Ghost of Blog Posts Past: Autumn Yarn Wreath with Felt roses

Today we are heading south to the Phoenix area, where The Mister will be competing on Sunday in the big Ironman Arizona! While I'm gone, I have a couple of oldies but goodies posts to share with you, in case you missed them the first time around.


This was originally posted in 2010:
2010 seems to be the Year of the Wreath for me. Even though I'll be pulling out the Christmas tree on Friday, I was determined to get this autumn wreath finished so that I could display it for a few days at least.

I first saw this lovely wreath on the blog take heart back before Halloween. I've seen yarn wreaths all over blogland and I was struck by the gold, deep red and ivory color combination of Danielle's wreath. Yellow is not a color I'm normally drawn to but I just loved the warmth of the gold and the contrast with the beautiful russet color, so I decided to throw originality out the window and just copy Danielle completely! I purchased all of the supplies at JoAnn's while I was buying last-minute Halloween costume stuff, but there was one problem: when I got home, the golden yarn I had chosen looked too bright and along with the red, all I could think of was ketchup and mustard!

I meant to exchange the yarn, but my preparations and subsequent trip to London got in the way. I thought maybe I'd just give up and use the wreath form for another project, but last week on a trip to the thrift to check out the Christmas offerings, I found the perfect color of yarn so I decided to go ahead with the project anyway!

I've made a lot of wreaths so far this year, but this one was definitely the quickest and easiest. I followed Danielle's excellent tutorial so I won't retype it here. If I did this project again, I'm not sure I'd use a straw wreath form. I left the plastic wrapper on but it the wreath form itself was so lumpy! In some places the lumps were so bad I had to slit the plastic and remove the piece of straw underneath to get rid of the bumps. I've been using those extruded foam wreath forms all year and they're nice and smooth, so I would have preferred that look but I just wanted to get this one done so I used the straw.

I made my felt roses just like Danielle's and they were also really quick and easy to make. If you're curious about sizing, I used a circle almost the size of a whole sheet of felt to make the largest flowers. I had some green felt in my stash so I added a few leaves as well. I wrapped a piece of crocheted lace around the top to make a hanger and simply slipped the holes in the flowers over my hook to hang it!

This pattern would lend itself to a really beautiful Christmas wreath! What colors would you use?

Pinned it and Made it: Caramel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip cookies

I woke up this morning dreaming of Pinterest. Do you think that means I spend too much time there? Nah!

This week's Pin is a recipe that originally comes from the blog Your Homebased Mom for Caramel, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip cookies. I found this recipe at the perfect time, because I had just finished packing Maren's school snack of pretzel sticks and noticed that although it was time to buy a new bag, there were still lots of broken bits at the bottom. This recipe was the perfect use for all of those little broken pieces!

I followed Leigh Anne's recipe and used a bag of these handy little Caramel bits.

I had originally purchased them with this cookie recipe in mind, but then I ended up using half the bag in these Mars Bars Rice Krispie treats. They melted a bit, but mostly added a nice chewy component to the finished cookies.

You might notice if you click over to the original recipe source that my cookies spread a bit more than Leigh Anne's did. That's a problem I've been battling in my chocolate chip cookies lately, and I can't figure out the cause! I always use all butter in my cookies, and I'm careful to make sure it's not too soft when I cream it with the sugar. Any ideas what might be causing my cookie spread? I prefer them to be a little thicker.

In all, these cookies were good and I liked the combination of the salty, crunchy pretzels, the chewy caramel, and the sweet milk chocolate chips. The next time you get to the bottom of a bag of pretzels, hang onto them and whip up a batch of these cookies!

To see more Pinned it and Made it posts, click here!

Vintage Christmas wrapping paper Scrap Packs

I've been collecting vintage Christmas wrapping paper for a few years now, and this year I finally did something with all of it!

I've put together several Scrap Packs that I think would be great for vintage-style Christmas crafting, whether it's card-making or scrapbooking or simply making your own cute gift tags.

 There are all kinds of patterns and prints. Jolly Santas, festive bells,

 dancing couples, snowy villages, glowing candles,

beautiful embossed foils, and more. Most of them are in traditional reds, greens, golds and silvers,

but there is one bundle with pinks and aquas

And one with greens and blues. Each Scrap Pack has 20 pieces of paper, ranging in size from 4" x 6" to 20" x 30" depending on the bundle. Some of the pieces are big enough to wrap a small gift, and some are best suited for cutting up and crafting.

In addition to the Scrap Packs, I have some full-size sheets of paper for sale as well. This grouping has really non-traditional colors of black, gold, orange and red.

This one is gold, green, aqua and purple.

I think this one might be my favorite, though--one sheet decorated with a snowy village, and one sheet decorated with darling little leaping deer!

These and more are all available right now in my Etsy shop!

SPARK Giveaway winner and Weekend Junk Finds

First, I forgot to choose the winner for the SPARK 3 Giveaway last week.

