Tag : wreath

7 posts

202010/12

T Tuesday: so many photos edition

I’d like to apologize in advance for this long post and the excessive number of photos. Thankful most people these days are on high speed internet…if not…you may want to return at a later date. You have been warned.

Where to begin… Well let’s start with a journal page I had slated to post last week and never got around to it.

It’s a page in my wonky junky journal.

It started its life as this…two different sizes and textures to work with. A challenge really.

The images I used are from an elementary music book. these two reminded me of a Romeo/Juliet thing…only with a happy ending…it is elementary school after all.

It’s not my favorite page but at this point, I’m just happy to be creative.

Another page I finished was this one…which I believe I posted a WIP shot the last time.

Making time to craft and create is a priority for me but as you know, life sometimes gets in the way.

Enter exhibit A:

Do you see what I see…? This image was texted to me simultaneously with a frantic phone call from Mini-me.

Lets back up a little for context shall we…

We had inadvertently left the garage door open a few inches overnight which was an obvious invitation for a mouse to waltz on in looking for a snuggly place to overwinter. Marvin clued me in to this on Friday morning by laying in front of the washing machine, diligently peering underneath. Since there was nothing I could do to help him with his task, I went back upstairs and proceeded with my morning. Made lunches, brewed coffee and had just sat down on the couch to enjoy my cuppa before moving on with the day.

As I sit taking my first glorious sip of coffee, I hear Marvin make a sound somewhat like it would be if you were trying to say “mouse” with a sock in your mouth then proceeds to bang around on the stairs with his giant paws. In an instant, I realized that he had caught the mouse and was bringing it to me…but decided to “tell” me about it…therefore releasing his jaws and the mouse. Marvin is cute but does not have a big brain. He lost track of it and I determined that it had gotten behind the baseboard and into the wall. Crud. Off to work I went with Marvin staring at the fireplace.

Now lets get back to this photo above…the mouse was on the mantle…he can climb bricks.

♫ spider mouse. spider mouse ♫

*shall we now collectively shudder*

My kids have now discovered the mouse on the mantle…send me a photo…call me… Yeah…I’m working…good luck kids. In turn I messaged Mr. G telling him the tale. I got this image back from him with what I can imagine was peals of laughter.

Image credit: Great Outdoors

Long story short…they did not get the mouse. I did late Friday evening with their help in corralling said mouse. Saturday was spent cleaning…everything… *shudder*. Gross.

Marvin was thoroughly exhausted from staying up for almost an entire day. Didn’t get his 18 hours of beauty sleep.

We did have some fun too…movie night at the neighbors. Chicken Run was on the projector.

I got my vote in at our county election office.

I also made a knitters wreath that I have had rattling around my brain for a while. Finally made it happen after all the cleaning and purging of things. Funny what you uncover like a wreath base.

Time to settle back with a lovely glass of red wine by the glow of my salt lamp. I don’t drink much red wine or any wine these days. It tends to make my joints hurt…I think it’s the sulfites.

I had to snap a photo of this sign at Goodwill…it made me laugh.

My kids have dubbed my cocktail of choice, gin and club soda, “spicy water” after inadvertently taking a big gulp of it when they were younger.

That about sums it up for me… my life is chaotic. But its good.

One more thing! Mini-me got accepted into both the universities that she applied to. We now need to make one more visit to cement her plan. Her college of choice is even giving her a yearly scholarship. Not full ride mind you but hey, every penny counts.

What are you doing today?

Around home | Art | Blog | Creativity

art journal, Ivanhoe art journal, Marvin, T Tuesday, wonky junky art journal, wreath

18 Comments

halleday

201706/22

Back at it…finally

It has been a while girls and boys. Every time I sat down to write a post, I just couldn’t. I was stuck…blocked by emotion. Not sure how to move on with my blog while still dealing with the grief of losing my mom. Somehow it felt wrong. I know that is crazy talk but it took a while to move beyond that thought. So here I am…back at it.

I’ve been busy with a number of things…

such as this wreath. It came together quite nicely from some clearance items. I’m thinking about hanging it under the eaves on our deck. I haven’t actually taken it out there to see if there is enough wall space but I think it would be a lovely addition to the space.

