Winter White Wreath

We're back from our holiday out west in Edmonton to visit with the kids and grandkids. What a wonderful time we had, but now I need to get back to work. :)

How To Make A Winter Wreath

A few weeks back, I saw karianne from Thistlewood Farms post about a winter wreath she made. I absolutely loved it and had to make one for myself. Isn't it gorgeous? 

My husband had a couple pieces of hosing that had holes in them from our swimming pool barracuda. He's getting really good at not throwing things out...he actually asked me if I could use it for anything! Smart man. I cut one of them to size and glued it into a wreath form. If I had been thinking properly, I would have painted the form then, but I was caught up in watching the DVD of '24'. Kiefer Sutherland is mesmerizing...

I had collected a variety of sticks off shrubs on our property and started gluing them on the 'wreath'. 

 I love how some of them still have the berries attached.

When I had enough twigs attached, I spray painted the whole thing white and sprinkled with silver glitter. 

I added tiny mirror squares, small styrofoam balls, crystals, the letter 'B' and a silver & white bird, all products I had on hand.

And here it is hanging. 

I love the white on the blue door. And it all started with a piece of busted hose. 

Did you make anything for your door after the Christmas decorations came down? Do you hibernate for the winter season or jet away to exotic locations?

I'm sharing with:

Debbiedoo's Winter Knock Off Decor Party

Recycled Christmas Tree

Last weekend I finally took down the Christmas decorations...and the tree. A sad day, I really wasn't ready for this.

I played my new Bing Crosby Christmas album oops, CD I mean. My husband laughed at me, but I play Christmas music when I decorate for the season, so why not when I dismantle it all?

I couldn't see putting the tree in the burn pile or to the road for recycling pick up. I paid money for it, (ok, I got a discount because I bought it at work, but still) and to only use it for a month...well, it seemed like a waste of money.

So, I had Larry put it on the deck off the dining room, stand included. I piled snow around the base like a tree skirt, but also to add weight against the wind. I love it there! The deck has looked so empty since I brought all my tropicals in and this helped fill the space again.

I've seen pine cones used as bird suet feeders and thought it was such a sweet idea. I figured they'd look awesome hanging on the tree outside the doors so I used the ones I had left over from Christmas.

I love the natural bokeh created from the sunlight streaming in the kitchen window. 

(I didn't end up doing anything with those red leaves.)

I had a lot of baking supplies left over so I searched for bird friendly ingredients to add to the suet. 

I put equal amounts of vegetable shortening and chunky peanut butter over low heat. 

When melted I added the oatmeal, graham cracker crumbs... 

...raisins, frozen blueberries, chopped dried apricots, chopped unsalted cashews and mixed well.

I put the pot on the deck in the snow to speed up the cooling process.

In the meantime, I tied string around the large pinecones. They still had their stems attached, bonus!

More bokeh, love how it looks!

Time to smear the pine cones with the suet. I made sure to push it inside, 

there was a lot of room in the large ones. 

Not as much fit in the small ones, but they look cute and already had ties on them for decorating. The leftover suet I shaped into a square to fit in the suet holder I have. That will hang on the shepherd's hook in the garden beside the Frazier fir. 

Time to hang them up! (ok, I'm sloppy...yes I got some suet on the branches)

I don't think I'll get many birds if the cats keep hanging around the tree. lol

The one picture you can see Pepsy sitting on the 'cat tree' inside the dining room door. 

Hopefully the birds won't see him and still visit. 

We had to move the feeders and bird baths behind the new fence  last summer because the chickens like scratching under them. But they also like scratching for bugs in the gardens and were destroying too much around the courtyard, hence the feeders had to be moved. Since they are farther from the house, it will be nice to have this close so I can see them while sitting at the table.

Now all there is to do is wait...

Total cost of this project? Zero!! I used items I had lying around.

Did you use a real tree? If so, did you do something different with it when it was time to come down? 


My tree was featured at:

New House New Home New Life

I'm sharing with:

                                   

The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday           Tilly's Nest - Down Home Blog Hop

                                            

All Star Block Party -                                                                 My Turn (for us) - Freedom Fridays

 New House, New Home
 Nutmeg Place
 In The Old Road

 Full Circle Creations

                                               

StoneGable - Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits                                 Serenity Now - Weekend Bloggy Reading

Power of Pinterest -
Debbiedoo's
Fox Hollow Cottage

A Diaper Cake for My Niece's Baby Shower

Last fall my sister held a baby shower for her oldest daughter. (yeah, I know...I'm really slow in getting this posted) Diane is going to be a grandmother for the first time! She is so excited, and I'm so happy for them. 

When I heard about the shower, I knew what I wanted to do. I'd seen diaper cakes around the net and really wanted to try it. This one from A Little Junk in My Trunk was my inspiration.

Little Junk in My Trunk diaper cake tutorial and here is her new site, ThriftDee. She will be doing a video on how she made this diaper cake. 

I had a selection of empty wire spools that are from my husband's business. (Anybody want some? We get a couple a week, different sizes!)

Empty wire spools and Jet's front legs :)

I spray painted the spool a baby blue colour, she knows she's having a boy. I found a small blanket and wrapped the middle of the spool with it for a little accent. I hot glued a thin blue ribbon around both top & bottom edges of the spool for a more finished look.