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 3 

Which means the winner is LYNN! Lynn, please email me with your address (you can use the link over on the left) so I can send you some goodies! 


After a long thrifting drought, things finally seem to be picking up around here! The thrift stores have followed the retail stores in putting out their Christmas wares in the days after Halloween, so I've ratcheted up my thrift store visiting hoping to score some of my favorite vintage Christmas goodies! I've already had some small success, which will hopefully set the tone for Christmas goods to come. :)

This doesn't look like much in the photo, but in real life it's a perfectly aged, worn antique ironstone plate. It's small, but it's pretty! This one will be headed to my Etsy shop.

This find was one of those examples of the need to see past the present and find the potential at the thrift store. This old Ball jar has been fitted with a socket kit to turn it into a lamp. When I found it, it was filled with dried beans and topped with an ugly late 80s-era blue lamp shade. I re-donated the lamp shade literally as soon as the cashier rang it into the register--popped that sucker off and walked it right over to the big donation bin, and then dumped out the petrified beans once I got home and was left with this! Just think of all of the fun things I could put into the jar--mother of pearl buttons would be beautiful, and there's always Shara's fabulous lamp filled with vintage Christmas ornaments. What would you put in the lamp?

Vintage Shiny Brites never fail to make me happy! This batch had some pink, some of the pretty ombre variety, and even a pink indent and a green one with stenciled stars. More, please!

And the last find, which was plucked off a to-be-shelved cart. I'm absolutely crazy for the cheery decals on both sides, the red painted rim, and the perfectly crazed glaze. It looks the right size and shape for a flowerpot, but the stamp on the bottom states that it's "Oven-proof Bak-Serv". I can't imagine what you'd bake in such a tiny pot. I certainly won't be using it for cooking!


Did you find anything good this weekend? Have your thrift stores started putting out the Christmas goodies?

SPARK 3: Day two and a giveaway

On the morning of Day two of SPARK 3, we were all moving a bit more slowly than we had the day before!

Our first class was with the very cool Amy Tangerine, a successful fashion designer who has just made the leap into the scrapbook and papercrafting world. She was great! She taught us how to do reverse applique, one of her signature fashion treatments. It was so easy and fun and I loved it! Here's the shirt I made for Maren:

I figured it would be easiest to do a small shirt first. I can't wait to use this technique on more items! I definitely know that I want to make Christmas shirts for both of the kids using reverse applique.

Our second class that morning was stamp carving with April Meeker, who was also one of the SPARK hostesses along with Margie.

I had done some stamp carving a long, LONG time ago but never using lino cutters. I designed a 'thanks' stamp that I can stamp on the bottom of packing slips for my Etsy orders.

No idea why Blogger wants this upside down again. Grr! And hey--there's my felted soap!

I found stamp carving to be really relaxing and I definitely plan to do it more often. I already ordered more supplies!

After another delicious lunch (seriously, I never put a bad thing in my mouth the whole two days), we were treated to a very interesting Blogging panel, and then we attended our final class. This one was taught by Donna Downey, another mixed-media artist

She taught us how to use a very interesting art supply called pan pastels. They're different from stick pastels in that they don't contain any binder, so they are very intensely colored because they're pure pigment. I forgot to take a photo of my finished canvas, perhaps I can add one in later. I'd never even heard of pan pastels before that, so it was fun to try something completely and totally new and out of my comfort zone. I can't say that I see myself ever doing it again, but I really enjoyed it!

That evening we had yet another amazing meal, catered by the same company as last year's final dinner. They even brought back the ENORMOUS rose cupcakes from last year!

I wish there was a regular-sized cuppie in this photo for scale, because these are simply the most enormous cupcakes you've ever laid eye on. They're easily the size of those giant muffins you can buy at Costco, and then there is another 3 1/2" of frosting on the top in the rose and leaves! They are pretty darn spectacular. And because we're women, there was a whole other table absolutely packed with amazing desserts!

After dinner, we were treated to a wonderful, entertaining concert by indie artist Sarah Sample, who in a funny sort of coincidence, was friends with my younger brother in college.

Sarah is a very talented singer-songwriter. Her lyrics are really beautiful and thoughtful, and she can play the heck out of the guitar! I can't wait to download some of her music.

Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I would have changed about SPARK 3! Every detail was perfect, the teachers & classes were inspiring and fun, the decorations beautiful, the food delicious to the eyes and to the taste. I met beautiful, kind, warm, creative women and my cup of creative inspiration was filled to overflowing! Margie has promised that there will be a Spark #4, and as far as I'm concerned--she can take my money now!

One of the messages at the heart of every Spark gathering has been that we must share our *sparks* with those around us, so I have a little bit of Spark to share with you:

If you'd like a chance to win some of the goodies I brought home from SPARK 3, leave a comment on this post telling me something that you do that helps to *spark* your creativity! I'll draw a winner on Thursday morning.

