A Forest Frolic

Whimsical Wreath Tutorial

I love making wreaths! I wasn't planning on making a new one this Christmas but when I saw this elephant, the gold glittery feathers and those gems, I just knew I had to do something whimsical with them. One of my most popular posts was my 'Spooky Halloween Wreath Tutorial,' so as I started to lay out my supplies, a light-bulb came on and I thought, 'why not share with you, how easy this wreath will be to make!?!' If you'd like to learn how to make this...

...then grab your coffee and stick around for a few minutes to check out my picture tutorial :)

First, I searched around for my supplies. Most everything here came from Michael's or Target (I direct linked to the specific things you can get online).

• grapevine wreath
• elephant ornament
• feather ornaments
• gem ornaments (Target)
• little pink sisal trees (Michaels...I think. You can also get some really great dyed ones on Etsy)
• pink and gold holiday picks (Michaels)
• glitter (my own mix)
• fairy lights (just google it and you will find some ;)
• gold tinsel (you can get this on Etsy or probably any store with Christmas decor)
• hot glue gun and sticks
• white glue
• scissors
• bakers twine or some sort of string to hang the gems

Then, I played around a bit to find out how I wanted to place them on my wreath. It's a good idea to get it all set up before you start hot gluing things on. Taking a picture so you don't forget exactly where something goes is a great idea too.

To make the sisal trees a little more wintry, I brushed them with white glue and sprinkled one of my special glitter mixes on it to make them look snow covered. Martha Stewart actually has a 'snow glitter' too that I got at Michael's years ago. Shake your excess glitter off over a file folder or folded paper, so you can get it back into the jar easily. Don't want to waste that glitter now ;)

Hot glue the back of your feather ornaments and put them on where you'd like them...

I held them for a few seconds so it would harden in place...

Oooh la la, look at that pink glitter and gold doodads...

The picks have sticks on them, so I just hot glue the stick and stuck it through the grapevine wreath where I wanted them...

I felt like the wreath itself needed a little bling but I didn't want anything big to take away from the pieces I was already putting on it, so I pulled some of the gold embellishments off the pink glitter picks and hot glued them here and there (be careful not to glue your finger to the wreath like I have been known to do ;)

I hot glued some tinsel onto the bottom of the wreath, just to give the elephant and sisal trees a little cushion...

 Then hot glue on your elephant...

...and your sisal trees...

 Again, make sure you hold them right where you want them for a 5 or 10 seconds, so the hot glue can harden it in place...

Next, you'll hang your gem ornaments! I love these. I used a fancy baker's twine to hang mine at different lengths...

I played around with it a bit, because after putting them on the way I envisioned, I decided to change it...

After all of those simple steps, I thought I was done, but I felt like it still needed a little something. I luckily had an extra set of battery operated fairy lights that I wrapped around the wreath and just taped the battery box to the back.

Here are a few close ups with the fairy lights on...

I just love how whimsical this is! I know elephants and gems and feathers don't really 'go together,' but make up your own rules on this ;)

I felt it was too fragile to put on the front door, so it's on the inside, which worked out perfectly because it's right outside of my studio and I get to stare at it much of the time, tee hee :) If you had a glass door in front of your main door, that would be an awesome place for this.

I hope this helps you get some inspiration to make a fun wreath of your own. Of course, you can choose whatever ornaments that YOU like and change it up! This would make a great Christmas or holiday gift too. If you make a wreath, send me a picture...I'd love to see what you come up with.

Merry Everything ya'll!

Jamie :)

 

 

 

 

 

Bedazzled Mallows

Do you want a fun, festive and delicious little project idea...as if you don't have enough to do before Christmas next week ;) I can't believe Christmas is in 6 days, whaaaat!

Anywho, I went to a cookie party last night and had good intentions on making these really delicious and complicated cookies I found on Pinterest. Yeah...that didn't pan out, so this is what I made up...

...we'll call them, 'Bedazzled Mallows,' because that's what one of my friends named them when the best I could come up with was, 'Marshmallow dips,' bwhahahaha.

To make them, gather your SUPPLIES: a bag of Jumbo Peppermint Mallows, a bar of (microwavable) white chocolate, whatever 'goodies' you want to embellish them with (I chose jimmies, oreos, red hots and old-fashioned hard candies), a few zip lock bags, parchment paper and a rolling pin or mallet.

Start by covering your table with parchment paper, so it's ready when your chocolate is.