I’ve experimented with some acrylic pours that I’ll share in another post.

The sun is finally out today…we’ve had rain, rain, rain today. I found this cute little nest laying in the yard after a recent storm.

Today was also the first CSA drop off date. They were supposed to start last week but there had been a terrible hail storm that had taken out a lot of the crops. I have to say that I am very pleasantly surprised at the high quality and quantity of produce I got today.

Those carrots are so good!!!!! They taste just like I remember as a kid…only not so gritty. I used to pull them out of the ground, swish them in the rain barrel and eat them.

Around home | Blog | Crafts | Creativity | Kitchen

T Tuesday: highs and lows edition

This week has been filled with a roller coaster ride of emotions and events…frankly, I’m exhausted. I wasn’t even sure I was going to play along with T stands for Tuesday but I’m here and will share the highs and lows with you.

Let’s just get the low over with so we can move on to brighter things. My mom has Stage 4 Melanoma so her time left with us is limited. Exactly how limited, we don’t know. Now my absences from blogland both in posting and visiting make a bit more sense. Anyway…mom is determined to live what life she has left on her own terms which I highly praise her for.

She has a good friend in her building that has taken a big sister role in her life. She is such a sweet lady and I am so grateful for their friendship. I wanted to show some appreciation to her and put my nervous energy to a creative use.

(Note the wine glass as my beverage for T stands for Tuesday)

I think it turned out pretty well and when I delivered it to her apartment I learned that yellow is her favorite color! I love it when things work out that way.

I also got my plants started…well some of them. I still want to start a few more.

I used old kid cups that were just going to hit the recycle bin as my planters. I literally had them in hand over the bin when I realized they could be used for my seedlings. I just drilled a couple holes in the bottom for drainage and ta-da…mini pots.

You may also notice the markers in each pot. I cut down container lids and wrote on them with sharpie marker. Since it’s April (Earth month) I thought I’d point out those little recycling tips.

Now just about a week later I have this!

Do not adjust your screens….that is the full spectrum UV light you see in action. The different color LED’s all combine to cast a pinkish purple light and obviously the plants love it!

On Thursday last week the kids and I drove to Fargo, ND. We spent the night in a hotel before taking a tour of NDSU in the next morning. J said he thought it was a little too big for his taste but is still planning to apply since they have really good guaranteed scholarships for students with high GPA and ACT scores. Fingers crossed that he does well on the ACT this month. Mini-me said she didn’t like NDSU at all. Ok…check that one off the list for potential schools for her. I, myself, spent a brief time at NDSU as a freshman. The campus has certainly changed since then.

I also did some work on this painting.

I am letting it sit for a few days to decide if its done or not. I’m thinking it is…what do you think?

Today has a repairman coming out for my stove. Luckily I called in just days before the warranty was to expire. Also lots of phone calls and emails to take care of since I pretty much took yesterday off. I really needed a breather day after last week.

What are you doing today?

gardening, gift, painting, T Tuesday, wreath

13 Comments

halleday

201601/09

After Christmas crafts

On Wednesday I was on a mission to get all of my errands complete before the snow then wicked cold snap was to hit. I went 11 places in just under 4 hours. Shockingly I didn’t spend a bunch of money either. I was hitting all the loss leader deals at various stores while still getting the essentials to last into next week. I wasn’t even planning on going to Michael’s but since I was just down the street from it I decided to check out the 80% off all Christmas deals. I picked up the needed supplies to make a couple of wreaths.

Since we are putting away all of our Christmas decor today, it was now or ~~never~~ next year for wreath making. So I gathered my supplies and set to work.

I also had to find a video tutorial on the process of creating a deco mesh wreath.

This one worked for me.

What I didn’t comprehend was just how huge this was going to be!

It became painfully obvious that the scale of the elements I had purchased would be completely wrong.

I added some ribbon…and what appears to be a nice bow in the photo. Nope…just shoved the rest of the ribbon in there for storage until I can find someone to help me with the bow. Did I mention how much I suck at making bows!?! I called my crafty neighbor for help and evidently she lacks that skill as well. I’m thinking with the addition of a proper bow and perhaps some plastic Christmas balls this would work for an outdoor wreath.

