Halloween Wreath

I don't have any Halloween decorations.  And I don't really have any door decorations in general (I have a Christmas wreath which I LOVE... but despite what Garden Ridge may tell you it's too early for Christmas.)

My plan is  to hopefully hit up some after Halloween sales for some decorations to save for next year, but I really wanted to do something to show the Halloween spirit!

So I searched the interwebs and found a few that I liked.  I sen them to my mom because I needed someone else's opinion on it... and then I decided to do this one.

I was a little intimidated about getting it right, but I just took it one step at a time.

First I hit up Joann's for all my supplies.  I got one yard of orange (nicer quality/thicker felt like she recommends on the blog) and a half a yard of black glitter felt.  The amount for the orange turned out just right for me, while I had pretty much left over of the black.  Luckily on their website I found a 20% off my entire purchase coupon.  So always look for that stuff, especially at craft stores!

Next I traced a bunch of circles onto my orange felt.

Then I began cutting - at first I just cut up small sections and then cut the circles.  I realized it would be much faster to cut all the circles into rough squares first

Just the beginning

All the squares cut out

I cut these circles while watching TV.  It was nice that I didn't have to be exact with anything - I really like that.  I liked how easy the task was, sometimes I like doing these repetitive tasks like cutting circles... it's easy, mindless and keeps my hand busy while watching TV.

All the circles cut out... you'll notice there's extra orange felt in the background... well I ended up using that so it's not technically all the circles I used

Then I got to making the actual wreath.  You simply take the circles, fold them in half, and half again and pin them onto the wreath.  I was pretty nervous about this part... but once I got going it was pretty easy.  I first worked on the inside of the ring and then moved onto the outside edge and then worked my way up and around.  I will say if I do this kind of wreath again I'll get pins with bigger heads on them.  I also totally stuck myself once by trying to push in the wrong side of a pin - OUCH!!

Don't you like how the orange comes off different in every pic?  I'm not good with my iPhone pics haha

Here's a close up

All done with the orange!

Then I added in some black so it said more 'Halloween' than 'orange wreath'.  I just kinda put a circle where it felt right.

Hanging up (I took this pic like 5:50 am on my way to take my mom to the airport)

I'm really happy with how it turned out.  It makes me want to make MORE wreaths.  I'm very excited about doing more crafts around the house.  I'm thinking I might even make another Halloween related craft soon - we shall see!!

Weekend in Review: Hodge Podge

Another weekend come and gone...

This weekend was a longer since I called in sick on Thursday.  I had just been feeling off for a week and combined with some other stuff I just felt like a day off might be what I needed to snap me out of the funk I was so obviously in.  Reporting to you on Wednesday (nearly a week later) I am feeling much more myself!

I didn't do a whole lot on Thursday and I told myself that was ok... that I was home just to relax... so that's what I did.

Fridays have seemed to turn into a sister day of sorts.  You might remember that a couple of weeks ago Lindsey and I went thrift store shopping.  On Friday this time we went to lunch at one of our favorite Thai places - King and I.  It was great because they have a lunch special we didn't even know about which made things even better!

After lunch we ended up going to Michaels together.  I was going to go there after I dropped her back off at the house, but turns out she needed to go there as well.  So craft store we went!  She had to get some picture frames for some paintings the apes did for her at the zoo.  I needed to go to get supplies to complete the baby book I made for Susan.  It was fun hanging out - as always!!

That afternoon I went back to my house and cleaned.  I also started to work on the baby book.  I made her a baby book the last time she was pregnant. (As a side note I totally looking for that entry so I could remember some about how I did it last time and of course I couldn't find it!!  Now I located the entry, and it did have some valuable information in there I would have appreciated... like using glue squares instead of a glue stick... that would have made things soooo much easier!!)  It worked pretty well - it's nice the PowerPoint file was already complete so I just had to do some tweaking and print it out.  I ended up completing the book by Sunday evening.  I forgot to take a picture, but maybe Susan will... if not, it looks pretty much like the one in the link above.  I gave it to her yesterday and she loved it :).  She requested me to make one (before she knew I made the baby blanket) and since it's so easy and meant so much I of course said yes :)

Anyway... back to the weekend... On Friday night Dan and I went over to Dave's house.  This seems to be becoming a bit of a weekly thing.  It was fun... we played a little poker... good times.

On Saturday I hung out with my mom and sister most of the day.  We first went to Vintage Market Days.  I had bought a LivingSocial deal for it - but didn't really know what it was.  It ended up being like a bunch of different antique mall booths... kinda... there was also some crafts.  There was a lot of furniture... furniture I really liked but just is out of my price range at the moment... plus not really having a way of hauling the furniture... but it was fun to look! 

We then headed out to visit my grandma and aunt.  We went to lunch and then impromptu-ly went second hand shop browsing.  You can read about things I got in my last post.  I really enjoyed spending the time with the girls.

After our adventure I came home and there were people at my house.  Dan was making ribs and they were delicious.  We hung out at the house for awhile, but ended up going over to Andy's for a bit.  I headed home on the early side, but whatever.

On Sunday it was a relaxing day.  I made some chili and went grocery shopping.  Mostly I just relaxed though and worked on the baby book.  Sunday night we rented a Redbox movie - Identity Thief (it was ok) and went to bed.  Nice weekend indeed.

