Ribbon Topiary, version two

I made this topiary for my grandmother's birthday last week. Now that I'm sure she's received it, I can post the picture. I used a cute little green pot I got at JoAnn's on clearance and ribbons in shades of greens and pink. My Gram loves those colors and has decorated her house with them, so I'm confident she'll be able to find a place for the topiary.

The topiaries are fun and easy to make. For anyone who missed my first foray into ribbon topiary-making, I found the instructions in a book by Making Memories called Ribbonrie. You need a styrofoam ball, a dowel, straight pins, a pot and lots and lots of ribbon that you've cut into 4.5" lengths. Make the ribbon into loops of varying sizes and use the pins to secure them to the styrofoam ball. Cover the ball with ribbon, poke the dowel rod into a piece of floral foam in the pot, glue on a little moss and you have yourself a ribbon topiary!

We woke up this morning to about 3" of snow on the ground. Ugh. No yard sales for me! I think this just about puts the final nail in the coffin for the season--I'll be shocked if there are any sales next weekend. At 12:40 we have an appointment to get Maren's photos taken in her cute little Broncos cheerleader outfit. That's right during naptime, so her behavior could be iffy but I'm hoping to get her down for an early nap. That was the only appointment time they had left when I called a few days ago, so it will have to do.

The Fall Festival & accompanying pie contest are tonight, so I'll be making pies this afternoon. I think I'm going to have to scrap the rhubarb idea for the time being, but have found a few other recipes that sound promising: Lemon Pecan, Rosy Raspberry& Pear, and Pumpkin Apple. I have three crusts still in the fridge so I can make all three; the catch is that I won't be able to taste-test them before I take them tonight; wouldn't be very good form to show up with three pies, each missing a sliver!