Simple Wreath Tutorial

Nothing makes your front door look more inviting than a wreath. And our front door was looking pretty uninviting these days. My latest project was actually inspired by a tutorial to make felt flowers I found months ago on It’s The Little Things. They’re really lovely and what better way to show them off than on a wreath. All I needed to make one was some scrap felt I had from another project (you won’t need much), a foam wreath form, a ball of yarn and my trusty glue gun. I was able to make this wreath while the kids were napping peacefully one day. Yes, I am lucky enough to have my 10 month old and almost 2.5 year old nap at the same time. I feel rather fortunate to have a little quiet time midday. And rather than catching up on the 10 million other things I should be doing while my husband is deployed and we’re preparing to move (again!), I made a wreath.

Secure one end of the yarn to the wreath form with a little hot glue and wrap the yarn around the form. Once you reach the beginning, secure the end with some more hot glue.

Attach your flowers with hot glue. So simple. I had a wreath hanger that had been used to hang our Christmas wreath.
Here’s a close up of these lovely felt flowers. They were so much fun to make!

 

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Handmade Christmas Stockings

Our mantle looked pretty sad after the Christmas decorations had been put up. The husband and I had stockings to hang but there were none for the kiddies. Even though my sewing skills are non existent, I thought it would be a fun to make Christmas stockings. And besides, I needed a craft to keep me busy during the evenings while my husband was away during the month of December. After spending a great deal of time perusing Pinterest, I came across this very helpful tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew.

Her tutorial made the project oh so simple even for someone as inept as I am at sewing. I did make a few minor changes from the steps laid out in the tutorial. I bought more fabric than I needed for the project so I could make matching stockings for any future little ones that might come along. I also added a layer of batting between the outer fabric and lining. And finally, I didn’t quilt the fabric for the stockings. (Yikes. Maybe I’ll attempt something like that in the future.) To make them just a little bit extra special and sentimental, I used the kids’ baby blankets for the fabric to line their stockings. I thought it was a great way to make use of these blankets collecting dust in a box in the back of my son’s closet.

For someone with no sewing skills, I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.

 Cute, right? I’d love to have them embroidered in red with the kids’ names.

Babies Don’t Keep

A good friend of mine made this needlepoint for me before the birth of my first child.

It’s hung in a frame above the rocking chair in his nursery since that time. It’s an excerpt from a very sweet poem by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton called, Song for a Fifth Child:

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Any mom could relate. Who hasn’t felt a little overwhelmed at times by everything that needs to be done when there are little ones running around the house or crying out for you? I know I certainly have. Laundry never seems to get folded and put away, dishes sometimes sit in the sink and I have a long to do list that seems to get longer with each passing day. When I feel myself starting to sweat all the small things that go undone, I remind myself to find joy in all those little everyday moments with my kids that seem to pass too quickly. Because that’s what really matters– loving and really being there for your little ones. Holding and rocking your baby, reading that book for the tenth time, kissing that boo-boo– everything else can wait.