It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I have a confession to make. I’ve been sitting on posts.

I have been “doing it myself” (and actually taking pictures!) and not sharing.

Why, you ask? Because I’m terrified of putting Christmas posts up too early!

There has been an awful lot of demand for what I like to refer to as “Segregating The Holidays” and I like my teeth right where they are, thank you very much.

Personally, I feel the world could use a hell of a lot more cheer and should unbunch the proverbial undergarments. Neck-punching the efforts of those who prepare for holidays on a different timeline is not just rude, it’s a showing peek into ones ego and hints at an inferiority complex. You’re not ready for a holiday? That’s cool. But don’t hide behind some “purity of holidays” stance as an excuse to tell the rest of us just how much you aren’t enjoying the presence of holiday paraphernalia in the stores. Some of us RELY on holiday items arriving early so we can create FOR the holidays. Ahem.

With that in mind and rant aside, I do like to put my seasonal posts up with enough lead time that people can actually, you know, try them, during the season, so I’m diving in.

This post features one of my favorite diy crafts. For years I have wanted an ornament wreath and yet never found one that was nice enough for me to actually purchase it. These usually cost anywhere from $30 to $90, a bit high for my liking, and yet they were either colors I didn’t enjoy or too wimpy.

This year I decided to just make one and only have colors I loved.

I started with a Styrofoam 12″ wreath, floral U-shaped pins, and a 15 pack of large shatter proof ornaments (I took pictures of the process, but not the materials…can’t win ’em all!)

I pinned each ornament to the outside of the wreath and then put a dot of hot glue over each pin (I used pins because hot glue breaks off easily when it is very cold out and I plan on putting this outdoors)

When the outside ring was done
I realized I was out of ornaments. I quickly ran to Wally World where I bought smaller ornaments 😉 then proceeded to add them to the top

(this is the opposite of every single suggested instruction I’ve ever read, usually the ornaments go INSIDE first, then outside, then on top…I’m a rebel. Or a slouch at remembering directions and too lazy to start over again…guess which one!)

I just kept adding more and more ornaments with hot glue (in spots pins wouldn’t work) until I felt the wreath was full enough (admittedly, if I had actually followed any directions at all, I would have painted the wreath so that no green showed through, but since I was already 3 ornaments in when I realized it, I decided to just keep keeping on)

Back view:

This thing is BIG! That wreath ring is 12″ and it looks positively tiny with all those ornaments on it!

After the wreath was complete, I added tear drop shaped ornaments to the outer ring to give it a bit of a snowflake look.

Finished front view:

I love it!

Can’t seem to get the colors photographed properly, but the colors are brownish bronze, gold, and a muted red, really very nice together 🙂

All together this wreath took me 2 hours (including the 40 minutes it took to run out and buy more ornaments) and cost $18 using all brand new materials. If you have the ornaments already, you could make this wreath for under $5!

It is a very simple project that provides a lot of visual punch and makes a great gift to give.

Have you tried new holiday decor projects this year? I would love to hear about them!

How do you feel about holiday blending? Does getting ready for one holiday take away from another? Does anyone actually diy holiday decor during the holiday? What is the “respectable” lead time for each holiday? Let me know what you think!

This is Halloween, Everybody Make a Scene

Hello Frazzled Followers!

I’m anxious to blog a few do it yourself how-to’s, but I’m super busy, you know, doing it myself!

So I’ve decided to put up a teaser blog that gives a few sneak peeks into what I’m working on.

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ve seen these already, and if you follow me on Pinterest, you’re going to see these soon.

The only thing I’m going to say is that each item below is going to be part of a larger project (even though I think each one is super cool on its own!)

Any guesses on where I’m going with these?

I’ll send a hand crafted Halloween surprise to anyone who gets it right!

Keep an eye out for the how-to on this one, it’s a fun one!

Enjoy!

I Love The Dough (Easy Salt Dough Craft Recipe)

I am in LOVE with this dough! I use it for all kinds of holidays to make special “projects” with the kiddos! I got the idea from Homemade Grits where she used the dough to make Christmas ornaments (love this idea!).  You can use it to make pretty much anything, but this post pertains to our St. Patrick’s Day crafts. 

We were hit with quite a bit of rain in early March, so having this dough pre-made and waiting for me in the fridge was a lifesaver. I simply took some of the dough out about an hour before I planned on using it, let it come down to room temperature, added some food coloring and let the stand mixer do the work.
Even if you don’t pre-make the dough, it is a simple Salt Dough recipe that you can prepare on short notice with materials you probably already have in your pantry!

Use household items like cookie cutters, spoons, forks, a garlic press, pizza cutters, jars and  lids and rolling pins to create easy craft ornaments and anything else you can think of.  Since we only have one rolling pin, I let the kids use chop sticks to roll out their dough, it worked wonderfully.

Basic Salt Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

•  1 cup of fine salt
• 4 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of water ( add more to reach desired consistency)

 Instructions:

•  In a large mixing bowl, combine the salt and the flour (I use the stand mixer with a dough hook for this, but I have heard you can make this by hand as well with no problem)
• Slowly add  the water
• Turn mixer on LOW until a ball forms (if doing by hand, knead until smooth and shape into a ball)
• If you want colored dough, now is the time to mix it in. I always do one color for each playtime, the kids don’t mind at all!
• When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container. To prevent mold, the fridge is the best place to store. 

Baking Instructions:

• Place rolled designs onto a cookie sheet covered with non-stick spray
• Pierce with fork (this allows steam to escape (I found out the hard way, this can ruin a great piece!)
•  Bake at 300° for 20 minutes
• Check for dryness (the dough can be slightly soft, but not wet. Depending on the thickness of the projects, this step may need to be repeated

These pictures are from early March, where we made St. Patrick’s Day decorations out of the dough. I made my lucky 3 leaf clover, where I rolled out the dough, had each child put their handprints in the dough, I then put their names on each handprint and cut a loosely based “clover shape” out of the dough and poked a hole through it to add a ribbon so I could hang it for years to come.