How to Easily Create a DIY Spring Wreath

Hey Everyone!! 

Spring Break is fast approaching and I am happy to welcome it!  

While Spring doesn't officially starts until March 20th, I thought we could get a head start and take advantage of the several sales the local crafting stores have available now. 

My last spring wreath was fairly easy and inexpensive to make. The total spent on making the above wreath was approximately $23.79.  

Unfortunately the ribbon didn't last very long and the letter became unglued.  Therefore, instead of fixing it I decided to change the look of it completely.  

Of course, we saved some money by using the same grape vine round wreath form.  We saved even more by buying the "Hydrangeas" at 40% off at my local craft store.  

I originally purchased eight (8) Hydrangeas, but as you can see on the above picture, it doesn't look as full as I wanted the wreath to be.  

I decided to go back to Michael's and buy two (2) more Hydrangeas and rearrange the flowers to bring them closer together until I was happy with the result.

Now, after seeing and taking in consideration both looks, I felt like it was missing something.

As I mentioned in the video, the technique is not new but it was new to me.  It is fairly easy to make, however, I had a hard time cutting the "v" due to the fact that my ribbon was a little bit thicker and my stack doubled in size because I used two sets of ribbon instead of one.

To learn more about it visit:  How to Tie a Bow from DIY Ready  

Total amount of dollars spent in flowers         $34.90

Ribbon                                                                    $  6.00 
Grape Vine Wreath Form                                     FREE
Large Letter                                                             FREE

And now my beautiful wreath is done! 

To view more of our DIY Wreaths make sure you follow us on Pinterest: Caramel Curlz & Swirls Pinterest

DIY: Spooky Halloween Wreath

Hello everyone and welcome back!! 

Yes, this is another tutorial on how to make your own festive wreath! If you thought our Festive Fall Wreath Tutorial  was cheap and easy.  Then you won't believe how much we spent on the materials we used to create this "Spooky Halloween Wreath".  Are you ready for me to blow your mind? Let's start...

We usually cover our front door with a Light Up Grim Reaper that also makes a scary noises every time you push the button.  Unfortunately, we've had the door cover for some time now and it was time to replace it.  

Our daughter expressed her desire to do a Halloween wreath instead of a door cover and who was I to say "no" to such request! 

She searched Pinterest for a while, and kept coming back to a few designs but she couldn't decide which one she wanted.  Therefore, we decided to combine all designs into one!

Below are her two favorite designs:  

  

Spooky Halloween Wreath:

The Materials: 

3 Spools of Bronze Ribbon 
2 Bushes of Black Roses with Orange Glitter
1 Pack of 6 Glittered Spiders
2 Green Glittered Twirls
1 Medium Black Crow
1 16" Wreath Foam Form

The tools you will need: 

Wire Cutters;
Scissors;
Glue Gun

Step 1: 

Start by wrapping the bronze ribbon all around your wreath form; 

Apply hot a few drops of hot glue to keep the end of ribbon in place;

I used approximately 2.5 spools of ribbon;

Step 2:

Cut the stems of the roses, make sure you leave approximately 1 to 1.5 inches of wire; 

Once you've determine where you want to position the flowers; 

Smear a bit of hot glue at the bottom of the roses;

Quickly puncture the ribbon using the wire and push all the way thru;

Repeat the above steps until your have utilized all the roses.

STEP 3:

Hot glue the little creepy spiders onto the wreath;

Step 4:

This is going to be a bit difficult, you will need an extra pair of hands to help you hold the 

wreath while you glue the crow onto it; 

Remove the crows feet, they will only get in your way, plus the bird will be more

secure if you glue it directly onto the wreath.

Step 5:

Carefully separate each twirl from the main stem; 

Find the perfect spot before you glue them onto the wreath;

THE FINAL RESULT! 

And here it is! Our Spooky Wreath all finished ... 

Let's go over our expenses shall we? 

3 Spools of Bronze Ribbon ......................................................$4.47
2 Bushes of Black Roses with Orange Glitter ......................$2.49
1 Pack of 6 Glittered Spiders .................................................$1.49
2 Green Glittered Twirls ........................................................$2.98
1 Medium Black Crow .............................................................$5.39
1 16" Wreath Foam Form ......................................................$5.39

                                                                      TOTAL................$22.21

Frozen- 5th Birthday Celebration

Hello Ladies! 

Wow, I can't believe my baby girl is not five years old!! Where has the time gone?  I remember when she was attached to my hip all the time.. wait, she still is! :) 

This year my daughter is fascinated with the movie "Frozen", and her favorite character is Elsa.  When the time came to pick a theme in order to get ready for her big 5th Birthday Bash, I knew she was going to make me work.  But nothing could have prepared me for the ordeal I was about to face.  

After visiting Party City, Michael's and Walmart on several occasions, I realized that I was not going to be able to buy anything in store since all decorations were sold out.  

I was able to obtain the following items on Partycity.com; 

Since I couldn't find much online either, (all items were out of stock), I had to come up with different ideas as to how to bring her "Frozen" Theme party to life, and here is what I did to do just that.

THE INVITATIONS: 

Unfortunately, the blank "Frozen" invitations were sold out in store as well as online but I was able to find the above invitation on Etsy.com. Once I contacted the seller and provided her with all the required information, I had the file in my inbox within an hour.  

I no longer have a color printer otherwise, I would have saved even more, therefore I had to send the file to OfficeMax to be printed.  

