Lovey Dovey Christmas Wreath

Well, we might as well call this "wreath week" here at Two Blue Houses.   We are keeping things simple and real on the blog and at my home the welcome of a new season always begins with a wreath.   

This is indeed the same wreath I did here and yet once again at a "Friends" supper we hosted in the fall (geesh, I'm embarrassed to admit that I have not posted pictures...).  I'm not sure when I'll give it up and move on.  There are so too many possibilities.  I was still loving the all white (from its most recent upgrade).   

Red felt roses, moss and a few twigs... The ornament is a dove and I'm pretty sure it was given to me by Lauren (because all my favorites are from her).  How do you think it looks against my yellow door?

A few notes about our Advent Calendar... I know it is only a couple days into the plan but I'm happy to say it is so much fun.   I catch the glitter shimmering off the handmade snowflakes strung across the kitchen window and actually caught the sunset peeking through them.  This very evening we did Christmas puzzles and challenged the boys to create scenes with their vast Lego collection.  

Let me tell you, these creations are not as simple as they look.  I consider myself pretty crafty and thought it would be no problem to enlist my crew to build a brick nativity.  I tried to build a manger for a Lego baby Jesus and after only moments gave up and instead opened up a Lego guy hospital.   As you can see, they gave up and had a Santa making contest.

Then spent a few minutes in front of the seasons first fire... with peppermint hot cocoa of course!

That is our advent calendar hanging over the stove.  As you can see, it operates on a day to day basis.  Last year we planned the whole month ahead of time and then each night had to rearrange.   Not sure which I prefer, but it is working and all the stress is on me; the kids couldn't care less.  They are simply so excited to turn the card!

Lots planned for this weekend... two kids birthday parties, a shopping trip, round one of decorating, and a Sunday supper with the extended family.  Whew, I need a nap just thinking about all of that.  Hopefully there will be plenty of cuddling time by our fire too!

Quick, Cheap Wreaths

You already know that I love wreaths and I recently shared a sprucing up of another wreath handed down to me. I was looking for a quick way to make two for my outside doors without spending any money and not feeling bad if they get wrecked by the weather. With supplies I already had I quickly put together these two wreaths. Perhaps an hour project if you don't have a sick baby needing your attention constantly. Sure felt great being creative though.

Supplies: 

Anything you already have and two dollar store wreaths from a previous years decorations. I had some leftover red ribbon (maybe four feet), vintage cotton snow flakes handed down to me, a glue gun, and some gold beads (not shown in first picture). Basically this cost me nothing this year but time and energy. 

I removed the red ribbons from the wreaths (and actually threw them out they were that yucky!) and spread out the needles so they looked fuller. I cut the ribbon evenly in half, attached one end on the back of the wire frame of the wreath with hot glue and wrapped it around the wreath. Once I was happy with how the ribbon looked I hot glued the other end to the wire frame. 

Next, I cut off the hangers on the snow flakes and positioned them on the wreaths until I was satisfied how they looked. With some more hot glue I secured the snow flakes in a couple places each to ensure they wouldn't blow off in the outside wind. For a final touch, I hot glued on some cheap gold beads I had left over from a project Jackie and I did years and years ago now with baby food jars.  

The best thing about these wreaths is that there is room to grow. I am not convinced that they are finished and they can easily be pulled back apart without feeling any guilt if you aren't happy with the outcome. I really wanted to make a fresh wreath but didn't feel like sabotaging my pine trees to make them. Perhaps next year we will buy a real tree and I can make wreaths from cutting then...

I think one of my next projects will be snow globes. Martha Stewart Living several years ago featured a cute homemade snow globe project but I just LOVE how Ashley Ann's snow globes turned out. Darling!!!

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Update 12/8/2011:
My lovely husband (with a chuck of gauze in his mouth after an afternoon getting teeth extracted) hammered two nails into my outside doors before heading upstairs for bed. Here is the finished and hung wreath(s). 

While sitting in the dentist's lush waiting room (our dentist Dr. Maggie A. Kleem in Berea, Ohio is AMAZING!!) playing with the baby, drinking a large, wonderful cup of coffee, and looking at the December issue of Woman's Day, I was inspired by their creative Christmas wreaths. Gulp! They are gorgeous and put my two little wreaths to shame. So here they are to be inspired with me and visit Woman's Day for the how to. Be kind in comparing!

Christmas Decoration Hand-Me-Downs: Fixing Up An Old Wreath

Of the decorations I have in our little blue house, I would say maybe two items I truly purchased. My pencil Christmas tree about five years ago on sale for $50.00 and my nativity set for $10.00. The rest has been bought for me as gifts or handed down to me. I love the free items but at the same time it can be a challenge to have a cohesive style.

With this being the first year I have truly had the energy at Christmas time, I am putting some of that energy into make a "style" and trying to make a few of my own decorations. More on the homemade (if I am lucky) in the next couple weeks.

I LOVE wreaths. Really I do. I want one of those all red berry ones to hang on my front door but it never ever fails that the price of any wreath is just more than I can stand to pay. Aren't they just gorgeous though?!?

I was given a lovely wreath a couple Christmas's ago by my mother. It had belonged to her mother and needed a new home. I gladly accepted because I love the idea of keeping stuff in the family, not letting things get thrown out, and I knew I was too cheap to buy my own. It worked great for a couple years and each year I just tossed it back up into the attic without much regard of how tired it looked. 

Not bad really. Pretty. Good bones but lacking a fresh factor. I love the flowers and the gold (which is a minor accent in my house after black) but it definitely needed something. It was raining cats and dogs here this afternoon (again!) and the baby is under the weather so Gary spent sometime with Wade and I got some long overdue craft time in. The finished product turned out pretty well and it sure looks fresh and new. I think my mother and my grandmother would be very pleased. 

I didn't buy anything for the make over. I simply cracked open my shoe box of acrylic paints and paint brushes and I had some left over Christmas gold and red glitter paint from some Christmas gift project long ago. The extra pine cones came from the pines behind my house near the chicken coop that I picked up earlier in the fall. Now I can move on to making wreaths for the front and back door and decorations for my fairly un-decorated kitchen. It felt amazing though to finally get to something fun on my to do list. How is your Christmas decorating coming? Care to share any old, re-purposed, salvaged Christmas items or ideas you have?

Also, I want to remind you to join us on our Two Blue Houses Facebook page. We share other pictures and bits of information there that doesn't make it to the blog AND we would love to see your Christmas handmade pictures on our wall! 

Happy decorating!