Melt your chocolate according to the package instructions. Tip: be sure to stir the chocolate well in between 20-30 second spurts of melting, so it doesn't harden or dry out. This took me a good 8 minutes since I had a huge bar of chocolate, so I double bagged and crunched my candies and cookies, while the chocolate was in the microwave.

When it's all melted, crunched and ready to roll (literally ;), you just carefully roll your marshmallow edges in the white chocolate and then roll them in your goodies, then place on parchment paper to harden (the hardening doesn't take long...maybe 10-15 minutes to be safe). Voila...

The Oreo ones were my favorite tasting, but I didn't like the way they turned out when I rolled the edges, so I spooned the chocolate on top and sprinkled it with Oreos. Oh my Oreo goodness...

The old fashioned hard candy, I think, was the most festive for Christmas though...

My kids loved these and they were a hit at the party too! Super easy and really yummy (I mean, who doesn't love sugar? ;)

It'd be fun to make these for different holidays, with the variety of marshmallows that they come up with and the traditional candies. Conversation hearts for Valentines (on heart shaped mallows), green jimmies or andes mints for St. Patties days, or candy corns for Halloween...just use your imagination! So fun!

Hope you give it a go and if you do, let me know (rhyme much? ;) I'd love to see your creations. Now, I'm off to get back to my Christmas shinanigans...wheeeee...

Jamie :)

Spooky Halloween Wreath Tutorial - re-posted

I LOVE making wreaths!  The Fall wreath on my door I made a couple of years ago was faded and totally didn't match the spooky decor we put up this year.  Soooo, I thought, why not make a Halloween wreath and hopefully inspire someone to make one too?

I promise, it's not hard!  It just takes a little imagination, creativity and a few minutes at the craft store to pick up some supplies...

 

I chose a grapevine wreath, Styrofoam skulls, a little metal sign, some black leaf garland, and purple glittered black roses...but you can chose from a variety of items.  A garland of some sort and a couple of focal pieces usually works well, as you don't want it to be too busy.

I plugged in the hot glue gun and inserted wooden dowels in the base of the skulls while waiting for it to heat up.  If they are too long, cut them short enough to not stick out of the back of the wreath...

Then, hot glue around the dowel where it meets the skull to give it extra hold.  When in doubt, add hot glue (but not to your finger ;-) tee hee...

I decided to add black glitter to the eye sockets to jazz it up a bit...but of course adding glitter is always optional.  I prefer Martha Stewart's glitter and glittering glue but you could use any kind.  So, paint the glue first...

Then, pour the glitter in (I am never shy with it as you can see ;-)

Now, it's time to move on to the wreath itself. 

Start by hot gluing the end of the garland into the back of the wreath.  Please do this over a covered surface, so that if the hot glue drips through, you don't burn yourself or ruin furniture...

Then, you summon your nifty little studio helper, tee hee!  Yes, I do that whenever I can...so I can't take credit for the whole wreath, it's true. 

She winded the leaf garland around and around trying to space it out a bit until it reached the starting point...and then I hot glued that end the same way I did the other one...

It's time to add those spooky little Skelly's you made! 

Just pop the dowels through the bottom of the wreath and hot glue them really good in there.  I kind of pull the wreath apart a wee bit to fit in the tip of my hot glue gun...again, being careful the glue doesn't drip through to the front...

I found these purple glittered black roses that were perfect to add a splash of color!  So, I just cut off the stems...

...and popped them in around the wreath like I did the wooden dowels, hot gluing along the way...

For a final touch, I added the 'Ghosts were people too,' sign, by sliding it onto an broken branch and hot gluing it really good.  Then I covered it with a black leaf so you couldn't see any glue...

 

There were a lot of cute Halloween signs but I thought this one suited the purple and black skull theme!  Better yet, make your own little sign...oh, I should have thought of that earlier, tee hee.

Sooooo, here is the final Spooooky wreath...

I will say...if I were to do this one again, I might spray paint the grapevine wreath black before adding all the decor.  I think it would make it a little more spooky...oooh, and maybe sprinkle some purple glitter on it too ;-)  Glitter is a girls best friend...isn't that the saying?  Oh, wait...no, that's diamonds, tee hee.  Well, not this girl...I LOVE glitter!

So, I hope you've been inspired to try making your own wreath.  They are so fun and fairly easy to make.  Not to mention much cheaper than buying one already made (not that there's anything wrong with that because I've seen some really cute ones on Etsy ;-)  But, I think this cost me about $15 to make, yay.

