw.  I gather the fabric slightly to make it even around the straw.  Leave about 1/3"-1/2" between each piece of fabric.

4. Trim off the straw on the top of your tree - up against the fabric.  Trim off base of the tree - make sure you leave enough straw so that the tree sits nicely in the Play-Doh container.
5. Put some hot glue on the emptied Play Doh container (I use those tiny Play-Doh containers) and wrap the 2" fabric strips around it.  This will be the base of the tree.

6. Put a bunch of hot glue in the center of the Play-Doh container and stick your tree in - the straw part only not the fabric :).
7. Decorate your tree however you like.

And voila - your very own mini (fabric) Christmas tree!

Right now these has been in the possession of my 3 year old - yes these trees are very durable ;)

Sharing this again (for the first time ;)) at these great Linking Parties.

Survived Another Christmas :)

Love the holidays.  Love Christmas, but boy am I glad it is OVER!

To finish up the year, I decided to bake cookies.  A LOT of cookies.  My estimate is about 400 - give or take a few dozen :P.

Here's the line up:

Mini Gingerbread Men and Women Cookies:



These turned out fabulously. It was my first time making gingerbread cookies. I am definitely making these again next season...or maybe even before then ;).  I didn't realize that fresh baked gingerbread could be this yummy.  Decorating them was A LOT of work but it was super fun and the results makes me smile each time I look at the pictures.



How could you resist these little faces :).



White Chocolate Chip, Cranberry, Macadamia Nut Cookies

Yep - I think the name of these cookies give away half the ingredient list :P. These are a favorite in our household and red cranberries look awesome this time of year.



Mexican Wedding Cakes

These little snowball looking treats are super easy to make but makes a big impact. My husbands NEW favorite!




Toffee!

An extra special treat - Toffee :). Love the extra crunch and cookie break from these toffees.



Not pictured are Sugar Cookies decorated with Christmas Sprinkles - guess I was about ready to pass out by the time I got around to making Sugar Cookies :P.

I started baking around 8:30am and didn't stop until 3pm. It was a constant cycle of mixing, scooping, cookie cutting, oven, cooking rack and finding a container big enough to hold the cookies until they were ready to be packaged.

When it did come time to package up the tins I got a little nervous - did I have enough cookies? Will they taste good? Did I have enough tins? Well 25 tins and hundreds of cookies later I was finally DONE. Everything turned out beautifully and my kitchen was not COMPLETELY destroyed :P.



Happy Be-Lated Christmas everyone!