Pretty Egg-citing!!

Ok, I couldn't help that one. Sorry. But here's what's exciting:

I made a Spring wreath! OOOHHHH!! Springy!

Why is this exciting? Well, mostly because I like it, but also because I normally ignore Spring (decorating). Love the season alot-alot, but normally I don't do anything about it inside the house. I especially ignore Easter. But for some reason this year, I'm completely excited about it and I went a bit insane at Target last night buying treats and goodies for the kiddos. I overbought by quite a bit, I know, but I couldn't help myself. Geez, I wonder what's going on with me..

Anywho, back on track. The wreath I made was sort of inspired by Inspireco (go figure!)and her Surprise Eggs. We bought those little plastic eggs this year, to put in a basket. But then I saw these and I said "Wow, those are better", so I thought we'd use them in the basket instead of the eggs. But then I was stuck with the eggs. So when I saw the Surprise Eggs, that made a lightbulb go off. But instead of using books (which would have been pretty, but I wanted color), I used scrap book paper. Now that paper is a little thicker than a book's pages, so it doesn't curve to the egg as well as a piece of paper from a book would (I discovered), but if you cut it into small enough and narrow enough strips, it does well. I am happy with the way it came out, and I thought I'd share how I made the wreath in case you like it too and want to make one of your own. It's simple and fun (and messy too!). Here's how:

1. Buy plastic eggs, or find the plastic eggs that your kids squirreled away under their beds and in their toy boxes from last year's Easter basket. It doesn't matter what color they are or if the tops and bottoms match. Just get some and put them together. I used 12 on my wreath. I'm betting, though, if you wanted an "eggier" (eggful?) look, you could fit 15 or 16, if you cluster them.

2. Get some other supplies. You would need:

A) Scrapbook paper or tissue paper (but be prepared to layer and layer that--it'll turn transparent with the glue), or even colored copier paper. Or use fabric. I LOVE fabric (didya know??) The point is to cover the "plastic-ness" of the plastic eggs. I used 6 pieces of 12"x12" scrapbook paper from Michaels (the ones they sell in those trays, if you've been down the scrapbook isle, you've seen them--there are tons of the darn things). The 6 sheets covered all 12 eggs, with plenty to spare. I will say that the only thing to avoid with selecting papers would be any paper with a large, busy print. The strips are too small to accomodate them and it'll just be a jumble. So a tonal print or a small print would be the best, I think.

B) Mod-Podge (or you could use the white glue thinned with water, if you wanted)

C) A paintbrush

D) Scissors

E) A hot glue gun and glue sticks (because the gun works better if you have glue for it :) )

F) A 12" wreath form (if you get a bigger form, you will need more eggs). The form I used was a styrofoam half round form.

G) Something to cover the wreath form. No matter how you set your eggs and flowers, some of the wreath form will show. And let's face it--styrofoam is NOT pretty. So, covering the form is a good idea in case any of it peeks through. I covered mine with 4" eyelet lace, because it worked for what I was doing and I had it on hand. But the form could also be covered in silk leaves, layered on top of one another and glued to the form, it could be wrapped in raffia, ribbon (the 12" form would need about 10 yards of the ribbon, if it were an 1" wide, so plan accordingly), or tissue paper. Anything you can either wrap around it, or glue to it.

H) Silk flowers -as many as you like. However, make sure you pick a flower that is larger and one that is smaller. An example of what I mean would be pick a spray Rose for the larger and Baby's Breath for the smaller. The spray rose is not large, but compared to the Baby's Breath, it is. You need a difference in scale to give it dimension. Generally, I use three types of flowers in anything I do with flowers (the exception was the Valentine's wreath, but that was ALL flowers, so it's a little different). One is a "background flower", which is the one I have the most of, and is usually the largest in scale (here it was the white daffodil). The second is the "focal flower", which may be a large or medium flower, usually of a different color for punch (here it is the pink rose). The third is the "fill in flower", which is the smallest flower and whatever color compliments the other two (here that is the daisy, which you see here and there).

I) Now this largely depends on personal preference, but for those small touches of gingham on my wreath, I used one roll of 1/4" narrow ribbon. It was about 3 yards. I used the whole roll. If you didn't want gingham, don't use it, but a colored ribbon is a good idea to get extra touches of color into your wreath that don't come from the eggs or the flowers. It can give the wreath the "pop" of color it might need, and could be any color or pattern you like.

J) Ribbon for a bow on the bottom and, if needed, the hanger. I bought a 5 yard roll and had quite a bit left. I think 5 yards is a safe amount.

K) A 12" piece of crocheted lace trim or a small doily (if you want to use it).

3. With all your supplies at hand, go ahead and cut your pretty paper into skinny strips. With the scrapbook paper I used, I cut a strip 1 1/2" long by the whole length, and then I took that strip and cut it into little tiny strips that would be maybe 1/8" x 1 1/2". You could also tear the paper into small pieces, if you like that look. The scrapbook paper has a white edge when you tear it, though, so you may see too much white and not enough color. The tissue paper and copier paper should tear beautifully.

4. Use your paintbrush to paint the Mod-Podge (or glue with water) on the eggs. Do a section at a time, this is super messy. Be prepared to be covered with Mod-Podge. Adhere the paper strips to the Mod-Podge on the egg and to each other. Overlap. Change directions. Make sure your edges are down, though, the scrapbook paper did tend to curl up on the edges a little bit. I held it down with my fingers, and it got the message. Cover one section at a time until the egg is covered.

