Riot and Frolic

How To Make A Wreath

Happy Night Before The Night Before Christmas!  

Somebody gets awful excited for Christmas, even when somebody knows what is in all the presents underneath the Christmas tree.  

There are no presents under there for me yet, but I'm only slightly worried.  The G knows I'm easily wooed with gifts.  And as we've seen in the past, he aims to please.

Today, I'm going to give you a simple tutorial on how to make a wreath.  

It's crazy easy.

Ingredients:

• some evergreen branches (we cut some off our tree and got more from the tree farm)
• sharp scissors (yes, I'm using kitchen shears, shut it)
• wire cutters (or those sharp scissors)
• floral wire
• a wire clothes hanger
• gloves (because those needles are sharp and make me itchy)

1. Bend your wire hanger into a round shape.
2. Cut all your branches into roughly the same length (I didn't do this on my first wreath and it's a little lopsided.  So, live and learn [and then get Luvs (to much TV as a child)].)
3. Take a branch and place it on top of the hanger, then wrap the floral wire around the end of the branch three times to attach it to the hanger.
4. DO NOT CUT THE WIRE!
5. Take another branch and do the same thing: place it an inch or two away from the first branch, wrap it three times, DO NOT CUT THE WIRE.  
6. Repeat Step 5 until you get all the way around your hanger.  Then you may cut the wire. It will get a little tricky at the end where you'll have to lift your first branches out of the way to wrap the wire around, but it doesn't have to be perfect.  Because the floral wire is green, it blends in really well and hides any mistakes you make.  The wire doesn't have to be super-tight either.  The needles help keep the branches from slipping around too much.  It's like Mother Nature is helping you out on this one. 
   
7. There's your plain ol' wreath.  Since I was making this for a ballroom dancer, I thought it needed a little bling.  I found a string of unused Christmas decoration that looked like mini Disco balls and wrapped that baby around the wreath.  
8. Better, but now it needed some color.  I made a huge yarny red bow to finish it off. 

Wallah!  (Or "Viola!" or "Voila [with an accent over the a]!", depending on your education.) 

This whole thing took me maybe twenty minutes and 7 of those minutes were deciding what to decorate the plain wreath with.  (I like to end sentences with prepositions, so there.  I'm in English teacher mode today, apparently.)  

I recommend making these for others, so they give you candy, or just for holiday cheer.  Whatevs.  

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY!  

Happy Hanukkah?  Yep, and Jolly Kwanzaa and Good Boxing Day.  

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night and God bless us, everyone and all that stuff.  

MWAH!

Topical.

Stitch 'n' Make Pleasant Conversation

I hosted a "stitch 'n' bitch" over the weekend.

As I said yesterday, I want to come up with a less crass name for crafting and hanging out.  Here's my terrible ideas so far...

• Yarn 'n' Yarn.  Get it?  Like material and telling stories.  I told you they were terrible.
• Hook, Wine, and Tinker.  As in crochet hooks.  I am a nerd.
• Craft and Laugh.  Those words rhyme in my head.  

Okay, I'll stop.  Let me know if you come up with something.

Here's our menu...

I was stoked to host this for a lot of reasons.  One: I got to use my mixer for the first time.

Two: I made this awesome looking cake.  (I used this cake recipe and this frosting recipe.)

Three: I made pomegranate sangria. 

Four: I got to eat and drink said cake and sangria.  They were delish.  

Five: I got to spend a relaxing afternoon with some neat ladies, who have Skillz.

Like, my crafty heroine has a loom.  You know, just a loom, hanging around the house.  A loom, I tell you.  A looooooooom.  Fricking sweet.

Six: I learned how to knit.  Well, I learned how to knit and like it.  I'm playing around with different holds for the needles, but I already finished my first homework project from my teach, Mrs. Dessert.  

Oh.  And next to my dishcloth/burpcloth is one of those braided paper balls I was talking about yesterday.  Neat. 

Do you want to craft with us?  Let me know if you're interested!  We can plan a crafty fiesta (in a well-lit public place with lots of witnesses, so you don't think I'm trying to kidnap you).  Check out this awesome site about knitting in bars - don't you think we should?

--------UPDATE!---------1/3/11----------

The masses are assembling for a shindig.  My friendly stalker (hey, Rach!) says she wants to come even though she doesn't know how to knit/crochet.  NOT A REQUIREMENT, I say.  Hell, I make it up as I go along, anyhoo.  A

And acronyms, people.  They're so... 2012.  Rhyming is totally 2011 ("stitch 'n' bitch"- pshaw!).  Can we think of a neato acronym for our crafty get-together?  

Like HONK (Honeys Out Naughty Knitting) or CAKEcake (Crochet And Knit, Eat cake) or YODEL (Yarn Over, Drink, Eat... Legit).  I think all of these are a good idea.  

Hooks it up, peeps!  (Bad crochet pun not intended.)  Keep emailing/calling/FBing and I'll get the word out on the when and where soon!

Very attractive hobbit

Welcome To The Jumble

Hahaha. I'm so clever.  Today's post title is a play on my first post ever.  Those were the days.

It's been about five days since our last hook-up and since my interwebs have been working.  

Good golly.  I thought having a TV was a timesuck.  Turns out, if I didn't have WIFI and a blog, I would nerd it up even more by playing, cooking, crafting, dancing, and other whatnots of complete randomness.  

