Winter Wreath

I wanted to decorate a wreath for January, and snow seemed like a good theme to use. I didn't want to spend much money, so I went to Dollar Tree. This is what a dollar will buy you.

(My apologies, but I can't seem to get my writing between the pictures.)
Since the wreath looked so thin, I added an additional layer of greenery.

Next, I splurged and bought these ornaments for $1 each. I thought about waiting until after Christmas when I could possibly get them marked down, but I decided to splurge. If I have to buy something when it isn't on sale, then it is a big splurge for me. (I ended up not using the stocking since it was after Christmas.)

I bought these on sale at Michaels. I love the way they sparkle, just like ice crystals on new-fallen snow. (I think that came from a poem, or a song, or a book, or maybe just my creative mind.)

These pine cones came from the same place. I think I bought these in the fall, because I knew for a long time that I wanted to use this color for a wreath. The color is out of my comfort zone, but it's growing on me.

I found this ribbon at Dollar Tree. You may not be able to see, but the swirls are glittery. I'm not usually a glittery person, but this was just what I wanted.

Here is the finished wreath. Darn. I just noticed that sparkly thing has slipped.

Here it is with a little straightening.

The funny thing is I hung this wreath on New Year's Eve (Saturday), and then it snowed here on Monday. (We were in New Orleans and missed it.)

I know the rest of you have moved on to Valentine's Day decorating, but I love how this wreath turned out and I wanted to share it with you. Plus, I haven't done any decorating for February. Before I retired from teaching, I always decorated my classroom for the holidays. My rule was I had to wait until the month started. So, according to my calculations, I still have a week and I'm not really behind ~ yet!

Note: If you read that last paragraph closely, you might want to ask me why I broke my own rule by hanging the wreath when it wasn't January. Why? Because we left that day, and I knew I wouldn't be home again until January 12.

Hokie Highlights - Marshall Game

This is my cousin who invited us to tailgate with them. Her entire family went to Marshall. She is showing off the cookies that she bought especially for us. We were surprised that Walmart made cookies for the opposing team!

She told us not to bring anything, but I had to take something. This is a football tray from Dollar Tree that I filled with green candy for Marshall and orange (circus peanuts) and maroon candy (strawberry licorice) for Tech.

This is another cousin. She told me she played tennis while she was at Marshall. (Notice that my Dad likes to get in the pictures.)

This is my third cousin, their brother, who was at the tailgate. It was great to see all of them.

Their parking spot was right beside where the cheerleaders and team enter.

Marshall is the Thundering Herd. (I think he's a buffalo.)

I like that the team is dressed up. At Tech, they wear sweatsuits/jogging pants.

This is my uncle, Mom's brother. He is an usher at the games.

See the motorcycle. It's dressed up like the buffalo.

The cheerleaders came up in the stands. I was disappointed that my favorite cheerleader didn't come to this game. I guess they have to take turns.


We were so impressed at how friendly and welcoming the Marshall fans were - really a class act. They were anxious to tell us we wouldn't be treated the way fans were treated in Morgantown. (That's another post I could do, but I won't.) After the game, they congratulated us on our win and wished us a safe trip home. Go HERD, as long as they aren't playing my HOKIES.

Bag of Magic

I have 4 great-nephews and 3 great-nieces.
(And 2 more on the way, one of each!)

In the past, I've sent them a book for their birthdays.

This year I wanted to do something different.

Zachary recently turned 6.

His grandfather is my brother.

My brother loves magic.

I thought that might make a good gift for Zachary.

I went to Dollar Tree and found everything I needed.

These are sets of magic tricks. I checked each box to make sure they weren't duplicates.

I just liked these glasses, although I also thought he could wear them to further confuse his audience as he performed his magic tricks.

I thought every magician should have a magic wand.
I didn't want a "girly" one.
 I found this at JoAnns.

As I checked out, I saw this bag and knew it would be perfect to hold his goodies.

After his birthday, I received this thank you note.

Didn't he do an outstanding job with his printing?
Kudos to his mama and daddy for teaching him to
write thank you notes, too.

While I was at the beach, I discovered that
my great-niece loves magic, too.
Guess what she's getting for her 6th birthday on September 30?

This early bird got the worms, but.....

Have you seen these items at Dollar Tree? I saw them and thought knew they would be very popular in blog land. So I bought them and I still haven't used them. And it's been two months.

What's that you said? I should display it somewhere. Well, I don't have a mantel and my piano has other stuff on it.  

Use my china cabinet you suggested? Where should I put my dishes?

