Witchy Wreath

Witchy Yarn Wreath (iPhone pic, sorry!)

I found an amazing blog a few weeks ago, Eighteen25 (thanks Ally and Kari!) and came across a spooky bat yarn wreath. I was ready to make it when I realized there was no way I was going to cut out a dozen tiny bats since I don't have a Cricut (yet!). I decided I needed to come up with an alternate wreath so last minute I saw some plastic, glittery witch hats and hot glued them on to my yarn wrapped wreath.

I like shortcuts.

It was recommended that the white craft styrofoam wreath be painted the color of your yarn, but I didn't have gray paint first of all, and it was 9:30 PM when I decided to make this project. So, I just wrapped, and wrapped (and wrapped some more) until the wreath was completely covered in gray yarn. It probably took up half of that new court show with that really good actress. You know which one I'm talking about? Kathy Bates? I don't know. I digress.

After I wrapped the yarn up, I secured the two loose ends with a dot of glue from my glue gun. Then I arranged the little witch hats and stuck them on with glue. I took about a 24 inch long piece of glittery purple ribbon and tied it around the wreath so it could hang from the hook on my front door.

If I had patience, I would have found cuter accessories, but I was so anxious to do this project, that I just went with what I had. I would love to do a wreath with spiders and ghosts, but this worked! Also, I love that it's not the traditional orange and black, but purple and gray instead.

Hope you like it!

Goodbye Christmas. Hello 2010!

We decided to take down all of our Christmas decorations today. Surprisingly, it only took about an hour. Since we started decorating as soon as we moved in, it feels like our house is less moved in than it was the first week we were here! We have a huge void in one of our arches in the living room. The only thing in that huge nook is an electrical outlet! So I have no idea what to do with that space. Seriously, we need help guys! Give me some ideas pretty please!

On another note, it's almost 2010! I have mixed feelings about 2009. Personally, and as a married unit, we had a pretty great year. We adopted the sweetest puppy a person could ever hope for and we bought our first home. Oh yeah, and I got a job as a teacher this year! For some of our friends though, it has been the worst year of their lives. Here's to wishing everybody the best year in 2010! Happy New Year!



View of most of the living room. Two equal arches on both sides of the fireplace. New sectional (see previous posts) will replace ugly bachelor couches soon! I'm not really a fan of that bookcase against the wall on the left either. Excuse the mess... although the Christmas decor is packed, it's not yet in the garage!


View from the front door. Arch is on the left. Pardon the poor quality of the pictures -- I was playing around with the shutter speed.

Goose's first Christmas!

It was our baby's first Christmas!!

Christmas with the Simons! (All of us!)

Oops for not getting pictures of the whole family! Sadly, I was pooped and passed out in my snuggie shortly after lunch. Unfortunately, family was still here! Our dining room furniture still hasn't made it over here yet, so we dined in the breakfast room. Thanks to Dianna (Mom Simons) for the C&B Nuit settings... it only took four years* but now we have enough for us to eat on!







*Apparently before we were even engaged I created a C&B registry. Shortly before getting married (which was about two years after creating the faux registry) we received one place setting in the mail and were super confused. It's now a running joke and every Christmas Dianna gets us one more setting. In four years we can have both sides of the family over for dinner!!

Christmas with the Jones'!!

We got Papa a digital picture frame so he can see his family whenever he wants. I spent hours on Christmas Eve uploading pictures from my parents' computer. Then we wrapped it up in the original packaging. Perfect!


I totally surprised Zac with a new LCD tv for the bathroom! The look on his face was priceless when he saw it. Giving is SO much better than receiving!


Again, I totally rock at surprises. After all the gifts were unwrapped we asked Megan (a la A Christmas Story style) if she had a good Christmas and if she was happy with all of her gifts. We told her to go to the office because there was one more gift left. This is her discovering she in fact DID get a PS3. She just LOVES having her picture taken so this shot captures her perfectly.


I hate Tinkerball with a PASSION. Megan got me Tinkerball wrapping paper. The hideous look on my face should give an accurate description of how I felt.

Deck the Halls! falalalala....

I love decorating for Christmas. I have to make up for last year when I had no motivation since we were in an apartment. Plus, it's Goose's first Christmas so it has to be special! Oh, and the new house is a pretty good reason to go all out, too. ;) We debated getting a new tree this year since our tree was bought five years ago when we lived in an 800 sq. ft. apartment with hardly any room for a tree. We ultimately decided to keep this one and use the potentially $250 for LED lights, bills, and other Christmas decorations for the house. I dragged out the DSLR for the first time in months just for the occasion.