5. Repeat step 4 until all your eggs are done, or until your fingers are so covered with Mod-Podge you can no longer bend them. :)

6. Let the eggs dry and go get a cup of coffee or tea (that's the best step yet, isn't it?)

7. Cover the wreath form in whatever you chose to cover it. Be sure you hot glue the ends of whatever you're using down well. You don't want it flapping back up. The styrofoam will hot glue really well, but you'll have to hold onto the thing you're adhering for a minute, so it doesn't let go. But once it's on, it's on.

8. Place your eggs and glue them to the form wherever you like, pretty side up (because inevitably, one side will be prettier than the other).

9. Fill in with some of your silk flowers. I usually put down the larger ones first, to fill up the space. 10. Fill in with your 1/4" ribbon. To do this, I made lots of little bows. Some were small, some were a little larger, it was random. I then tucked the little bows here and there and everywhere. They added a nice pop of color in addition to the flowers. 11. Fill in with the rest of your silk flowers. Here is where I would use the smaller ones and the "focal" ones. I do this on purpose. For one thing, it brings the wreath out more (literally, as in towards you), and two, it buries the ends of the larger flowers and the middles of some of the bows, so all you see are little loops and ends. It just looks prettier. 12. If you are using the crocheted trim, fold it fan style, and either stitch it together or hot glue it together. Either one works fine. Be sure to fold the ends of the trim to the underside. 13. Attach the crocheted "fan" you just made to the bottom of the wreath with a good dollop of hot glue. 14. Make a bow out of your ribbon.

15. Attach bow with another good dollop of hot glue. Then you can either let the ends of the ribbon fall, or you can attach it to the bottom of the wreath in different places, so it doesn't hang. It's completely up to you.

16. To make the hanger for the wreath, cut a length of ribbon to whatever length you need (because I don't know how tall your door is or where you'd like it to hang on that door) times 2 plus 3 inches for the form. Make a loop, flip over your wreath, and attach it.

17. Let the hanger dry well, and voila! You are done! Congratulations!
Can you see that I tucked the end of the ribbon bow up? This one just seemed to want that.

That's all there is to it. It's a relaxing, very creative project, with a really pretty outcome. I hope you will try it out!
Have a great day and good crafting! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me and I'll help you out. Thank you for stopping by!

Let It Snow!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

But the fire is so delightful

And since we've no place to go (notice the cat NOT sleeping on the cat bed but rather on my sketches)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Ok, the weather outside is in no way frightful. It's completely gorgeous. The only frightful thing about it is the fact that someone hit a pole and snapped it in half, and we've had fritzy electricity all day long. On, off, on, off. I'm lucky if I get this entry done before the next "blackout". But I don't even mind that too much. The fire is roaring, there's food in the fridge for dinner, and no one has anywhere to go. It's a good day.

I figured I would just let you all know that I finally succumbed this week and decorated for Christmas/Yule. It took me 3 days. 3 DAYS!!! Crazy. It came out nicely, though. I thought I would show you some pictures, sans me talking. Here they are. Presenting......our house decorated for the holidays!!! (Cue the music!)

(I took some pictures when we had electric, and some when we didn't. Can you tell?? :) ) When it is not snowing (or I get some boots on), I will take some pictures of the outside. It came out really nicely, too. I'm pretty pleased with it.

I gave in kind of early this year. I started this Monday, which wasn't even December yet. It took me until Wednesday to finish, and then all of Thursday and Friday to clean up. Ugh. I think my theme for this year is "more is more". More ribbon, more greenery, more lights, more stuff. No surface was left un"stuffed". I'm a big fan of tins, can you tell?? I spread them out, and every year I find more, so every year I add more. I haven't had a chance to go "tin hunting" yet this year. Maybe this week. I also really like lights. These are my favorites. Aren't they purty??

I think the only sad thing about this time of year is that I have to trade my beautiful handmade linen curtains in for the store-made insulated ones. They make such a difference in terms of heat retention, but oh, they are just so bleh. White and shapeless and boring . I looked into making my own thermals, but it cost less to buy them already done, so there they are. Bleh I say again. Oh well. I will only look at the pretty lights and decorations and not the curtains. It's a sacrifice..... :)

PS--THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who commented here or on the BB I posted on about the magazine article. I truly appreciate all your kind words. I also appreciate that some of you were upset on my behalf about my name not making it into the magazine. You are good friends to care so much. Actually, Mr. Lipinski did contact me right after I blogged that post and told me that though my name is not in the magazine, it was on the sample at quilt market in Houston, and it will be on the pictures of the samples on his website, and that is what buyers are referred to when they are shopping the fabric line. It was nice of him to let me know, I think. I'm still sorta famous. Yeehaw!!

Autumn in New York

Or at least my little corner of it. In the spirit of things coming too fast, and in an attempt to maybe slow them down just a little, these are some pictures for you of what Autumn looks like here.

When my husband and I were looking at houses, we saw a ridiculous number of them (40+). It was insane. This house that we are in now was the best candidate. There are some things I really like about this house and some things I really do not like about this house, but it was the view that sold me on it, and I think it helped my husband make the decision too. See if you can see what I mean. This is our backyard....

Isn't it pretty? We think so too. The only thing that would make it better is if there were more trees on the actual property. Oh well. They are gorgeous to look at. I am very thankful for them.

In the spirit of the beauty outside and the fact that Thanksgiving is approaching and it's a time for beauty and bounty and thankfulness and togetherness, I like to decorate the house. This is what it looks like on the inside....

Well, I tried to bring the bounty inside anyway, but I think that view wins the award, hands down.

Thank you all for your comments! It's nice to know I have kindred spirits out there! Hope you are all having a great week!