Autumn Wreath

Cool mornings, leaves falling, beautiful reds and yellows... It's official Fall is here!

I decided to give making a wreath a try for this season! I remember seeing a pin somewhere for a wreath with burlap or fabric stuck into a foam circle. So I decided to try one like that and after a trip to the craft store I had all the materials ready. However the project took a turn from what I had thought up but turned out even better then I had imagined.

I already had plenty of burlap left over from the wedding and the hot glue guns. When I went to get the burlap I saw some pretty fall looking fabric I got from a sale awhile back and thought why not! So here is what you need:

floral wreath foam circle

Fall flowers (optional)

hot glue & gun

fabric or burlap, Id say I used about 1/2 a yard

ribbon (optional)

First step is to cut the burlap and fabric into squares about 2 inch by 2 inch. Depending on how tight you want the "ruffle" side to look depends on how many squares you need. You can either make the entire wreath ruffled or you can do half like I did. It will make the ruffled half heavier then the rest so it tips a little once you hang it.

Use the tips of the scissors to put holes in the foam circle then put a drop of hot glue into the hole. Wrap the fabric around the tip of the scissors and push fabric or burlap into hole. Continue this until you have the desired look. I mixed in some fabric squares with the burlap ones.

If you choose to only do partial you can then wrap the rest in fabric or burlap like below.

After adding the leaves and pumpkin (which took a lot of hot glue) it turned out pretty darn good!!

Minion Coffe Cup Sleeve Crochet Pattern

I am totally in love with the minions from Despicable Me. So I decided to make my very own cup sleeve for the paper cups you get your takeout coffee in.  It only took me maybe a total of two hours and thats with a few stops to tend to the little eggplant! I hope you all think he is as cute as I do!

You could also do the hair differently and even make two eyes instead of one. The great thing is how many ways you can change it up once you have the basic sleeve.

Need:
blue yarn (like a jean color)
yellow yarn
black yarn
white yarn
gray yarn
G needle

CH - Chain
SL ST - Slip Stitch
HDC - Half double crochet
FO - Finish Off
HDC Increase - HDC twice in same stitch
SC - single crochet
MR - Magic Ring

Sleeve
CH 30 in blue yarn
SL ST ch together to form circle, ch1
HDC around (30) HDC, SL ST to first stitch
change to yellow yarn, HDC increase, HDC around SL ST to first stitch,  31 HDC
HDC around x3, SL ST to first stitch at end of each round
change to black, HDC around, SL ST to first HDC
change back to yellow, HDC around x3, SL ST to first stitch at end of each round
FO

Eye (s)
MR, SC 5 in black
change to white, HDC Increase in each SC around, 10
Change to grey SC, SC increase in next around, FO 15
sew onto sleeve

Sew the mouth however you want your minion to look. Keep him bald or add a little bit of hair but make him your own! Enjoy on a cup full of hot yummy coffee (or pumpkin spice latte which is what I am getting ASAP). =]

Baby Finger Food Error & Solution: Banana & Wheat Germ

Hey guys! So my little eggplant is now 9 months old! As he grows he is becoming more independent. So we are now introducing some finger foods to his diet, today was banana's. Well i learned very quickly that all they did was slid around on his high chair tray, which he enjoyed immensely but was still fussing for food.

So as I was going to grab some pureed food and do it the old fashioned way when I saw the box of wheat germ I just bought and figured why not? I chopped the banana slices into 3rd's tossed them in a small amount of the wheat germ, just enough to cover, and gave to to the little one. I used untoasted, all natural wheat germ that I got at Weis for $1.99 a box!

He loved it! Still made a mess but he ate them like crazy and was super happy. A easy fix, too! Hope your little ones enjoy!

In Loving Memory

Sorry for going MIA this past month. We lost my baby brother on July 16 in an unexpected motorcycle accident and I have not had much drive to work on crafts or wedding things. Which I am now kicking myself for, 5 days to go and so much to do! He was 22, would have been 23 on August 31, and a great guy all around. We held his funeral on July 20th and the funeral home was packed full to where people couldn't even come into the building. 

Since the passing of my brother came so close to the exchange of our vows and reception I decided to put together a small "In Loving Memory" table. We will have pictures of the family member's we lost as well as a candle and little saying typed out. 

