Monday, May 13, 2013

Spring Wreath

I wasn't even going to blog about this wreath because I'm so embarrassed about it. But I guess I need to blog about it to see what I did wrong and set goals for how to become better! This wreath from Flamingo Toes was my inspiration. I usually don't love wreaths made out of the basic grapevine base because they look too a) old, b) withered, c) fake. I guess I'm a pretty particular wreath person (and growing even more so now that I browse wreaths on a regular basis!) because I don't love fir green wreaths for Christmas, I don't love the grapevine wreaths with leaves on them for Autumn....and I'm starting to dislike all the yarn wreaths, wreaths made out of other strange materials.....okay wow. But there are wreaths I do really like! I think they usually look fresh. And that's why I like this wreath so much!

Unfortunately, my wreath is a far cry from the one at Flamingo Toes....Apart from the fact that the grapevine itself is not round at all (there were only like 3 left at the store- I tried my best!), the whole thing looks a little...rushed and amateur, eh? Probably because I rushed it and I'm an amateur! Well, at least it's an honest wreath.

So I started by making the felt flowers, which actually always turn out good. I love those felt flowers! But I used Flamingo Toes' tutorial to make the larger flowers, and I used muslin I had laying around. Turns out, muslin is way too floppy for this! So I have large floppy flowers. But I do like the colors!


Then after that, my moss was strange and kept falling out everywhere. It still looks very angular where I cut it to glue on the wreath, so I'll need to fix that eventually. Moss is just weird....and I was hoping for a brighter spring green! I guess I just can't have my perfect wreath ever...

And finally, I made a banner out of burlap and felt letters. I personally don't love the banner on the inspiration wreath, and I though burlap would be perfect! Well, the burlap banner is actually my favorite part....but the hand-cut letters aren't. :) I wanted to do this project in one night, so rather than painting on the letters, or even taking more time to draw the letter design on the felt, I just started cutting letters! They definitely look amateur there, and although they're not my favorite, I do think they look fine on this wreath.
Well, it seems I went back to trying to shortcut or cheat my way into having a beautiful craft. I know it takes patience, and careful planning, (at least for me :D) to have a craft turn out well. So I just need to put off finishing something for one more day- and then I think I can be successful at crafting!





Monday, May 6, 2013

I just can't get into holidays....

I always feel like I'm most crafty when there's nothing at all going on. I didn't do a single thing for Christmas last year, and I couldn't even make the tiniest decoration for Valentine's day. I always miss the big holidays, but I seem to get a crafting craze during July or August when there isn't really any big holidays to decorate or make treats for. :)

So unfortunately, that means the last few months have been pretty bare in the crafting/baking/doing anything area. I haven't really participated in New Year's, Valentine's Day, our birthdays, St. Patrick's Day, Easter...anything! I actually did make a spring wreath...I'll have to go get pictures of that sometime! But here are the few things I have done lately:

Halal Chicken and Rice
I've been threatening to make this dish for months, and I finally did it! It just sounds kind of weird, so I think that's why my husband was wary of trying it. :) But it turned out really well! It's very similar to chicken shawarma, which I love. The white sauce isn't tzatziki though, it's just a lemony creamy sauce. It didn't have quite enough flavor right off the bat though- it could have been that I used chicken breasts instead of thighs....but after sitting a day in the fridge, the leftovers were much more flavorful!

 Cinco de Mayo
We had an AMAZING Cinco de Mayo dinner up at my sister's house, and she let me bring dessert! I have a hard time thinking up desserts to feed 10+ people, but this trifle was just the thing. I need to think of trifles more often! Although mine had to be in a big bowl instead of the pretty clear glass trifle dishes, I still think it turned out pretty well (plus the bowl was overflowing!) I also made Mexican wedding cookies (also calledmany other things), just for something that actually qualifies as Mexican food. Both desserts were so good! I just love making dessert. Like....seriously.



Actually, I really love dessert so much that I've officially decided to open a bakery someday. That sounds really weird saying it like that, and of course it won't be until I'm a grandma probably, but I would truly love to have a little shop and just make all my favorite treats. And learn to make actual good treats! So that's the life goal---40 years from now! :D