The Presents

Did I mention there will soon be a teenager (GASP!) in the house? Well, since we have had a rough year (worst ever) we decided to do something a little different in the present department this year. We are doing countdown to Birthday presents. One gift, some small & some not, each day until THE day. Here is what she saw on November 1st.

The Loot Pile

Most of the gifts are from us, but a couple are not. We recruited the family if they wanted to participate.

Here is the list so far:

1. Purple Glitter Nail Polish

2. Journal Boxes for her Smashbook

3. Purple Tank Top (thank you Aero clearance!)

4. Movie Passes 

5. A Light in the Attic - She got so excited opening this one that she ripped the dust jacket a little and I thought she might cry. 

6. An empty box to fill at the old fashioned candy store.

7. Hand painted shell ornaments from Gummy with the Mad Hatter & Red Queen (Johnny and Helena style)

8. Archeological museum tickets

9. Zero candy bar

10. Phase 10 card game 

11. Socks with cats on them 

12. Brady jersey - he is number 12 after all 

13. Year subscription to Seventeen magazine 

14. Alice in Wonderland- of course! It was slumber party time!

15. Family secret.... Sorry ;)

16. Passes to the Phoenix Art Museum

To be continued.......

Wreath gone wrong

I wanted to make my own wreath using ribbon I found. It was a nice wide wire rim ribbon. I see tons of them on Pinterest. I never actually read the directions.

Folding

I started by folding the ribbon back and forth in equal lengths. Then I decided I wanted a less uniform look so I started over making the lengths a little uneven. I then took floral wire and wove it through the sections.

wiring 

Since I wanted good support, I actually ran two pieces of wire through. In this photo you can see the bottom wire already woven as I am running the top wire through. My theory was that at the end I would form the two wires in to loop that met each other, thus making the wreath shape.

Flat

After I wove all the ribbon and pulled the wire tight, I realized I had grossly underestimated how much ribbon this project would take. I ended up with a flat wreath that looked nothing like a wreath at all. At this point I decided I needed a plan "B".

Hanging Loop

I decided to fluff up all the loops I had made and see what happened. I kept fluffing and reworking, again and again until I was reasonably happy with the result.

"wreath" bow

In the end I had made what my supportive family referred to as the "world's prettiest bow". I am not convinced. And I still don't have my wreath. On the bright side, I didn't use my favorite of the ribbons I bought. And I did go back and read the directions on Pinterest, so perhaps this next time I will get it right. Stay tuned.