I’m feeling the need for spring. An obsessive need, a “it needs to be spring RIGHT NOW” need, an all-encompassing craving for sunlight, warmth, and color! Weren’t we supposed to have an early spring? I’m going to go find that lying little groundhog and kick him in the teeth.
This is what happens to my brain when it’s gloomy {and snowing – again!!!} and I’m stuck inside.
It also turns me to more socially acceptable activities than imagining violence on groundhogs – like cooking, baking, and doing some much-needed sprucing up around the house. I managed to jot off a couple of my favorite recipes for you this week – this one here on my tiramisu cheesecake cups {really want to make those again!!} and this one on my friend Kasha’s blog for tasty salmon patties!
I do have another “recipe” of sorts to share with you today – and that’s one for making your own spring wreath. It was one of my goals to actually make some of those arts and crafts I pinned on Pinterest, so I started with this lovely spring wreath tutorial from Kim at Sand & Sisal. It was just what I needed to bring a little spring feeling to the house and to make me feel productive.
Source: sandandsisal.com via Kristin on Pinterest
I love Kim’s site – her projects are beautiful and her tutorials are great even for a non-crafter like me {seriously, the first time I ever touched a glue gun was doing wedding projects, and if you check out the recap, it was my niece who did most of the gluing}. Armed with her tutorial and some spare time, I wandered over to Michael’s {and promptly got lost in there for hours – very glad I didn’t discover this earlier} and came away with all the necessary pieces for my wreath project:
The original craft “recipe” called for a braided grapevine wreath, sea grass, a silk hydrangea with at least six stems, wired ribbon, and some decorative butterflies. I wanted something with a little beachier feel, so I swapped the butterflies for white starfish, picked up some lavender pieces and a glue gun, and dug my tin of shells out {I seriously have more shells than anyone in existence – five years of island living will do that to you, I guess}. So, time to craft.
The first step is pretty easy. Cut the hydrangea stems away from the main stem and weave them into the wreath. You shouldn’t have to do anything fancy to get them to stay put. Kim recommended sliding in four from right to left and the last two from left to right – I didn’t argue with her. The woman knows what she’s doing. {sorry the picture’s so blurry – my phone’s camera is trying to tell me it’s time for an upgrade to iPhone 5 – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it}.
Next, slide in the grass. You may need some hot glue to get those to stick in place. Then your gluing may get out of hand because it’s time to attach the pretty bow you made from the wire ribbon {yes, I realize her bow is much prettier than mine}, and attach your adornments. You can go with her butterflies, or attach some shells like I did.
The end result is a happy, springy pop of color that’s pretty but not overly flowery and, all in all, takes you about 15-20 minutes and less than $20 to make. That’s a win in my book.
I’m hoping to get some more projects done off my list, but first, I have to honor my commitment to downsize and get some more stuff out of the house. Then I’m only making things that will 1) only fill a portion of the space I’ve created by getting rid of stuff, and 2) fit with our decor plan for the townhouse we’re moving into in Hawaii. I’m being really picky about the decor for the townhouse because we’re going to be renovating it for sale. That means it’s going to have to be staged for sale, so we’re going to be experiencing living in a catalog house for a while. Dream? Or absolute nightmare? I’m thinking the latter!
Anyway, for this project and more like it, go check out Kim’s amazing craft tutorials at Sand & Sisal!