Baby Blanket

The reason I haven't been reading as much this year is because I've been working on this...

That's a cross-stitch baby blanket.  Before my friend Susan got pregnant she asked me to make her one... but I really didn't think I would be able to get it finished.  I mean it took me over two years to complete the first one I did.  So when I first found out she was pregnant back in February I immediately ordered a new one to start on.  I didn't know at the time if she was having a boy or a girl, so I needed something that was gender neutral.  You'd think I had something for the alphabet considering both of the blankets I made were alphabet. (and you would be right).  This one is cute b/c the colors and it was less time consuming to complete b/c there's a lot of blocks of colors.

I can tell that I'm getting better at the cross-stitching thing in general.  Here are some things I did differently this time around with the blanket (which will probably be interesting to about zero people)

1. I was better about not working ahead with color - so often when I do cross-stitches I want to do all of the same color - so I end up counting where the stitches will be and then end up messing up a bit part which is just annoying.  This is more important on counted cross-stitches - but also necessary here too.
2. Even though the directions say to do all of one stitch first and then go back for the others - I didn't work that way.  Instead, I worked letter by letter completing each for all the stitches and then moving ahead.  That way when I got done I was actually done instead of having to go back and fill in all the other stitches.
3. I can just tell I've gotten better at the satin stitches (the fill ins like in the water above the whale and nose of the lion) - experience does come in handy.

Another thing I find interesting about this blanket is I've taken it on so many trips - it's actually been in 10 states!!

Ready to see some more pictures?!?

First letter completed

My progress after the trip to DC to visit my brother

I love the elephant blowing hearts

Not sure why there's a cat on the J...

You can see the satin stitch in the left hand bottom corner

I also just had to sign it.  I worked so hard on it and feels good to just add something to say hey I did this for you.  So I stitched in a signature on the bottom right hand corner of the blanket.  I love that I added a heart where the O would be in Love.

I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I gave it to Susan for her birthday.  She loved it which made me even more happy.  I really thought she would appreciate the hard work I put into it and she really really did.  That means a lot to me.  Maybe making baby blankets for close friends and family will be my thing. 

When I first started I wanted to get an idea of how long something like this would take me.  I just do it in front of the TV to keep my hands and mind busy but never really keep track of how much time I really spend.  I didn't end up keeping up with my time recording but I wish I had.  I should start doing it for my new project, but probably won't.

Onto my next project - another Christmas Stocking.  Don't count on it being done before Christmas though!

Valentine's Day

I think I had one of the best Valentine's Days I've ever had.  I've never been real big on the holiday... but I really do like the idea of having a day to express love... cause all you need is love... haha... just wanted to throw in a Beatles reference.

My Valentines started a couple of days early when my dad surprised me with a gift of M&Ms and a card - it was really sweet.

On Thursday morning I woke up to find my mom left me a Valentines gift.  She always does something sweet.  On a side note, when we were younger on Valentines Day she would make meatloaf in the shape of a heart, it was the only time we ate meatloaf... it's a fun childhood memory.

After work I headed over to Dan's place... We hadn't really made specific Valentine's Day plans... I kinda wanted to see what he would come up with on his own.  I know this could set me up for disappointment, but he totally came through.  I remember thinking a couple of times that night - wow, this is really great, he really put thought into this.

He made me dinner, beef stew (which I should have gotten a picture of... but I didn't) and he got us Ben and Jerry's ice cream (Americone Dream).  He served me and got me a card and even got me a gift.  It was totally sweet and totally overshadowed the silly gift I made him.  Although he said that he really liked it, in a very genuine way.

I made him a 52 reasons why I love you book... which is all over Pinterest, but I really liked the idea, especially b/c he always asks why after I tell him I love him (ok, not always, but enough... it's a thing we do.)  I really wasn't sure what we had planned, otherwise I may have gotten him more, but we have two more big gift giving days coming up in the next month and a half (our one year and his birthday), so I have plenty of time to spoil him.

Anyway... here's some pictures of my gift I made... it's super easy... first I came up with 52 reasons why I loved him (I started the list about a month ago and added/adjusted when I thought of new reasons).  Then I bought some shipping labels from Target (Avery brand 2"x4").  I used the template already loaded into MS Word to put the reasons in.  I typed them in each box and I used 10 different fonts to keep things interesting.  I turned the words so they read the long way (so it fit better onto the cards).  I also altered the font size so everything looked better too.  I used my printer at work to print them.  I then found an old deck of cards we had laying around the house (that makes it sound bad, but I liked the idea of worn cards, I actually shuffled them quite a few times and bent them back and forth... although I doubt it made that big of a difference)

I then cut the labels down to the right size depending on the text - and stuck them on the cards.  I just did the cards in whatever order they were in since I shuffled them.  After I stuck all the labels on I punched holes in all the cards - going based on a line that was already printed on the card.  I didn't get real specific and just tried to make it look good, homemade, but not perfect.  It worked out real well!! I used the jokers as the front and back page - so no waste.  I strung them all together with two binder rings - and viola, a Valentine's gift.  I hope he liked it as much as he seemed to... he keeps saying, what's reason 39? Like I remember them all by number haha.

I don't want to list out all 52 reasons, but some are serious, a lot are just random, but things I really do love about him.  Overall... it was a wonderful Valentine's Day... as perfect as I could have wanted!