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Get your craft on! // Christmas Card Wreath DIY

Christmas is here!!  Carols are playing, lights are out, and trees are getting decorated.  I love, love, LOVE Christmas. Black Friday hits and my house is playing nothing but Christmas music until January 15th.  So my mom, sister and I all got together with the kiddos for a super fun CHRISTMAS CRAFT DAY!  (You can imagine my crazy excitement).  We did about 3 or 4 crafts total, making everything from Santa's house in the North Pole, to yummy delicious colored chocolates, to the kids making glitter snowmen.  We had a blast!  I took photos of one of our crafts, a Christmas Card Wreath, to post a little DIY so you can all try at home... they all turned out so cute!  Hope you give them a try!  :)  Check out the Pinterest Christmas board for more ideas and DIY for the holidays... Pinterest Christmas Board

The materials I used for these wreaths were popsicle sticks (I painted them different shades of green and brown), garland, ribbon, hot glue, white glue, loose glitter, bells, pipe cleaner, wooden clothespins (I painted them red) and various little fun Christmas decorations.

After painting the popsicle sticks, I arranged and glued them in a layered wreath formation with about 3 or 4 layers to make it relatively strong.

Once the glue on the popsicle sticks dried, I hot glued a ring of garland to the back of the popsicle sticks (I had originally planned on gluing the garland on top but I ended up thinking they were too cute to hide!)

 Next I took the painted clothespins and glued glitter to a few of them.  Once the glitter was glued down and dry, I attached the clothespins to the wreath (about 8 of them in different directions) with hot glue.

Then it was time to start putting decorations on the wreath (yay!!)!  The bells I strung onto a pipe cleaner and wound around the popsicle sticks.  Others I glued on top, etc.  This is the fun creative part where you get to put on anything you love and can make festive!  Clearly from the pictures, you know now that I am a fan of glitter... :)  Add your own special touch in this part of the craft.  It's the super fun part!

Finally I string ribbon around the wreath and tie bows to hang it up and clip on some Christmas cards!  This was such a fun activity and SO customizable.  I just love how many different things you can do with it!  So now it's your turn!  Go crazy and make some amazing funky wreaths!!  And OF COURSE... have amazing and happy holidays :) xoxo

A New England Halloween

Officially back in Arizona now, but had a WONDERFUL break for a couple weeks in Maine with my husband's amazing mom and stepdad! We had the privilege of spending Halloween with family along the gorgeous streets of Freeport, Maine and our cute little kitty cat looked adorable as she trick-or-treated for her very first time!!! The architecture and scenery in Maine and pretty much all of New England is traditional and beautiful (as well as a nice break from stucco and adobe). We were lucky enough to stumble upon gorgeous weather while we were there as well as a freak one-day snow storm just before Halloween. All said and done, it was a fantastic trip, memorable and family-oriented, and couldn't have gone better. I'm already missing Maine, but it's always good to be home. :)

 My bundled babygirl and I in front of her Grammie's garden.

 Daddy already whipping open candy bars at the first trick-or-treating stop! ;)

 And another candy bar... lucky girl!

 Snowy Halloween streets of Freeport, ME.

Hello beautiful house... trick or treat!

And finally a resting stop to eat some yummy food before heading home. :)

Casserole Sundays!

I've been in crazy casserole mode and I'm running out of new casseroles to try! Sunday is my new casserole day. I make them big and fresh so my family has leftovers for lunches during the week! I love how simple casseroles are, whether they are a side dish for the evening or a complete meal! They may get a bad rap sometimes but I'm thinking they are pretty delicious ;) Any special casserole (or one-dish) recipes, books, or web site faves? Let me know // I'll post the ones I try! Below are some photos of my favorite one-dish or casserole recipes! I'm getting hhhhuuuunnnnggggrrryyy!

Back in the game!

Boy oh boy was September a special month!  After being in and out of hospitals for almost 5 weeks, I'm finally back in the game!!! And just in time for a SUPER FUN month... October!! I LOOOOVVVEEEE Halloween and I've been spending tons of time getting ready to revamp our new house with bunches of DIY Halloween decorations! Check out the newest ideas I found on Pinterest below // see the whole board HERE.

Etsy Shop Officially Open!!

Welp! The listings are uploading and the shop is officially up and running! Take a look at the shop and keep your refresh button handy ;) More and more listings will continue to upload. And don't forget! If you have something custom you would like made, I will have a custom option available! I'm already working on a custom piece so keep an eye out for pics :) Hope you enjoy my work!
Etsy Shop

Abbey's Inspiration

Abbey was clearly inspired by all of the art she saw in Sedona this weekend!! 
See all of the adorable photos:  Abbey's Inspiration