SPARK 3: Day one

Last September, my mom and I had the opportunity to attend Spark No. 2, an amazing creative event in Utah. It was so incredible that it took me three whole posts to chronicle the awesomeness. When registration opened for Spark 3 earlier this year, the decision to attend again was a no-brainer for both of us!

I knew going into Spark 3 that things were going to be a bit different. Two of the original founders had stepped down and another woman stepped up to join Margie Romney-Aslett in putting on Spark 3. I knew that things would have a different feel and quite honestly, I wondered if they'd be able to measure up to Spark No. 2. It's not that I didn't have faith in Margie and April, but more that Spark No. 2 was so completely over-the-top, so awe-inspiring, that it was just a whole lot to live up to.

I shouldn't have been worried. Margie and April gave their hearts and souls for months and months and it was obvious! Just as in Spark No. 2, every little detail was attended to. The decor theme was 'Granny Chic', and warm textures of yarn and lace and fabric and thread were everywhere.

We started off the day by choosing beautiful  handmade nametags, each one different and each one a tiny work of art:

From there we moved into the large hall, which was truly spectacular yet again this year!

Yards and yards of crocheted yarn, trim and lace hung from the ceiling.

Chandeliers made from pattern tissue-covered paper lanterns and plumbers tubing hung throughout the room.

Each table had a centerpiece made from a doily-covered jar, a pedestal made from vintage china and a candlestick, a yarn ball, and a stack of old books with the covers torn off.

At each place setting was an absolutely beautiful journal and memory box from Paper Coterie.

Our first session of the day was a creativity lesson from the fabulous Mindy Gledhill, who had performed at Spark No. 2. She spoke about the stages of creation and sang a few songs, including one from her new Christmas album!

Our first class was taught by Emily Falconbridge, another holdover from Spark No. 2. Last year she taught us to use wool roving to make into felted wool beads. Confession: all of my wool is still sitting in its plastic bag in my closet! I had a hard time with the beads so I never finished them. This year's project was making a felted soap.

You use a bar of soap and wrap it with wool roving. Using hot water and soap and the motion of your hands smooths the wool over the soap and causes it to felt around the bar. You then have essentially a bar of soap and a wash cloth in one! We also got to try needle-felting a design onto the top of the bar of soap, something I enjoyed and would like to try again.

The second class was taught by one of my blog idols, Cathe Holden from Just Something I Made. I'm pretty sure I let out an audible squeal when she revealed a few months ago that she was going to be teaching at Spark 3! In Cathe's class we made these beautiful little wire nest pendants.

After a delicious lunch catered by Dear Lizzie, we hit our third class of the day, which was taught by mixed-media artist Christy Tomlinson.

We didn't know what to expect other than the project would be a collage, which made me a bit nervous. Collage (especially mixed-media) just doesn't come naturally to me and the collage class from Spark No. 2 was not my favorite. However, Christy's class ended up being so much fun and I'm absolutely tickled with the SHE art collage that I made!

It's totally different from anything I've made before, but I love it!

The last class of the day was a Junk Journal altered book class taught by Jennifer Jensen, an artist I've long admired. She has been designing in the scrapbook world for ages, and has always used vintage and antique objects in her art.

Our class materials were wrapped so beautifully! The theme of the book was metamorphosis so all of our supplies had the most beautiful butterflies on them.

That evening we had a delicious dinner catered by Plates and Palates, including a Lemon Tarragon pasta salad that was to die for! I found a similar recipe online from someone who frequents their restaurant and I'm dying to give it a try to see if I can recreate that goodness! We laughed that dinner was such chick food--spinach salad and pasta salad and rolls. :)

After dinner we were able to do several make-and-take projects provided by generous vendors. I made pretty earrings from Making Memories

I don't know why Blogger has decided to load this one upside down

This tissue flower was from 7 Gypsies and the yellow fabric flower from somebody else who I can't remember.

This one is upside down too. No idea.

It was a full, exhausting day but every bit as wonderful, warm, and inspiring as I hoped it would be! Stay tuned for Day 2...

Halloween 2011: leftovers

Remember the giant teeth Trunk-or-Treat idea that I Pinned?

Well, I bought some sheets of white posterboard and delegated that job to The Mister, who did a fabulous job and even made some big fangs as well:

I loved it! But apparently we weren't the only ones who saw that idea, because there were two other cars at our Trunk-or-Treat with teeth:

This decidedly more friendly version,

and this full-on face version, with kids passing out candy from the mouth. Funny!

Some of my favorite costumes from friends this year:

Flo, the Progressive lady. HATE those commercials, but my friend Stephanie looked just like her!

This cute Peter Pan family costume from my friend Brittney. I think this costume theme works best when you have adorable 1-year-old twins.

An amazing, elaborate Lego man costume my friend Annie made for her son, Graham. Holy cow!

And this creepy drowned Titanic victim costume from Keeley, which I am totally going to steal for a costume party someday!

What was the best costume you saw this year?