Jamie :)

p.s. this was re-posted from Halloween last year (thought I'd give you new readers a fun tutorial to try...thanks for reading ;)

Homemade Chimichurri Marinade & Dressing

As I've mentioned before, I'm all about growing my own herbs, fruits, and veggies (even though I still have a lot to learn ;)  Every time I make a recipe that calls for fresh herbs, I end up spending too much on a big batch from the market, and then half of it goes to waste. 

Plus, having the girls help plant, water, and pick the herbs is a lot of fun and actually encourages them to eat them too...

...this pot has my favorite herb, cilantro, in it...along with parsley, basil, oregano, and those are actually two pea stalks growing from the right side (I was doing an experiment, tee hee ;)

So, I'm going to share with you my version of a Chimichurri recipe that originated from Pampered Chef as a steak salad marinade, but I've tweaked it and made it even more yummy in your tummy!

Pick your parsley & cilantro...

...about 3/4 cup of each (oh yeah, there is a glimpse of my new Lisa Leonard stamped ring, that my man got me for Mum's Day!  It has all 3 of my girls names stamped on it and I LOVE it so much).

Now, rinse them and get out the food chopper (or your knife, but I am way to clumsy to finely chop herbs ;) 

Seriously, I have been thinking of taking out insurance on my hands! In the last couple of weeks, I have gotten two hot glue gun blisters, a bad scissor cut, several minor scratches, and jabbed an embroidery needle straight through my finger!  I mean...do you know how big an embroidery needle is!?!  Ouch, is all I can say!  It took all I had to hold my breath and pull it out before my daughter could freak out anymore.  The funny part is...I had a thimble on, but on the finger NEXT to the one that got stabbed, hahahah!

Anyway, back to the recipe ;) 

Chop the parsley & cilantro to your liking, then combine them with:

about 1/2 cup of olive oil (I use extra virgin)

3 tbsp of red wine vinegar

2 or 3 freshly minced garlic cloves (the more the better :)

1/2 tsp salt

and about 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

...mix it up, and voila'...

I use this to marinate steaks with, but also as a salad dressing ...deeee-lish! 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do...please do let me know if you try it.

Jamie :)

How to Make a Whimsical Moss Terrarium

This is a project we have been wanting to do forevah...and we finally did!  Tell me that little shroom I made with clay isn't the cutest (no, I didn't make the wee little frog but I've had him for as long as I can remember and I just think he's adorable)...

Now, that the weather is warming up, we have been having gardening fever (even though we don't have a real garden, tee hee ;)  But, we have planted lots of herbs...cilantro (yuuummy), basil, oregano, parsley, peppermint and spearmint for my tea.  Then we planted our upside down tomatoes again this year and I even threw some chive seeds on top.

We also got some funny little pea pods and they have sprouted already...now, if the girls would only eat them!   We got some organic cucumber and squash seeds to plant and I'm hoping that our tentative move, will be perfect timing to plant them in our new yard :)

Anyway, on with the good stuff.  Making a moss terrarium of your own is so easy and fun, very inexpensive, and it's very easy to take care of.

First you need a glass jar of some sort.  We got a terrarium jar from the craft store, but you could use even just a bell jar you have around the house.

Then, you'll need to put a thin layer of pebbles or stones on the bottom.  We used some that I use for crafting, but just some rocks from outside would be fine too...

I couldn't find 'activated charcoal,' so we picked up this 'activated carbon' from the local pet store for about $6, and it has worked just fine...

  Put a handful of the carbon on top of your rocks.

Then, layer in a relatively thick layer of soil...

And for the moss, we cut a piece slightly larger than our jar. 

Where did we get our moss you ask?  Well, my daughter remembered seeing some near her school playground that was just getting trampled by the kids...so we felt the need to 'rescue' it, tee hee.

So, you put it on top of the dirt (I love the forest clover already growing)...

 

...then, I took the back of my trowel (or you could use the back of a spoon), and kind of just tucked in the edges of the moss...

...and voila'...

 

Now, for the fun part...decorating it!  I made a little clay mushroom and painted and glittered it, then dug through some trinkets I've had for ages and found a perfect little frog and a cute little statue of a man reading, then we put some shells from our recent beach trip in there too...

We have our terrarium sitting in our sun-room and it's gotten many compliments from friends and visitors and we love it so!

As far as taking care or your moss terrarium...it only needs to be spritz with water about every 2 weeks, so this is an easy way to bring some nature into your home, even if you don't have a green thumb! 

Keep it out of direct sunlight and if it builds condensation on the glass, just take off the lid until it evaporates.  See...easy peasy ;)

For more fun DIY and handmade goodness, check out these sites and have a lovely day...

 

Jamie :)