I went to Frans Candles and looked through the verses and poems until I found something I liked. I have typed it up on put it into a frame. Heres what it says:

Today we pause to reflect upon


those who have shaped our character,


molded our spirits and touched our hearts.


May the lighting of this candle be a


reminder of the memories we have shared,


a representation of the everlasting


impact you have made upon our lives.

I took a mason jar, frame, and nice decorative bottle and spruced them up a little bit with some lace and twine to keep with the country/vintage feel of the wedding. 

For the frame I hot glued the twine around the frame in a indented part, I did five rows or until the indented part was filled completely. For the mason jar I choose a wide piece of lace and hot glued it to the jar then did a few rows of twine. For the candle holder/decorative bottle I hot glued a few rows of the twine at the top and stuck a candle in.

The flowers in the mason jar is dried baby's breath covered with glitter. It makes a huge mess but so pretty!

I hope you all like the idea and if your looking for ideas I hope you find a verse or poem that fits for your loved one from Frans Candles Memorial Verses.

Cayenne Lime Mushrooms

So I am trying to eat healthier during the day instead of snacking all day. I stay home with my son and am very picky about what he eats but lately I've been letting myself snack away. When he gets older how am I supposed to tell him no while I am doing it myself right? So for my "snack" today I decided on mushrooms but didn't want to eat them raw.

Here's what I came up with! Cayenne Lime Mushrooms

I squeezed half a lime into a frying pan and added a drop of olive oil. Tossed in the mushrooms and sprinkled minced garlic and cayenne and cooked until soft with a lid over it. I didn't measure anything out but the cayenne is strong so only use a little unless you like it hot.

It turned out amazing for me! Enjoy

Small Crochet Sunflower (Pattern included)

Our "real" wedding ceremony will be August 24 with a large reception. We live on an adorable farmette with a few acres of land, What better place to have our wedding right? So we are trying to keep the price as low as possible while making it the wedding of our dreams, the normal goal of every bride and groom.

I figured I can crochet roses so how hard can making my own sunflowers for the wedding be? Turns out not that hard at all! Thanks to my bridesmaid/best friend she has made this super easy by doing the normal size sunflowers and Im making the small ones.

I used Coats Crafts Sunflower Crochet Pattern to make the normal sized sunflowers for my centerpieces and bouquet for my wedding. I used Simply Soft yarn to make them and had to use fabric stiffener to keep the petals from curling up since the yarn is so thin.

I also needed some smaller sunflowers that looked just like the bigger ones. So I adjusted the Coats Crafts pattern to fit what I needed. There are a few differences from the pattern: its smaller, a different needle/yarn size, and instead of using the piece of cardboard for the centerpiece I used a bit of stuffing to make it "puffy."

Here's the pattern, let me know if you have any questions!

Center (brown)
Piece #1
SC 8 in Magic Ring
2 sc in each sc, 16 sc around.
Finish off

Piece #2

SC 8 in Magic Ring 

2sc in each sc, 16 sc around

SC piece #1 to Piece #2, 16 sc

Stuff the inside with a little bit of stuffing before SC all the way around

finish off

Petals (yellow)

SC in SC of center piece

ch 6

SC in second from chain, DC in next 3, sc in last slip stich in next sc in center piece

repeat step 2 & 3 around, should have 16 petals

Finish off

The end project will look like this, this is both the normal size and smaller one.

DIY "Redneck" Wineglasses

So our favors for the wedding is mason jar drinking glasses. So I wanted to pick up some "Redneck Wineglasses" the bridal party. However in the store they run about $20 for a set and we are trying to save anyway we can. So how hard can it be to make them  myself!

I picked up two candle stick holders from the dollar store, used some mason jars from our favors, and picked up a thing of Loctite super glue. The mason jars are $9.99 for a case of 12 (about $.85 for one), $2 for both candle sticks, and about $3 for the super glue. So lets just call it $4 to make one!

The great thing about the loctite super glue is that it is clear and you wont see a yellow circle in between the two. And who doesn't love a mason jar as a drinking glass!

All you do is put a circle of glue on the bottom of the mason jar and a line around the top of the candle stick. Let sit for a minute before connecting the two. Place the candle stick onto the mason jar and leave sitting for 24 hours. Tada! Heres the finished product!