Next I set to work on a winter themed wreath. Something to take you through until Easter.

Deco mesh wreaths | Halle's Hobbies

Did you notice the price sticker on the deco mesh…? Goodwill $2.99 and I used a 25% off coupon so it was really $2.24, sweet! The wreath base was purchased previously when I made my burlap wreath. I started out and realized that the green wire base was showing through in a very unflattering way. First I doubled the number of pipe cleaners on the base but the green still showed through. It needed to be white.

Lucky for me, the temps were hovering around freezing yesterday so I was able to give the base a quick shot of paint in the garage. Honestly, I’m surprised at how quickly it dried. I was really worried since the can said not to use below 55°F.

Isn’t it pretty!?!

I was making it for a gift but it looks so good on my front door that I think I’m keeping it. Shhh…

I love the iridescent shimmer in the mesh. Perfect match to a cold winter day.

Do you decorate for “winter” to carry through until St. Patrick’s Day or perhaps Easter?

Blog | Crafts

Christmas, crafts, frugal living, Holidays, thrifted treasures, wreath

6 Comments

halleday

201512/05

Book page wire wreath

A good friend of mine commissioned me to make a wreath as a Christmas gift.

I think it turned out quite nice.

Art | Blog | Crafts

Christmas, crafts, gift, Holidays, upcycling, wreath

2 Comments

halleday

201510/22

Monogram burlap wreath

I’ve been loving all the new and creative wreaths that are showing up in home decor, magazines and of course Pinterest. That being said…I have to admit I’m not a big fan of seasonal decorating. Not that I don’t love it when it’s done but it’s exhausting. The unpacking, placing, fussing, moving and dusting only to have to start the process over again in what perhaps a month. And don’t even get me started on storage of said items!!

I decided that a decorative wreath could be just that…decorative…without being seasonal if done right.

I love the look of burlap… It’s neutral yet interesting with the texture. A great base. I did a search on YouTube to find out how to create my base.

This was an excellent video.

So I purchased this wreath base…

and this roll of burlap and set to work.

The video was perfect and helped me create the basic burlap wreath.

Now came the fun part. Figuring out all the elements I wanted to include. Off to Michael’s!

monogram burlap wreath | Halle's Hobbies The monogram was from the dollar section and sort of set the tone. Knowing it would end up somewhere in our livingroom, I wanted to find colors that would blend nicely.

After adding the items I purchased, I decided to include several of my paper flowers. I loved how they made sense with script the monogram and tied the elements together quite nicely.

I simply love how it turned out! It’s a little more feminine than I had intended but it has the vintage feel that flows throughout our livingroom.

I love having access to a creative communities both in real life and online. Elements and ideas from the multitude of wreaths inspired my own unique creation.

How do you use online creative communities such as blogs, forums and Pinterest?

Step by step direction to create the exact item you fell in love with?
Inspiration?
Something to get you started?
A resource?
??

Blog | Crafts | Creativity

paper flowers, Pinterest, tutorial, wreath

4 Comments

halleday

201402/25

T Tuesday: wreath edition

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday, hosted by Elizabeth @ alteredbooklover. This is a day that we share a cup, a glass or a mug of cheer and chat about our week.

I got a little playful with my tea this morning. Photoshop is fun!

Well…what about the wreath? That was the title of the post. What kind of show are you running here anyway? (don’t you love it when I put words in your mouth)

I’m getting there…just need another sip of tea.

So, last Fall, a good friend of mine sent me a picture via FB of a wreath that she loved. She was convinced that I could make one as well. I wasn’t as sure. After collecting the needed supplies I gave it a whirl… Within a few frustrating minutes, I knew I was on the wrong track. I set it aside and really didn’t give it another thought until yesterday.

I was laying on the couch…I finally caught the crud the kids had….and it came to me how to properly wrap the wire. Within 10 minutes I had the wires in a complete wreath form….no thanks to Gracie who kept batting at the wires and tried to steal the floral tape. What a pest!!I had the leaves all prepped and ready to go so the wreath went together really quick! It’s not exactly like the original photo…which I can’t seem to find anymore…but it my version.