Back to Blogging & Christmas Wreaths

I haven't blogged in about a year now, so I thought it might be time to try again.  I tried it out last time when I was in law school, but who was I kidding thinking that I would have time to blog.  Law school is just too busy to keep up regular blogging.  Now, I'm done with law school, I passed the bar, and I have moved into the full-time job phase of life.  So, now that I work at a job that is generally 8-5, I might actually be able to do this blogging thing.

I was thinking I would try to blog about my adventures as a lawyer, homeowner, crafter, cook, wife, and student of life (rather than student of law, hence the name).

I won't be naive this time and say that I will blog daily or several times a week.  No, this time, I will say that my goal will be to blog...1 time a week.  I think that goal is pretty reasonable.

For this blog post, I will attempt to learn the features of this Blogger thing (which I never learned during my last attempt at blogging) as I share a couple wreaths I made this Christmas.

(Oh look! I can add pictures.)  Here is a picture of my adventurous, super smart cat, Darwin.  He is posing with one of my recent craft attempts from November or December--a Christmas candy wreath.  I got this idea from Pinterest. (Of course!)  My husband wanted me to make this candy wreath for his outdoor office. 

To make this wreath, I used the following supplies:
1 foam wreath form
red acrylic paint
2 bags of mints
ribbon
glue gun & glue sticks
UV paint protector/sealant spray

The steps for this wreath are really easy:
1. paint wreath form red with acrylic pain. Let dry.
2. Unwrap candies and glue to wreath form.
3. Spray with sealant.
4. Make a bow out of the ribbon and glue to candy wreath.

Warning--Here's the hard part depending on where you live:  Put in location that doesn't get very warm or very much sun.  My husband put it up on his outdoor office door.  It looked great for several hours...until the sun had its time with it.  By noon, the wreath was melting.  If you live somewhere cooler than Florida, this wreath might hold up much better.

Even though it melted, it was fun to make, and it was a learning experience.  It was one of the first times I had used a glue gun in a long time.  I was very good with that glue gun by the time this craft was done.

I made another wreath about this same time, and it did not melt.  There's no Darwin in this picture, but I think it still looks pretty good.  This wreath is a string wreath.  The idea also came from Pinterest.

Supplies:
1 wreath form
red & white string
green felt
3 large red pom poms
glue gun & glue sticks

Directions:
1. Figure out how big around your wreath is and decide how big you want your string bands to be. As you can see, I didn't spend much time on that step, so I have a spot where the bands are smaller.
2. Wrap with string.  Start with one color and wrap around until you are done with that color (maybe 2 inches), and then do the same thing with the next color.  Continue until the entire wreath is covered with string.
3. Cut out holly shape from your felt. Glue holly to your wreath. Glue red pompoms onto holly to be the berries.
4. Hang on front door and smile.  Your craft has been completed, and it looks pretty good.  :)


I think my next post will be about my recent foray into cooking tofu or about my awesome menu board.  I'm not sure yet, and it could be about something entirely different.