Do you pack up your keepsakes to have room to decorate for holidays?

Where do you keep your dishes when you arrange displays in your china cabinet or hutch?

Did I mention that I have two sets of china, plus vintage pieces that I've bought?

Make a banner? See above ~ still no mantel. I do have a large mirror that I've thought of using.

You see, I feel like a teenager trying to run with the in crowd. I was so smug when I bought this stuff in July. I was going to be ahead of the blog crowd, but you can imagine my disappointment now when I still haven't figured out how to work with these things.

I think I should be a picker for the rest of you. I'll find the stuff and you can create great things with it. Will that work for anybody?

Back to school wreath fail

Although I still have my beach decorations out,

the blog world seems to have moved on to

back to school decorating.

I've never done any back to school decorating in the past.

I was too busy going back to school myself.

Now that I'm retired from teaching,

I guess it's time for me to start doing this.

I found these heavy felt school cutouts at Dollar Tree

and immediately thought "wreath".

Then I found this grapevine wreath at a yard sale. 

I took off all the flowers (but I saved them)

and threw the faded ribbon away.

I had decided to cut apart the ABC 123.

Operating on the decorating rule of three,

I tried to place my items.

The only problem was I had four things.

Since I was doing this while my granddaughter was

taking what turned out to be a very short nap.

I didn't take enough pictures.

Suffice it to say, the glue wouldn't hold.

I didn't want to have time to look for wire.

The original wreath maker had used stems from the 

fake flowers to hold them on the wreath,

so I decided to do the same thing.

When I went outside to hang it,

a spider had created a masterpiece

where the wreath needed to go.

I couldn't get a good picture of the web.

I know you can't see it, 

but I really did try to get a picture of it.

After I took the picture,

I realized that it doesn't show up well

against the house.

I may have to find a better location.

Or a bigger wreath.

Or cover the wreath with ribbon first.

Or move my house numbers.

Or just skip back to school decorating.

I'm linking up here:
http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2011/08/take-look-tuesday_15.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20SugarBee-CraftEdition%20%28Sugar%20Bee%20-%20Craft%20Edition%29
I'm not sure why all that showed up, but when I tried to remove some it, the link wouldn't work.


and also here:
http://thriftycraftygirl.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-hops-count-as-exercise.html

and also here:
http://christinasadventures2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/20-below-thursday-34.html

French Dollar Tree

 

 Now you didn't really think there could be 

a Dollar Tree in France, did you?

I think that is a phenomenon only found

here in the USA.

But look at the French treasures that I discovered.

 This will give you a perspective on their size.

 I may have squealed in delight when I found these.

What has delighted you at Dollar Tree?

Baby shower gifts

My daughter has two childhood friends who are both expecting their first child.

I had so much fun shopping for a gift for their showers.

I started with those dollar canvas totes

from Dollar Tree.

I needed both a pink one and a blue one.

Then I wanted to find as many of the same things

for each baby as I could.

Sara went to UVA undergrad and WVU for law school, 

two schools that are rivals of Va Tech.

I knew she would really be surprised if I bought baby items that represented those schools.

The outfit on the left is blue and orange for UVA.

I love to buy holiday bibs when I can find them, 

so I started buying those as soon as I heard the

girls were expecting.

Then I just divided them up so each had a few special bibs.

I also bought an assortment of plastic lined bibs and separated them by colors. 

Ashley got the pink and green for Apple Blossom,

a local festival, and red for Radford.

Sara got blue and yellow for WVU and

blue and orange for UVA.

I also bought bibs that had a chocolate chip cookie

embroidered on the front. 

When the girls cheered together, I made

chocolate chip cookies for the bus trips.

I also bought a book titled

I Hope You Dance.

The girls used that song/poem as part

of their graduation speech as class officers.

They both got tiny shorts outfits

that the babies may never wear.

But they were so cuuuuuuuuute.

Then I packed everything up in the totes.

Just so you know ~

the day I took these pictures 

the AC wasn't working.

I spread out all the gifts to make

sure they were even.

Then I put all the boy gifts in the bag, 

added the tissue paper, 

poufed it,

then realized I hadn't taken pictures of it.

So I took it all back out of the bag,

lined it up and photographed it.

Next I put all of the girl things in the bag,

added the tissue paper, 

poufed it,

then realized I hadn't taken pictures of it.

YES, I did it TWICE!

Can you believe it?

I'm linking up here:
http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/2011/08/70s-disco-party-huge-success-newbie.html