Friday, November 1, 2013

Halloween, Spiders, and Tigers - Oh my!

Mummy Dogs
I just love making fun food for Halloween.  Its really one holiday that it doesn't have to be fancy food - it just has to be FUN food!  And if you screw it up, just say its supposed to be that way, and go with it!  Here's what I cooked up this year:

Veggie Tray - gotta have SOMETHING healthy....like those potato chips on the side..... and the french onion dip in the pumpkin; Apple teeth in the background - and a mysterious hand stealing from the plate....yikes!
Frankenstein Dirt and Worms (its supposed be be green - did you know its really hard to make chocolate pudding green?) 
Spider Matt

The BEST part of Halloween is these kiddos having fun eating the food, trick or treating, and handing out candy to other kids. They were awesome tonight!  We ended our evening with "Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"

Benny Tiger


Cairo @ 12 1/2 years old.....Happy Birthday!
And Cairo is celebrating his 10th anniversary of being rescued from the pound today.  We always call it his birthday since we don't really know when the b-day actually is...... So Happy Birthday Cairo!
(I think Ben was a little disappointed that we didn't have cake and candles for Cairo's big day.... ha!)

HAPPY NOVEMBER EVERYBODY!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Wreath Tutorial

My fall wreath
Ben helping me out*

So I made a wreath from my front door and posted a pic on Facebook.  I got lots of sweet comments, and someone even asked if I used a tutorial to make it.  Yes, I did use a tutorial - my mom standing across the table showing me what to do.....  But that doesn't help my FB friends very much.....  So, I thought I'd just write down what I did so you can make your own if you want to!

Materials:
18" wreath form
Pipe cleaners that match your large mesh ribbon
21" deco mesh ribbon
Burlap ribbon
Wire edged ribbon
Picks and silk flowers
Hot glue gun and fireproof fingers :)

How to do it:
1. I started by twisting 10 brown pipe cleaners to the inside ring of a wire wreath form - evenly space.  I hot glue the back when I have them where I want them so they stay put.
2. Twist 10 more brown pipe cleaners to the outside ring of the wreath form, spacing them out so they are between the pipe cleaners on the inner ring.  Glue in place.
3. Start with your wide mesh on the inner ring.  Fold edge of mesh under an inch or 2 and secure doubled mesh with a pipe cleaner.  Twist it tight, but leave room to twist more above it.
4.  Using your hand to squish it all together, pull mesh out to the third pipe cleaner, then secure with the 2nd pipe cleaner, making a bump.  Then pull it to #4 and secure to #3, etc. Continue until you have made the circle.  Be sure to finish the inner ring by pulling the mesh to #2 and securing back to #1. (You can make your bumps bigger if you want - this is just how I measure.)
5.  Continue with same mesh and jump over to the outer ring.  (I don't like to cut it and start again, so I just keep on going with the strand attached to the inner ring.)  You can make a little bump when you jump, but you don't have to.....  Use the same method to secure your mesh around the outside - secure to 1, pull to 3, secure to 2, etc......
6. Finish the circle by clipping mesh just a little longer than your usual "bump" so you can fold it under like you did when you started; and attach to #1 on the outer ring.
7.  Now you can "fluff" the mesh to your hearts content and see whatcha got!  It might look thin at first, but you are gonna fill in holes with your other ribbon and any flowers/picks/bows that you are using.
8.  After fluffing, I started going around again with the burlap ribbon, randomly attaching it to the inner and outer ring as I saw fit - not necessarily to each pipe cleaner.  I like it to weave in and out, through the middle, around the outside of a bump, etc. so it looks flow-y and fills in the gaps.  Reattach to the beginning.
9.  On this wreath I used a second ribbon and did the same thing as the burlap and tried to tie it down in opposite places.  I also tried crossing some under the burlap so it doesn't look so layered.  I have done wreathes with only 1 ribbon, and they look good too. 
10.  Attach whatever flowers/picks/bows that you want either with the pipe cleaners, or by securing them to the wreath form.  I didn't glue mine in place, but you could..... 
11.  Twist all the pipe cleaners to the back of your wreath to hide them. 
12.  Look what an awesome wreath you made!  Take a pic and post it on FB so everyone will think you are amazing, even though they are pretty easy to make, though a little time consuming!

Let me know if something doesn't make sense!  Happy Hallow-Thanks-Xmas- wreathing!



*I asked Ben to hold the storm door so I could take a pic - he though he had to hold it exactly where my hand had been..... just a little higher baby!! :)