Snowflake Wreath & Tutorial

I still have my ornament wreath on my door--now that is January 12th I thought it time to take it down.  For the last few days I have been mulling different ideas around.  There have been several tutorial around the blog-o-sphere about borax crystals.  After some trial and error I came up with this wreath.

First I wrapped the straw wreath with some leftover white sheet from this project.

 Then I made the snowflakes to sit in a borax bath overnight.

To make a snowflake...

 1. Cut pipe-cleaners in half.

2. Stack three together like this...

3. Wrap one around the other two like this...

4.  Cut left over halves in half again.

5.  Take one 1/4 of the pipe cleaner and wrap once around end of each leg.

6.  Some instructions say to put the snowflake in a mason jar.  My snowflakes are too big, so I used a 9x13 glass pan.  Pour the borax mixture until it covers the snowflakes.  I used a 1:3 Borax to water ratio to make my mix.  There was a little too much borax because the crystals formed in less than an hour.

Once the snowflakes are set and dry I hot glued them on to the wreath form.

On the bottom center I made two smaller snowflakes and glued them on top of each other.

Target Dishtowels to Toddler Skirts

I've been going to Target every day this week watching for the toys to go on super clearance.  Most of the Thomas train things are already 50% off--so my little boys birthday is all bought and his birthday isn't until the end of the year!  

I start my shopping trips a the front section--the dollar bins.  Usually I find a toy or two to entertain my munchkins until we get to the toy section.  This time I found these towels and knew exactly what I wanted to do with them...

Aren't they cute?  I love how the heart towels have a fun trim on the bottom.  I bought three packs on the spot, which was a good thing.  When I went back last night all the towels were gone.

By sewing the three heart towels together it made enough fabric for a gathered skirt.  I cut the material in half to make two skirts.  This one needed extra length so I added a pleated 4 inch strip with fuzzy white ric-rac trim.

This skirt is so fun with the extra ruffle on the bottom.

 Because this half of the towel already had the fun trim I just finished off the top edge and added the elastic.

What do you think?  Isn't it perfect for valentine's day?

From this...

To these...

3 towels cut in half= $1.87 per skirt.

Not too shabby!

My Man

I'm not bragging, but I just wanted to tell you how sweet my hubby is.  He actually listened to me all year long as we watched and I commented on cooking shows, or I borrowed certain tools

from his garage to use in the kitchen.  He really surprised me this year for Christmas and got me several things.

I mentioned how nice a tapered rolling pin would be--no handles to grab and worry about bending.  It helped  that Chris Kimball talked about how superior it was and why.  I love America's Test Kitchen, when someone can tell me how and why to do something I am more excited to do or use it.  When I opened a huge box on Christmas morning I was thoroughly surprised with this...

Yippy!  Watch out for some perfectly rolled pie crust and cookies.

Then in a wrapped shoe box I was surprised with this...

Apparently it is not kosher to take a mallet from the garage and use it to pound your chicken for Chicken Cordon Bleu.  Maybe it was a hint that he really liked my Cordon Bleu.

But the biggest surprise was what he made me for Christmas...

A music stand with silhouettes of my two kiddies.  

It is beautiful--thanks for the beautiful and fun surprises.

I love you!