4th of July Ribbon Wreath

Ok so I've figured out what is going to keep my busy while Jim is traveling... well other than trying to plan every little detail of our lives ;) .....Doing crafts... I mean 2 wreaths in 2 weeks is pretty good right? I'm about finished with a ribbon wreath I made for the 4th of July. I figured I would start with this holiday because if I messed it up I could just hang the balloon wreath since it's Jim's birthday as well as America's. I found a tutorial online that I followed pretty closely... I will make some adjustments for my next wreath but overall I'm happy with it!

Here's what I used
- a styrofoam wreath
- glue gun
- pins
- 11 different types of ribbon in a variety of patterns coordinating with the theme (the spools were anywhere from 4-10 yards)
- about 8 yards of thick (2+ inches) ribbon in a solid color

These were the ribbons I used.  The first thing you have to do is cut the ribbons into 4-6 inch strips... I mostly stayed closer to 4-5 inch strips. I cut about 330 but for this wreath that was too many. If I had gotten a wreath that was round instead of flat I think I would have used them all. Next time I will cut less and just make sure i have some back up ribbon.

Next you use your hot glue gun and glue the ribbon into loops. Make sure to leave at least a 1/4 inch at the bottom so you can make a little flap to glue flat onto the wreath. I didn't take a picture of this but I will for the next wreath I make. The sheer ribbon will definitely leave you with a few hot glue burns but I like the way it looks on the wreath. The wire ribbons look really good because you can shape them into wider loops.

After I made all the loops I wrapped the foam wreath with white satin ribbon using my glue gun and pins. If I did it again I'd use red or blue satin ribbon instead just to make it pop more on a door. 

 Once the wreath is wrapped you can start gluing your loops. Open up the little flap you created and glue it flat. I just alternated ribbons in no particular order. 

Here is the finished product. I may g around the inside and outside edge to make it a little neater and I would make the ribbon hanger a little shorter but I already hot glued it so it's good enough for me. :) 

My husband initially thought I was crazy for doing this as he wasn't exactly sure how it would turn out but encouraged me anyways since he knows I enjoy doing little projects and I must say he loves the way it turned out. Next up... a Halloween wreath. 

Balloon Wreath

So I've been spending more and more time lately doing some craft projects... it gives me something to do when Jim is away and something to do when he's home and playing video games :)

For the last few years I've been scrapbooking and getting better and better at that. Last summer I started making cards and now I'm starting to make other projects from my new obsession... pinterest. So my first project was a balloon wreath.

Here are a few pictures from my project. It was super easy and you only need a few items to make it!
Here is what you need: a straw wreath (don't unwrap it or else it will shed), floral pins (I used about 100 b/c I pinned 2 balloons with 1 pin), 3 packs of balloons (72 count each), white ribbon... that's it

It was a little hard for my obsessive self to not to plan out the distribution of colors perfectly.... but all in all I think it came out pretty well.

Tyler's 3rd Birthday!

Today is our doggy Tyler's 3rd birthday! I can't believe he is 3 years old already! It seems like yesterday we were driving all the way to Alabama to adopt him!

 I had been scouring petfinder.com for weeks looking at all of the sweet little puppies out there to adopt! Then one day this adorable litter in Dothan Alabama popped up and I knew I just couldn't wait a day longer. Jim took about a 4 hour lunch break to drive to Dothan check out the puppies and fill out the paperwork. When he arrived he got really nervous because the lady had told me when I called that there were only 2 left and there was a lady in the parking lot with 2! However she was bringing them back because the dogs she already had didn't get along with new puppies. So there ended up being 4 that Jim could choose from but I had already told Jim that I wanted the all black one. Luckily he was also the only dog not whining around all of the other dogs so Jim took that as a good sign.

 Here is the picture Jim took on his phone the day he went to fill out the paperwork...


He was so tiny. We had to wait to pick him up to take home about an extra week and a half because he had a little cold and they couldn't neuter him until he was all better.


When we finally got the call in the early afternoon that we could go pick him up, I was beyond excited! I was so jealous that Jim had already gotten to see him in person. We drove out there right after I got off work and made it just in time thanks to the time change. We thought he'd be fine just sitting in my lap on the drive home but he was so wild he was running around the floor board of Jim's car so we pulled over for a potty break and ended up putting him in a crate in the back seat. Here we are before the transfer... Tyler is definitely wondering what is going on....

When we finally got home we took him on a short walk and let him start settling in. He still wasn't so sure of his surroundings... he even had to keep an eye on us while he had some water. 

We have had lots of fun memories since the day we brought him home. He is obsessed with playing fetch, loves to swim, absolutely loves to snuggle (the lady who brought him out to us the day we got him said the same thing), is a ridiculously fast runner, is super excited to open presents, and fills our hearts with lots of love. 

Happy 3rd Birthday Tyler!!! 

We love you!