Thank God I still had my iPhone, so I could ignore my children like a normal person.

There is a virtual plethora of things I have to catch you up on.  So as not to overwhelm you, here's five awesome things...

1. braided paper balls.  Or woven.  Whatevs.  They're neat.  And soothing to make.  Like a zen rock garden for your fingers.   
   [Source: The Cheese Thief]
2. clementine candles.  I experimented with them over the weekend and they are fun.  Party trick!  I read that they only lasted a few minutes, but I have had to blow several out after an hour and a half, so... That's more than a "few" in my world.  It's, like, "several" times a "few".
3. gingerbread house.  Nailed it.
   
   
4. persimmon.  Ate one.  Or five.  They're strange.  Honey, jelly, juicy.  Cut them open like a tomato, by removing the "sepals" (leafy top core) and cutting them in half, top to bottom. Then scoop the fruit out with a spoon.  I hear hear you can eat the whole thing, peel and all.  But I wasn't that adventurous.                                                          
   
5. knitting.  Yes, knitting.  So it must be for nerds.  'Cause I'm doing it.  Look.  It's a thing!

What more could be in store?  Well, I hosted a "stitch 'n' bitch" (which I hate the name of... can we come up with a better, more optimistic name for them?  like "stitch and share fun stories and skills" or something?), have a tutorial for how to make a wreath, had another surprise for my birthday, and tried some traditional Christmas decorating skills.

It's been a busy week, people.

Stay tuned.

Hangin' tough.

The Pinterest Project- More Glitter= More Awesome

It's a rule of life, really.  "More glitter" is always better than "glitter".  Unless you're talking about the movie, Glitter, which I hear is awful and should never have a sequel.

But now I want to watch it, just to make sure.  Because if there was a movie called Rhinestone, I would sure go see that!

By the way (well, really, by the completely off topic sidenote), have you seen this preview?

 

Me excited.  Slavik.  *drool*

Anyhoo...

I saw this on The Pinterest yesterday and might have gone out to buy the ingredients today.  

Remember those glitter wands we used to have?  Neat.  80's.  Mesmerizing.  

Bring your childhood to life with the next generation and check it...  It's a learning activity!

Pink Pistachio made these water bottle toys with her cute little guy and apparently it teaches, like, fine motor skills and sensory awareness for your toddlers.  I just liked that there was glitter and fuzzy balls involved.

I found some little water bottles at The Target which seemed like the right size.*  I cruised the craft aisle and found some sequins, glitter, fuzzy balls, and letter beads.  

The ladies were pumped to "make toys" and I'm pretty sure Mae Cake would have done this all day.  She would say "plunk!" each time she dropped something in the bottle.  I gave V the task of finding all the blue sequins or yellow beads or certain letters to drop in, for extra learning fun.  

They didn't really get what the bottles did until I tipped them upside down and all the fun started swirling around.  Then, I got some ooooo's and ahhhhh's.  

We had put some glitter into each bottle.  That was good.

Then we put more glitter! into each bottle.  That was awesome.  

There's also one (on the right, above) that has food coloring in it.  Only use one drop!

I glued the caps on during naptime, so they'd be ready for play afterwards.  

I probably made one for myself.  And by probably, I mean, I did.

Besides just being fun to make, I've also seen them called Calm Down Jars [or Bottles].  Shake up bottle, give to over-excited child, and tell them to watch the glitter settle to the bottom.  Yeah?  Might work.

They could also work like an I Spy bottle where they try to find the letter G, or the blue star, or the pink bead.  

I am definitely going to be trying this in different forms and with different goodies in them.  

And some people might be getting them for Christmas presents from V and Mae Cake.  

*After having made the Fun Bottles (as I named them), I'd like to find the awesome bottles Pink Pistachio used: a little smaller and no indentations.  It'd make it easier to see the goodies.  Anybody know where to find such a thing?

I suggest you read the Pink Pistachio blog, too.  She's funny.  And uses puns.  And references Twilight.  We are friends now.  She just doesn't know it.  

You have nice feet.

Because I Can...

It's my birthday.  

I was going to be grown-up about it this year and be all "oh, it's my birthday?  that's neat" but no.  

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

It all started Monday night where I couldn't contain my excitement any longer and the maturity wore off.  

"Hehehe, it's almost my birthday."

"I wonder what the G is getting me."

"I can't wait to make a cake."

"And eat it."

"With ice cream."

I fell asleep with the same anticipation I've had since I was 5. 

Then, when I got up Tuesday morning, my BA mixer was waiting for me.  Not helping.  

BUT AWESOME!

[Image courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half.  Read it!]

Today has been awesome, other than jamming my finger by hitting the G in the back.  It was in the name of dancing and it was by accident, I swear!  Ouch. 

I've gotten so many happy birthdays on The Facebook, my phone gave up trying to load them.  

My ladies got some awesome Christmas presents from one of my favo women.  

And I found this word...

Abschicken.

ABSCHICKEN!

It's German for "to send". 

So awesome.  

Then there's this...

[iloveblossom]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

WTF.  

Waltz Tango Foxtrot.

 

I hope you all hung in there for this one.  It was a bumpy ride.

Here's your reward.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To me.

I'll take one of those.