Cards, cookies, wreath...done, done, done....

So this week sped by at warp speed just like I thought it would...but I pretty much got everything on my list done... I made Christmas cards and got them mailed.... I made cookies... about 9 dozen and I'm not sure who's gonna eat them all... I didn't get the fudge made...but maybe tonight... Robin asked what recipe I use... oh it is a deep dark secret... LOL...no it isn't ...it is the recipe on the side of the Marshmallow Fluff jar... it  is what my mom used and I always loved it. Here's a link.  It was the only thing she ever bought Marshmallow Fluff for... easy, tasty and pretty fool-proof... I just have to keep the nuts on one side of the pan... I like nuts, my son doesn't.


Here are some quick pics of the cards I made... no glamour shots...just snaps before I stuffed them into envelopes...

I started with some vintage looking paper from Carta Bella called A Very Merry Christmas. If you enlarge the pics you can see I embossed the cardstock with a folder that has a retro star pattern.  I tied a lot of them with some of that red and white striped cording I got from Target and used to edge one of my prim lady cross stitch pieces from last week. I find that there is a lot of cross over of materials in my hobbies...and I'm happy I have my stashes of paper, ribbon, fabric, yarn, linen, thread... it all makes me HAPPY!!!


And speaking of HAPPY this last project makes me very very HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY... you know I LOVE wreaths and for several years now I wanted one of those ornament wreaths. Well, I priced them and they are price-y and now I know why... boosted by a video I saw on Retro Renovation...which you can see here... I thought what the heck...give it a try ...and I did.

So I started out waiting for ornaments to go on sales as I wasn't going to pay full price... when Hobby Lobby had them 50% off  I was there to stuff  a cart ...and stuff I did... the video says you'll need around 100 ornaments and they aren't kidding... I bought  2 large mixed collection sets and then a tub of red ornaments and a tub of green ornaments and then box after box after box after box after box... using my less than stellar math skills I believe I walked out of HL with about 105 ornaments and in the spirit of full disclosure I spent $100.  I used a 16" Styrofoam ring... the video used an extruded one that is totally round... my wreath was flat on the top, bottom and sides... like this one you can see here... and then I wrapped the wreath with 2 packages of a multi-color tinsel garland I got at Target...which you can see here.  The video said don't use wimpy garland and this stuff was really hefty. It helps because when you glue the ornaments to the wreath it gives them more to grab onto.
And you need glue sticks...lots and lots and lots of glue sticks...perhaps I over did the glue but I don't want anything to fall off.. .I used about 20 of the looooonnggg glue sticks... and here is the final product.

OMG... I LOVE this wreath... is it bright and colorful and busy and sparkly ... just what I wanted. I picked the colors from that train ornament in the lower left quadrant...

Red, green a bit of gold and some turquoise blue...now the video warned not to use too many colors... but I ignored that caveat and went for it. I even used a couple of pink and orange-y gold ornaments as they were in a box or two of mixed ornaments.

Close up pics of the rest of the wreath...

I used plain red and green ornaments on the first round that is along the outside edge. I figured they would get covered up quite a bit(and they did...they are practically invisible) so no need to use fancy ones there. However I didn't pay enough attention and the ones I bought were different sizes ...the green were smaller than the red...oh well ...used them anyway. All of these are glass ornaments...not plastic... although there were some pretty plastic ones and I have a big box of the plastic ones somewhere in the basement that I thought I'd use to make an outdoor version of this wreath...someday...not today...not this Christmas...

The video was helpful in getting me the confidence to start this wreath... with so much invested   I didn't want to mess it up and I did have some doubts that I perhaps had included too many colors... but my doubts are gone now as I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it looks !!!  It is hanging on the back of the front door where I can gaze upon all its shiny sparkleyness... when I got to the end of building the wreath I did wish I had bought more smaller ornaments. I was quite gob-smacked with the larger more decorated ones but it is easier to fill in blank spots with smaller ones... and the video did mention this fact.  And how do you know the wreath is finished???  Well in my case you run out of glue sticks... so it is done...LOL

I think I'll go to the UPS store after Christmas and get a big box with packing peanuts to store this beauty.. I don't think it will fit in one of those plastic wreath boxes... too fat... and I'd like some cushioning around it.

So I'm in pretty good shape for Christmas... gotta stuff presents into fabric bags and put tags on them... and tomorrow evening I'm doing a cold cut spread for dinner for my son and DIL... picking up a tray at Costco along with a fruit bowl and some shrimp...easy stuff... Christmas morning we do appetizers/brunch at my son's home... I'm making those ham and cheese slider sandwiches with the Kings Hawaiian rolls and a puff pastry appetizer with goat cheese and basil... sounds fancy but really simple... I love puff pastry... bought 2 boxes...may make a pear tart too. Got 6 lovely pears in one of the fancy gift towers from Harry & David... a present from my investment guy... I've always wanted one of those but would never buy it for myself so I'm quite thrilled with that gift. Life is good!!

Hope you are ready for the big day... and I hope that you have a lovely time with friends and family...

Merry Christmas!!!

carol fun