Winter Wreath: & the HOW to

Winter Wreath multipurpose if you will.  This will carry our home through the longest season we have in Vermont. 

Things you'll need: 10" foam wreath, Yarn, Felt, ribbon, hot glue gun  +  patience if you're like me and feeling under the weather.

Wrap foam wreath with yarn to completely cover the white or green form.

Print a snowflake template. Cut and trace onto stiff felt.
(I cut many and in different sizes)

I made many felt flowers to adorn  to the wreath for a bit of color

 

Let the clueing begin

The combo is super cute!

Just add a ribbon and place on your wreath hook.  I just love this!!

{HEE's} Got her Groove BACK!

Finally. I'm feeling alive again.  I've lost the feeling of emptiness, sorrow, shame, and anger. & for that I'm very thankful.  I hit a very dark place a few months back and was so far gone that I thought I may never be myself again.  I am and I'm SO happy about that!

& With my groove came my craftiness! 
Craft #1: Rehab hot pink wooden rose wreath from Christmas Tree Shoppe.  
Wreath: $4.00
Spray Paint: Free husband's work bench :)
Spider Ribbon: $1.00

$5.00 Project that looked fantastic on our front door!

 Craft #2: Spray painted pumpkins

 

Halloween was SO much fun!  I loved decorating the shelves in our living room.  Since I'm behind I'm starting to work on our Christmas decor.  Can't wait... but I need a warm day to open the windows to start spray painting... Oy!  I hope I get at least 1 more nice one!

SO GOOD To Me

Life IS good.

God gives us all blessings. I'm blessed. Even on my darkest of days, he takes care of me and for that I'm thankful.

In the words of Dara MacLean, (on SO many levels) He's SO good to me.

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows. Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud And the sky of the sky of a tree called life; Which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide. And this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart. I carry your heart. I carry it in my heart. ~E.E. Cummings

I'm living life one day at a time knowing that things will work out the way they are meant to be.

<3DE<3HE<3

Awesome Kitchen Find and Tip

This week has been AWESOME and it's only Tuesday.

I start a purchasing "chef approved" Wusthof knives from William Sonoma for Cap. I thought it was the perfect gift to give over the years. When the set is complete, Cap will have a set used by ALOT of chefs in the cooking industry. But AWESOMELY enough last week, I was browsing the clearance section at TJ Maxx and saw a box set of Wusthof knives This was a 5 piece set that was originally marked $279, that's the Maxx price. If I was to purchase this set at WS I would have spent nearly $410. There were on clearance for $199. I skipped the purchase last week and wanted to sleep on the idea.
I went back Sunday they were marked down again

$139! That's right 5 knives for $139. That's cheaper than I paid for his paring knife for Christmas. I snatched them right up! Happy Cooking Cap! I love you <3


What do you do with your left over pasta sauce? Are you like my family and always have Spaghetti jars stacking up on the top shelf of your cold chest?

I'm freezing the leftovers in ice cube trays. Once frozen I'm popping the cubes into freezer bags and taking them out as needed for lunches :) Simply brilliant! & Thanks to Cap's fellow coworker Jes, I'm taking care of those jars! Say goodbye to the cold chest clutter and hello to lunch time portion control!

Simple. Clutter free. Labels front facing. I love my kitchen!

Heritage Festival.

Last week was our Heritage Festival in town. A week filled with music, activities for kids and lost of food. Cap and I could only participate in the festivities on Saturday morning. Sadly, this happened last year too.

Cap pulled 19,023 pound truck with the Governor. Yup, the Governor of Vermont. He wasn't a wimp and he gave it his all! Even the Governor's security detail participated in the pull. See I told you they were working hard on pulling that truck....50 feet!
Cap (he's the only in the white and black shirt that reads "Dominic is numero uno" with the Governor and his security detail along with the other city councilors Pull#2 with all members of the city government :)Doesn't Cap look fierce! The city group came in #2 out of nine teams. Not bad at all!

People of all ages were downtown enjoying everything that was going on. And big news, the Quarry is almost ready to open! I'm delighted that will be a restaurant with outdoor seating in downtown.



I finished up my day before heading to work by watching the Heritage Parade. I loved the bagpipes!
I love Southern Living! I found a SUPER fantastic beet salad recipe in the may issue. Here are my beets marinating :)And after this past week I'm just as tired as he is! I love my little boy!

Mason Jars. Galore. :)

I found THREE boxes of mason jars when we first moved into this old house. It all started when I was a bit perturbed after walking into the basement after closing to find that the previous owners failed to remove a bunch of what at first glance looked like junk. What to do with almost 60 mason jars? Other than a WHOLE lot of canning and organizing of Cap's screws and bits?

I cleaned this up with a bit of vinegar and lemon juice. (I like to go the whole eco-friendly route) These things were dirty. 91 years of dirt and dinge in that basement. I found a cool tin tray at Christmas Tree Shop for $3.99. Perfect for entertaining and perfect for this little project. I chose 7 oversize mason jars and filled them 1/4 of the way up with sand. Placed them on the tray and then put tealights (lilac, not my favorite scent) in the jars.
Isn't that perfect for a starry night on the cutest covered porch? Why, I think so!
This porch has turned into something darling and quite comfortable! Thanks to the shelf of "Whatev's" I'm finding great things to rehab and create with. For instance, this past weekend I found the coolest box of fishing tackle. Who leaves that behind? Mr. F! And thanks to him... I'll be making a lure garland wreath for next spring!


For more mason jar ideas, head on over to Johnny in a Dress.

BIG TRUCKS & CAMO

As you all know we purchased a HMWVV (Fancy for Humvee, Ha!) so we recently as in the "big day" joined the military vehicle club for our state.


I loved this camp site. This setup is from WWII. I LOVED the pallet chair. The idea started brewing in my head of how awesome this style chair would be next to big campfire. This is our humvee and our little "campsite". I need to work on perfecting our day pack and I would really like to purchase a picnic basket! Since we are going to be doing a lot of these day trips with the club in the near future. Look at this beauty. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of this camo pattern! Cap is restoring our humvee to hopefully look very close to this. Well minus the camo! Oh and the extra 5,000 pounds of armor. So my role was to take as many detailed photographs that I could.

Cap needed the tail light and reflector placementMy favorite label is:
Caution
high intensity noise
hearing protection requiredI love the "steering wheel" lock. Look at all those switches! Now you all know why I haven't driven Thor.

Enjoy your weekend. I have lots of little projects to finish up around the house :)

Clothes Pin Wreath

Thank you to the beautiful and talented Natalie over at Johnny in a Dress for giving me the inspiration to make my own version of the wreath.

I probably should have used a "thinner" piece of cardboard. It was a bit difficult to slide the clothespins onto the cardboard.
59 Clothespins were used :)I cut out the center circle using Caps medical scissors. Shhh... Don't tell him!Thank you Nat for saving my butt!! You mentioned in one of your posts how you use a tarp to spray paint. You saved me and Caps lawn. He thanks you too! Cherry red. A really super lovely color!

Do you know how much I love the letter E? Lots.I love it!
I love the aqua blue ribbon! This will soon be hung on my front door. But I think this looks really lovely against the yellow in our foyer.

Thank you again Nat for bringing the crafty out in me again!::yawnnnn::

Jax is right. It's late. It's time for bed. And I need my beauty sleep.