The nut wreath how-to

I wanted to share my how-to on making a nut wreath. Now while Martha Stewart makes one of her own, sometimes it's nice to see more pictures. All while knowing that anyone can actually make something of hers and have it come out right (ie the tissue paper puff disaster).

This is a wreath I wanted to make for fall, but the dang nuts in the shell don't come out till later in the fall season. Oh well, at least I'll have it for next year.

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What you'll need:

~Mixed nuts (in shell)*
~MDF wreath form
~Hot glue gun
~Strip of ribbon
~Spray on clear coat (optional)

*For the 6" wreath form I used about a one pound of nuts.


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Start placing and hot gluing the nuts onto the form. I started with the larger nuts (walnuts and Brazil nuts) and then filled in with the smaller nuts (pecans, almonds and hazelnuts).


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Glue nuts to base form and to each other for a secure hold.


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Get distracted and take "artsy" picture of table cloth.


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Start filling in. Be sure to look at it from all angles to make sure you don't have any open/empty spots.


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All done! At this point you can spray on a clear coat, which I'm hopping will help keep the nuts from rotting and also deterring those damn squirrels. If you do this, wait till the clear coat is dry and then glue the ribbon on the back to create a loop (so you can hang it).



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I hope to have a second wreath done in a day or two so I can have the whole thing put together and hanging. As soon as I do that I will post pictures.

In the mean time, give this a try. It's really quite simple! If you do make one, let me know how it goes!

Craft projects...

...coming soon!

So check back in the next week or so, as I start posting some of my takes on craft ideas that I have found in my mass amount of Stumbling.

One of the things I have been working on creating is a nut wreath (dirty minds unite!).


Via MarthaStewart.com


Look for that DIY and a post on my take!

It will be so nice to get back into crafts. It's been nice and relaxing!

Keeping my VIB status

I got an email from Sephora the other day saying that I was almost at the point of getting my VIB status renewed for next year. When I discovered that I only had to spend $27 dollars, I rushed to my nearest store and shopped.

The shopped some more.

Folks, I was stumped. There was nothing I needed and for once I wasn't caught up in the "buy it just to get it" mindset that I sometimes get stuck in.

I flopped back and forth on Buxom's "Stay-there" eyeshadow. I had gotten it in Pug and fell in love with it, so I was thinking about trying Mutt. Then the logical side of me kicked in and said that I already have too many eye shadows.

I hate that side of me.

Luckily I noticed that they had in their new holiday nail polishes, so off I went to put back Mutt and come back to grab "What's Your Point-settia" and "212-Sephora"


What's Your Point-settia


"212-Sephora"

Of course I am very happy about these colors, but I am even more happy to be keeping my VIB. As always, as soon as I get them on my nails I will try to post about them.

Are there any nail holiday nail colors that you have been eying?

Wedding outfit help!

Very last minute we found out that we are going to a wedding...tomorrow. After a desperate search through my closet, only to find nothing semi-formal that I currently own fits (yay extra weight), I went on another desperate search at our local mall.

I found a few cute dresses, but nothing I loved. Especially for $150+. I kept telling myself that as I lose weight I may never get to wear this dress again...so why bother spending a lot. But I also didn't want to look like crap. So today I had the brilliant thought of go to the Von Maur. So glad I did. I found not only one...but TWO perfect dresses. I left the store with both after dropping $60 on both. Awesome deal, I know!

So now I that I have the dress, and what I believe to be a pashmina to wear, I need help with the shoes.




I own all four of these shoes, but keep in mind that I also have quite a few open toe shoes in both black and silver. Also, if you think another color would look better, let me know cause I just might have a dressy enough shoe in a brighter color.

Let me know what you think:

1. Pick from one of the four
2. Go with an open toe
3. Bring in color

A pumpkin carving party

This year the husband and I decided we wanted to host a Halloween party. Not wanting to go the normal costume party route, we decided to do a pumpkin carving party. We figured that hosting it on the Friday before Halloween would be great and give people a chance to have their pumpkins out for a few days.

Yeah...not so much. The base housing had a different idea and decided that trick-or-treating was also going to be Friday night. Lamesauce. We went ahead with the party anyway and just doled out candy in between.

We went the hamburgers and hot dogs path and invited our guests to bring a side dish or dessert. We also supplied Nate's favorite spiced cider drink, Wassail. We did both a regular and spiked version. To differentiate between the two I decided to float oranges studded with cloves in the alcoholic one.

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We bought a pumpkin for every family. At first we were going to place them under one of our trees like a mini pumpkin patch, but the bastard squirrels we're getting into our pumpkins less then a hour after they were set outside. So we had an inside pumpkin patch. Not quite as fun and glamorous, but it worked.

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After some burgers the knives and drills came out. Yet you heard that right...drills. Lets just say power tools make the pumpkin carving that much more fun.

When all was said and done, we ended up with some really great pumpkins. It was a lot of fun seeing what everyone did and the different paths we all took to create our glowing artwork.

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The Pumpkin "Pi" was my husband's doing.

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We also had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle courtesy of our neighbors. The one behind it was my drilled masterpiece. What can I say, I love drilling my pumpkins and I have to do one every year.

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And you can't have carved pumpkins without the classic face.


All in all I'd say we had a great time and hopefully our neighbors and friends did as well. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday without having to dress up, which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween. Christmas is quickly creeping up on us!
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