If you have a color printer at home, then you will be saving about $10.00 to $15.00 depending on how many invitations you need.   

THE DECORATIONS

The above pictures shows what our table looked like before the party started. 

You will need the following: 

1. Opa Opalessence Table Cover which can be found at Party City;

"Opalessence table covers have iridescent fibers which give them a lively rainbow-like glow. This tablecover features a predominantly white color with this same glow, is 2-ply (1 plastic and 1 paper), and measures 54" x 108" (about 40.5 square feet)."

Our Sparkling Mountains

1. Four (4) different sizes of Cone Shape Foams; I purchased these from Michael's.  

I used two large and two mediums. (Below is a picture of some of the sizes you can use)

2. Two (2) Glitter Roll Wrapping paper, I also purchased the rolls from Michael's;

3. Glue Gun; regular tape does not work on this type of paper.

Our Candy Dishes:

I used four serving bowls for our candies.  Rock Candies were such a hit last year that I decided to have them again.  The fact that the Rock Candy Sticks have a ball handle, which makes them easier for little hands to grab and the sugar crystals look like glistening gemstones gave the perfect touch.  

1 Caribbean Small Swirl Plastic Bowl (about 5.5 inches) with small White Gumballs; 

1 Clear Medium Flared Bowl with medium size Caribbean Gumballs;

For the rock candy I used the following

2 Clear large flared cylinders (7.6 inches tall); 
2 Glowing sticks;
1 Pack of Caribbean Blue Decorative Gems;
1 Pack of Clear Decorative Gems; 
1 Pack of 8 Caribbean Blue Rock Candy Sticks; and
1 Pack of 8 White Rock Candy Sticks;

 Place the Caribbean Blue and Clear Decorative Gems at the bottom of the bowls;

    

      

insert one glowing stick in the center then place the Rock Candies in dish.  

 

THE BACKGROUND

I used my son's blue curtains to cover the curtains that I currently have in my dinning room and carefully taped the Snowflakes strings from the top (slightly behind the curtain rod) in order to create a "snowing scenery".

  

     I could have used so more hanging snowflakes bu my Husband thought that was enough.  

OLAF

Olaf, the singing and twirling snowman was given to Ms. Bree as a Christmas Gift.  Olaf can say different sayings including his famous quote "Some people are worth melting for"! I thought it would be a great idea for him to be part of my main table as a decoration and have him sing while the kids worked on the activities.  

 The snowflakes I used to decorate the "cake stand" were actually Christmas Decorations Ms Bree picked to decorate Christmas Tree. 
 They worked perfectly and I didn't have rush to find them because I had left them on Ms Bree's dresser.  

THE BANNER

I must say that I WAS disappointed when I open the package containing the Birthday Banner.  Last year's banner was at least 7 feet tall and it cover the entire entry way to my dining room!  

This banner was extremely small and I had to make last minute adjustments in order to make my foyer look a little more full.  Overall, it was okay but they could have done a better job with the banner.

 THE CAKE

The cake was another story.  I had told myself I was not going to bake her cake this year but when I went to Publix to order it, they didn't have it. Apparently they don't have a license to produce it and I couldn't find it anywhere else.  

So, my dear husband helped and suggested that I do a winter cake and use her dolls!!  After that the wheels in my brain were turning day and night.  

If you follow my posts you know that I have a very large Christmas Village, which includes "TREES", the very trees you see on the cake!  

Elsa, Ana and Olaf came in a set that her daddy had given Ms Bree for as a Christmas Gift... see how Christmas saved the day! 

It was a very simple cake but I think it did the job!  

THE ACTIVITIES

"MAKING OLAF"

 To make the Olafs you will need the following: 

1 Bag of Large Marshmallows;
2 Snack Size Bag of Carrots;
1 box of flat toothpicks
1 tube of Black Sparkling Gel (use to decorate cookies, cupcakes, etc.)

Note: cutting the baby carrots in smaller pieces are easier to use, unless the children was a "big carrot nose".  

FACE PAINTING EVENT

The face painting was done by Ms. Alyson, she is a local artist and has been part of some of the most popular events. 

She has done the kids' face painting on several occasions and her amazing painting abilities convinced me that she was the best person to have at our party.  

"Spider Man"

"Butterfly"

"A Princess"

THE GIFTS

I normally would wrap her gifts in "princess" theme wrapping paper, unfortunately, I could not find any "Frozen" wrapping paper.  

In order to match the theme, I used the following: 

1 Caribbean Blue wrapping paper ($3.99) that I found at Party City;

2 Curling Ribbons (one in white and one in baby blue) 

Flowers (2.99 for a pack of 12) and flower shape gems (3.40 for a bag of 100 pieces)I found at Michael's;

 Ms. Bree was truly happy not to only have her friends be part of her birthday celebration, but Grandmother and Papa were also there. 

I had a lot of fun making all the decorations from scratch, although physically I was exhausted, my heart was full of joy because all the children had fun from beginning to end, Ms. Bree was very happy with every single thing, from the silver balloons to the simple cake Mommy made for her.   

At the end, she was tired but happy, refusing to remove her face painting, she told her daddy 

"Just hold me daddy, I love you but I'm tired" 

Regardless to what the result is, children are always aware of how hard we (the parents) work to bring their dreams to reality and they truly appreciate our efforts.

THE END