Snowy, Slushy, Muddy, and Wet Shoes?

Wow, how is it 2012 already?  Needless to say, 2011 was not such a great year for my family. I have spent January picking up the pieces left over from 2011, so now for the fun part:  getting back to creating and blogging!


So, although this winter has been less snowy than average, I thought I would share what we do with our snowy/slushy/muddy/wet shoes when we come in...
First, start with an 'oil change pan' (think cookie sheet on steroids) placed in a corner of your entryway:

Then, fill with river rock (or other rocks/seashells as fits your decor, although sand-ish size would likely be too small and stick to the shoes).  The beauty of the rocks is that they allow the melting snow/dripping shoe water to pool on the bottom of the tray, while keeping your footwear out of the said puddle.  Quite simple, really... but useful around here.

Daisy Hair Wreath Tutorial

Today a friend asked me how I had made daisy wreaths for my now sister-in-law's wedding party. Upon searching the internet, I could not find a visual tutorial to refer her to, so here's what I put together (pardon the terrible graphics skills).



Materials:
>Floral Wire - cut to 1 inch longer than final length desired for circlet crown (I cut length ~22" for adults - do NOT use normal paper scissors to cut wire, use wire cutters, often built-in to needle-nose pliers or even bend back and forth repeatedly until wire breaks)
>Floral Tape
>Daisies (I used real, but artificial would make a better keepsake)
>Ribbons (I used ~3yds)
>Pliers
>Scissors


Procedure:
Determine the 'halfway' point on your wire. This will end up at the front of the head, so you'll want to place your flowers accordingly. (So you won't be looking at a bunch of flower bottoms!)

Trim the stems to 2" on each flower before using it - if you are using real flowers, remember to cut stems diagonally under water. Place at the halfway point, with bloom facing the halfway point.
Begin wrapping with floral tape. Remember that you must stretch the floral tape slightly to make it sticky. Since this is the start, overlap the first rotation, then work down the stem an inch or so (don't go all the way to the end of the stem). Do NOT sever floral tape, try to make it down the entire side with one piece - it will look cleaner.


Place the second bloom along the wire, facing the back of the first. I did mine about an inch behind the first, as I didn't want them smushing each other. Continue stretching and wrapping with floral tape, incorporating the second bloom.


Continue adding blooms and wrapping them in until your stems are 1/2 inch from the end of the wire.
Start in the middle and work down the other side in the same fashion, again stopping when your stems are ~1/2" from the end of your wire.
Bend the last 1/2" of each side to form a 'hook'. You may want to use a pliers for this, wire can be pokey.


Hook the ends together to complete your circlet. You may want to flatten or twist the hooks with a pliers once joined so they stay together better.


If the gap looks large, add another bloom or two, pointing them in the appropriate direction. Wrap any added blooms and the back connection with floral tape.


Tie on ribbons as desired to cover/fill the back gap. I used 3 ribbons (noting that decor looks best in odd numbers) cut to ~ 1 yd each - simply tied in half over the back.


If you're doing this with live flowers, place wreath in 1 gallon zip-up bag (inflate a little by blowing into it) overnight, lying flat in the refrigerator. I would not recommend making more than 1 day ahead of time with live blooms.

Affix wreath to hair with a few bobby pins for security.

This is a shot of how wonderful my sister-in-law looked on her wedding day. :-) Her wreath had blue/purple 'Love in the Mist' blooms interspersed with the daisies.

Christmas Gift - Candle in a Jar

A few months ago, I stumbled across oversized unscented tealights on Target clearance (I've seen similar ~2" candles at IKEA labeled 'Glimma') and couldn't resist them at just over $1 for a 6-pack. I hadn't decided quite what to do with them until I spotted 4 packs of half pint wide-mouth canning jars at Meijer for under $4. Combined with some extra aquarium gravel from a bean-bag game project; they became a fun and thoughtful, yet inexpensive, gift.

