30 November 2007

wreath and advent and hello!

Sorry for the long blogging absence! I just haven't had the brain space for crafting or blogging lately. Living in a new place, with a new job and new people, I'm finding that different priorities, needs, and plans are filling my head. I don't know yet whether the blog will grind to a halt, or limp along in a sad sort of fashion until it again becomes a larger part of my life, as it used to be. But regardless of the future of my little blog, I do want to say how much I have valued these friendships, and how big a role they have played in my growth, both artistically and personally, over the last couple years. This crafty blogosphere is a really really really really special place (really really). really.

We are slowly getting in the holiday mood around here. Over Thanksgiving, my Mom, sister and I made a new wreath for our front door. We started with a $5 wreath from the craft store and then blingified it. My Mom is the master of wreath blingification, and has made some absolutely beautiful wreaths with fruit, greenery, and other natural kinds of stuff (mostly plastic of course but it looks real). We decided to go a bit less traditional with ours, using glass Christmas balls and candy cane ribbon along with the greenery.

Mom melts hot glue nuggets in an electric griddle, and then you just dip and stick. Voila, blingy. The little bird in the middle of the wreath is from the Martha Stewart Kmart tree-trimming section, as are the candy cane ribbon and folksy christmas balls. I put a pretty penny in Martha's pocket that weekend, between her awesome tree decorations at Kmart and her craft stuff at Michaels. She so has my number.

This weekend we are going to string popcorn and make tree decorations. We are also going to make a new advent calendar from the design I created last year. I don't have any green paper left so I am going to get creative with my Martha Stewart glitter. I am trying not to buy any more craft supplies because it was becoming increasingly obvious that my hobby is no longer crafting; instead it is craft supply-buying. I am a pro at it, I can tell you.


*Update November 2010: This year I've got a new design for my advent calendar and am selling the templates on etsy! Check it out!*

18 comments:

xeyedmary said...

Yay! You're back!! I'm relieved you're OK- I was starting to worry. The wreath is beautiful.
Merry Christmas!
Mary M

sarah said...

thanks, i just had a panic attack today because i haven't made our advent yet and this is perfect!

Sarah said...

Welcome back! I've missed reading your posts. The wreath and calendar are beautiful: I already feel more in the holiday spirit!

Anonymous said...

I've missed you Julie. Glad to hear you're doing well though. I can see who you inherited your crafting gene from...I would never have thought about melting glue gun sticks in an electric griddle!!

Have a great weekend!

Nadia said...

Yay! Nice to see you 'round these parts again.

elizabeth said...

thank you oh so much for the template!!! now here's hoping that i can find some time to make them this weekend :)

Anonymous said...

Sally --
We used a special "skillet glue." It comes as little pellets in a bag for about $6, and I get mine at Michaels (on the same aisle as the floral foam and plastic fruit and wreath forms in the Michaels near me). The best part about this glue is that it doesn't pop off when the temperatures change. We'd used glue guns before, but a sharp drop in temp and the fruit would land on the doorstep.
If you keep looking, you can find an old electric skillet at a garage sale or thrift store, but we were in a hurry, so we just bought one at Kmart. Not too expensive. They do sell special hot glue melters but they're outrageous in price compared to a regular old electric skillet.

Anonymous said...

marmee, you are full of good things! thanks for passing along that electric skillet genius....i so need that!

and welcome back julie! i can't believe it's been two months since i saw you! hope all is well.

ps - let me just add that i hate the new comment format for blogger. hate. it. so. much.

Alicia A. said...

Hello there, julie! I've missed you.

The wreath is very pretty. And I wish I'd seen your advent calendar download about two days earlier. :)

hannah said...

hi julie! nice to see you around here, in whatever form. yay for new things!

sulu-design said...

I'll take your posts whenever I can get them. I'm so feelin' you on the just moved/new people/new places/no time front. I hope you're enjoying it all.
The wreath is gorgeous, and I've always loved that advent wreath. Happy holidays!

Anonymous said...

Julie, you are a genius! Thank you so much for the pdf -- it's the only homemade christmas decoration i've made this year and i'm so glad i did.

http://flickr.com/photos/olivgron/2094374316/

Anonymous said...

Wow - these are so dang awesome. Thanks for the tutorial. Miss Sassy

Nicki said...

Thanks for the PDF, i am def making one of these next year - it looks fab.

Melissa said...

what a great idea. I love it!

anna/village vegan said...

Wow!! I love love love the wreath and the advent calendar. I've bookmarked this for next year!

Happy Christmas.

Anne Koski said...

Beautiful calendar! Thanks for sharing. I'm saving it for a 'next year' project!

Fleur said...

Merci beaucoup pour ce très joli calendrier de l'avent !