Easy Christmas Wreath Craft

I love Thanksgiving weekend; nothing to do for 3 whole days (I mean besides cooking and eating turkey dinners).  Friday after all the crazy Black Friday shoppers had gone home, my mom and I ventured out to JoAnn's fabric store for a few items. I was in the mood to do a holiday wreath so after 30 minutes of debating on different styles and elements of the wreath I settled on a embellished yarn wreath.

The finished product

It was actually really easy. It took about 2.5 hours (most of that time was spent winding the yarn around the wreath and resting my cramping hand as my mom wrapped gifts and we watch criminal TV shows (a family fav). 

If you like my wreath and just came to look at it then you can stop reading here. If you would like to make your own then here is what you will need to get started.

• 1 styrofoam wreath any size you desire
• Yarn of your color, thickness and texture choose
• Embellishments (in my case, glittered snowflakes)
• Ribbon for hanging the wreath
• 1 straight pin
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Pencil and ruller
• And a place to display it for the world to see

Step 1: Use a pencil and ruler to mark several straight lines around the entire wreath. Because the wreath is a circle you will use these marks to make sure that your yarn continues to be straight around the entire wreath. 

Step 2: Add a dot of hot glue to the back of your wreath and glue the start of your yarn. You won't need the glue gun until the end when you cut the yarn and add the embellishments so you can turn the gun off until you get close to the end.

Step 3: String the wreath. This is the longest step. My wreath took about 2 hours to string. Your yarn will overlap on the inside circle of the wreath. This will help keep the yarn straight throughout the process. Use the pencil lines to make sure you are keeping things straight.

   Tip: Keep the yarn in a ball so you can easily pass the yarn in and around the wreath.

So close... taking a break to rest my hand.

Step 4: When you are finished covering the styrofoam wreath, turn on the glue gun and glue the end of the yarn to the back of the wreath. If you have any white from the styrofoam showing you can go back and add yarn to that area.

Step 5: Place your embellishments around the wreath in a pattern to your liking. Test the placement before gluing.

   Tip: Odd numbers are great when creating clusters.

Step 6: Use the ribbon to make a decorative holder for your wreath. The straight pin can be added to the back through the ribbon and into the styrofoam to hold the ribbon in place. this way you can easily remove the ribbon and use it for another project or gift wrapping later.

Me and my happy Christmas wreath,
or is it happy me and my Christmas wreath

Step 7: Display!

Hope you enjoyed this craft. If you didn't, it was probably because you read much further then I suggested you should.

Menu Planning: Three weeks and counting

When I was little I wanted to be a chef. But over the last few years I have become really lazy. I never cook or bake or grill. I wanted that to change. I wanted to cook and bake more. Not only because I love it or because it makes me feel like a real adult or the fact that it is a great "mommy skill", but because it is great for my pocket book and for my waistline. (Ok I am not really that concerned with my waistline, but I think it is important to be healthy.) So all around good things, right?!

As part of my goals this year I wanted to be better at making meal plans for my week and shop for only the things on my list. I am usually terrible at this because I eat out a lot and hardly go shopping and usually don't take a list. A few weeks ago I was out shopping with my mom and found cute menu planners at Anthropolgie. Maybe it is just because I love everything in that store or because it has a good simple cute design or because it is actually helpful, but I have actually planned out my meals with these little sheets of paper for the last 3 weeks. Look at me being healthy and all adult like. This also means I am learning new recipes for item 27 on my list (add tomato bisque to my list).
Check out these "What to Eat" notepads if you are like me and need a little extra (and cute to boot) help planning out your meals.

How I do it:

1. I review my week and mark days that I will be going out for dinner with friends or on a date and mark those immediately. 
2. I then review what I have in my cabinets and fridge to see if there is any food I need to eat before it spoils (usually not now that I am using this plan).
3. I try to pick a combination of new recipes and standard favorites. 
4. After filling in the menu I review the ingredients and use the back of the meal planner to write a grocery list. 

Don't forget to mark things for breakfast, lunch (usually my leftovers or easy stuff) and snacks.


If I can steal a Martha Stewart line, "It is a good thing."

Place of my birth (day 2)

Day 2 in Portland started with a beautiful walk down to the Williamette River and to the Portland Saturday Market. We ate fruit and got a breakfast crepe and walked around all the booths. I love craft markets. I bought a t-shirt, ring, purse and even some chocolate. Brian was a little bit better with his money, he didn't buy anything.
We also stopped by Voodoo Doughnuts. This place is doughnut heaven. Doughnut combinations only your 2nd grader mind could dream of, yet so delicious. We got the Voodoo Doll, Bacon Maple Bar (yes this one was mine), Mango Tango, and The Loop. Yummy.

We stood in line for 30 minutes for doughnuts...we are nuts

Sugar dreams

Famous pink box

Voodoo doll, stake included

Bacon love
 (yes I am the girl that like bacon chocolate too)

I think I made one like this when I was little

With our stomachs full of sugar we hopped into the car and headed to Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls. I loved it. The area is so beautiful. We hiked the mile and quarter to the top of the falls and explored a little more before we had to go to the airport. Next trip we will play in the Gorge area more.

Just in case you needed a count-down

Beautiful scenes

11 of 11 (sorry for scratches)