I made up 2 jars and gave the 4-candle balance of the tealights to my sister-in-law for a last-minute birthday gift. I also could see these as lovely hostess or teacher appreciation gifts.
Some modifications would be putting seasonally colored gravel in the jar, or even glass beads, sand, or seashells (just be sure your choice is not flammable/meltable). Another idea would be to mix a few drops of scented oil in with the gravel, but I'm not sure on the flammability of oils in close proximity to the flame (noting that oil warmers do not have direct contact with the candle). One could also use scented candles (I've also seen these at IKEA labeled 'Tindra').

Much of my free time the past few weeks has been needed by family (the thoughts & prayers for my grandparents are much appreciated - thanks!), but I did find the time to help Silly Monster celebrate his birthday.
...and his huge grin from ear to ear totally made it worth it!

Carrots!

Thought for the day... what to do with the leftover carrots when making carrot cake?
...use them as fun toppings! (Especially since the traditional topping is nut pieces, but there are no nuts in these.)

Just run the veggie peeler down the long side of the carrot, roll, then keep in a bowl of cool water while you frost (so the carrots don't dry out). The carrots softened nicely from the moisture of the frosting and cake when left covered overnight. Yum!
Oh, and yes, the lettering is carrot bits too. ;)

The long-awaited (okay, just 'really needed') toddler bed project

I'm blaming Ana over at Knock-Off Wood again for the crazy ideas she puts in my head (not that we've ever met, but her blog provides me all kinds of inspiration - maybe I should change this blog's title to 'Grace sees too many good ideas online'). Anyhows, the Silly Monster needed a toddler bed badly, so inspired by Ana's storage bed plans, I made a toddler-sized storage bed.

First, I purchased:
9- 4ft 1x12s,
6- 4ft 1x6s,
and 1- 4ft 1x2 (we went select grade on this one).

We then cut:
2-1x12s at 27.5",
4-1x12s at 38.25",
and 11-1x12s at 11.25" (2 from 27.5" scrap, 4 from 2-4ft 1x12s, and 1 from the remaining 4ft 1x12)
... it was more economical to buy 2 4ft segments and have some left over than longer 5ft pieces with the sale the lumber yard had, YMMV)
2- 1x6s at 27.5",
4- 1x6s at 38.5"
2- 1x6s at 4.75" (from scrap)
2- 1x2s at 11.25"
2- 1x2s at 9.75"

Then we assembled 3 units:
2- 38.5" units with 3 cubbies and the 1x6s for backing(behind the open cubbies, not behind the 1x12s),
1- 27.5" unit with 2 cubbies, 1x6s for backing, and the 1x2s used for framing out shelves on the end.
We used wood glue and an air nailer for each joint.


I finished the entire project with my beloved Polyshades (thankfully outside, because it was quite potent, even outdoors).

I placed the 3 cubby units facing outward, using the 4.75" 1x6s on the ledges formed by the 1x6 backing for spacers between them, and the 2 cubby unit as the foot of the bed; then topped with what was formerly Silly Monster's crib mattress.

I may consider making a headboard in the future, but in it's current position I don't feel it needs one. Also, were I going to paint the bed with a solid color, I could swap out the all-pine construction with some MDF or plywood to save money.

Love Photo Collection

So, I had one of my 'bright ideas'...
When looking through engagement pictures, it occurred to me that some clever cropping could bring out the word 'love' for a lovely gift. Once the photos had been digitally cropped and printed at Walgreens (4x6s, if you must know), I set out on the difficult task of finding a reasonably priced frame to meet my needs. Unfortunately, 4 opening frames are not common with matting, so I settled on this lovely 10"x20" frame made from renewable wood that was on sale at Kohls and went to work modifying it to suit the project.

I cut border pieces from a dark green cardstock, using a rotary cutter to make quick cuts and a quilting ruler to help with nice 45 degree angles.
I then cut ivory cardstock larger than 4x6 with the rotary cutter, then used an X-acto knife and ruler to cut out an opening just under 4x6.
Due to the removal of the original matting, the cardstock + photo height came up short, so I cut a 10x20 piece of cardboard (recycled the box from our Wii balance board) to use as a foundation for the composition while adding thickness. I drew on a grid for alignment purposes and began placing pictures using double-sided photo tape.

Then I placed the ivory border pieces, followed by the green frame pieces.
Finally I added labels (which helped cover the seam of the border at the halfway point).
Ta-Da! Completed project in frame.