Adding ribbon border and blanket around middle

My oldest daughter, Janice and I (well, mostly Janice) wrote fun sayings on a bunch of the diapers before rolling them up and securing with elastic bands. I had seen something similar done at My Pretty Pennies blog and thought what fun Jenn & Darrin will have when they change the baby and read the notes! They've peaked at a few and have had a good laugh already. 

Janice writing on the diapers and rolling them up

Once we had them rolled up, we arranged them on the top & bottom layers of the spool, securing them with elastics.

Assembling the diapers to fit the top tier

To hide the elastic bands, I found some pretty ribbon, one that says 'It's a Boy' and hot glued the ribbons in place. 

Added ribbon to hide the elastic around the diapers

They are naming him David, which is pretty cool since my oldest grandson is David! I made a letter D out of cardboard and added mini pebbles from the dollar store.

'D' is for David, my great-nephew's name

Using the same ribbons around the diapers, I made a large bow for the top.

Double bow

I love how it turned out! I think it's so cute and we had a lot of fun making it.

The finished 'cake'!

Here is the cake on the table surrounded by more gifts. Not surprisingly, there was another diaper cake there, very different in looks and colour...very cute! Sorry, I should have got a picture of it.

The 'cake' at the party with a slew of other gifts

Janice had to work and couldn't make the shower, but my two other daughters (Tanya & Lisa, in the black shirts) were there. This is a picture of them with their cousins, Jenn and her sister Marina. What great looking women!

My nieces with 2 of my daughters...Tanya, Jenn, Lisa & Marina

Jenn went around to talk to everyone and out of the tons of pictures I took, this was the only one that wasn't totally blurred!
I need a tripod...

Jenn and my mom

Three more beautiful women...and for some reason I don't have a picture of my other sister, Diane, Jenn's mother. She was pretty busy with the shower, it was at her house.

Mom, sister Sandra and sister-in-law Wendi

And the two pregnant cousins! They are due about a month apart, Jenn any time now and Lisa in a few weeks. This is Lisa's second child, Kaleb is our second grandson.

Jenn & Lisa, the pregnant cousins

It was a wonderful shower and I can't wait to meet David!

If you need to find some creative ideas, you can emulate some unique ones at eDiaperCakes.com. There are so many sweet 'cakes' to choose from.

I'm sharing with-

All Star Block Party - 

 New House, New Home
 Nutmeg Place
 In The Old Road
 Full Circle Creations

I'm a Dreamer

I don't do New Year resolutions. I've never been good at keeping them so I gave up trying. But this year, being a blogger somehow puts everything in a different perspective.

"A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." 

Bruce Lee

And talking with another blogger I've realized if I write my 'goals' down, I'm more likely to work harder to achieve my 'dreams'.

"Do all you can to make your dreams come true." 

Joel Osteen

Do you think calling 'resolutions' by different names will make it easier to accomplish them? I do, that 'resolution' word scares the heck out of me!

"Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it." 

Mahatma Gandhi

The words 'goal's & 'dreams' seem softer somehow...like those pictures you see with the faded edges.

"You have to dream before your dreams can come true." 

Abdul Kalam

But writing them on my blog for all the world (ok, maybe not the whole world) to see scares me, too! What if my dreams seem unreachable to others? What if people laugh at me?

"Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you choose to be." 

Joy Page

I've only been blogging since last May, I have so much to learn. But I have enjoyed it and I've already grown a little. The friends I've made along the way have taught me that it's ok to dream, ok to set goals that you may or may not be able to reach. And it's okay to start new adventures no matter where you are in your life!

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." 

C. S. Lewis

And, if I don't achieve all my goals, that's ok too because at least I've tried. And I'll just keep on trying until I do.

"All men of action are dreamers." 

James Huneker

And that is my plan. I am going to make all my dreams come true.

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work."

Colin Powell

My word for 2013 is 'Dream'. So now I'll list my dreams, and these will become the goals I will work to achieve for this year.

• Get working on recycling, refinishing & painting old furniture, starting with the pieces in our home
• Sell furniture we don't need 
• Learn to use my new/old router and get new bits for it

• Start making all those signs I have envisioned, using the router
• Sell the signs, and gift the ones I plan on gifting
• Write more frequently in my blog. Start with 3-4 days a week
• Monetize my blog
• Finish the main bathroom and repaint (never liked the colour we did)

• Start painting the kitchen wall, ceiling and cupboards 

• and install a new floor

• Rip up the horrible carpet in the great room

• Learn how to use the sewing machine again and make pillow covers

A lot? Oh yeah...and seeing them all here makes me think I'm nuts! I told you I'm a dreamer, did I set my goals too high? It'll be interesting to check back at the end of the year to see what I did accomplish. I can't believe I've published pictures of the mess our home is in! You can see how badly this work needs doing...this is the year it will get done.

What dreams do you have? Have you set yourself any goals for this year? Do you have a word for 2013?

I'm sharing with:

The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday

Tilly's Nest - Down Home Blog Hop

My Crazy Beautiful Life - Google+ Blog Hop