Wreath Making Party Information

Ok, finally I'm getting around telling people a little bit about the party as it's not your typical party. I think I've hosted the wreath making party 3 times in the past.

Basically, the supplies for the wreaths are all here. I've got greenery, wreath forms, various ornaments, many colors of ribbon and 5000 felt balls from Nepal for the wreaths. You don't have to bring anything for the wreath UNLESS you have a very specific theme or idea in mind, then you would need to bring the decorations for your specific theme you want to add to the wreath.

I also will have a pretty complete spread of food - sandwiches, dips and chips, chocolate chip cookies and one other dessert (haven't decided what yet), pasta salad, fruit salad, soft drinks including some beer and wine. If you have a special dish you would like to share, please bring that, but you don't have to bring any food. I think there will be plenty as I tend to overdo things.

The real challenge for the party is parking. My neighbor is the Duncan Chapel fire chief and he has to go out on every call his station gets. We have to leave his driveway readily accessible to allow him to get in and out easily. We may have you park at my brother's new house around the corner and have him drive you here or perhaps park and Publix at the intersection of Poinsett Highway and Old Buncombe Rd and pick you up. I'll post more details later.

It's a fun, creative party. I think you will have fun. I hope to see you here.

Wreath Making Invitations

I finally decided on what to do for the invitations for the wreath making party.

Here are the major components - a little package of candy, the written invitation and little stockings to hold the candy. Finally - one week before the party, I am mailing them out. I have been telling everyone about the party though. I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone.

Wreath-Making Party Time

I've been working pretty hard around the house trying to spruce things up before the wreath-making party on November 30th and December 1st.

I got Carlton to install a new bathtub for me with new subway tiles all around.  That is very exciting. I haven't wanted to admit it, but I had layers and layers of plastic and duct tape around my shower and bathtub for about 2 years that I just tolerated until now. I felt like I had to finish John's house before I could do more stuff on my house. Pictures in another post.

I haven't made my invitations for the wreath-making party yet because I keep debating on what to do. I've got to get those done this weekend.

I thought I would show you a pom pom wreath I finished last year. Jo Ann gave me a great red ornament last week that really goes well with the wreath. If you should decide to make a pom pom wreath, just be aware that you are going to need LOTS and LOTS of pom poms. I'm pretty sure that's over 60 pom poms.

I hope you are having a lovely fall. It remains stunningly beautiful here.

More from the Wreath party

Here are some more photos from the wreath-making party.

Beth did a spectacular wreath matching the bow and the holly along with the metal star in the center.

Lauren always comes to the party and works very hard on her wreaths. It is beautiful as always. She is very talented and creative.

Kelli and her mother show their wreaths. They both made large square wreaths which I love. They made it home safely after having a flat in my driveway. 

Alison and Pressley at the photo booth. Pressley always makes a wreath for one of her teachers.  I think she gets brownie points that way. I did not how seriously funny she is until this year. The Target dog is just hitching a ride on the wreath, not a part of the wreath. 

Those are most of my photos. Alison has a lot of photos from the second night of the party. I will try to get more photos soon. Take care everybody.

More photos from the party

When I conceived of the idea for the party, I figured it would be a bunch of women from work, talking and decorating the wreaths. That is a part of the party, but really the kids enjoy it a lot too. I am amazed at their creativity.

This is Sentell (not sure I am spelling it right). BJ really wants him to wear the bear ear headband.

Bradley and Tiffany with their creations. 

Elisia is the star of this photo. 

Erica with her wreath

Cassandra with her wreath

Asa and Eli posing with their creations.

More photos tomorrow or Friday.

It's about time

The wreath-making parties are over. And here are some of the results. People did a beautiful job this year as they do every year. Since I am having trouble writing posts for my blog (largely because of fatigue), I'm going to show a few at a time.

These two photos might be called the grandchild edition - Karen with her grandchild, Jordan and BJ, the youngest of Ada's grandchildren.

Karen and Jordan

BJ charming my friend Lynn. You can see where someone kissed him on the cheek.

I'm off tomorrow so I hope to post more then.

Wreath Parties #3 and 4.

Well, the final wreath party is done. I had planned having 2 parties on consecutive nights to make it "easier" on me and so everyone where I work would be able to attend. We work 24/7 so whoever works Mondays is almost always off on Tuesdays. It wasn't really easier on me because I worked a 12 hour day shift the day before the parties and the day after. That's was a scheduling faux pax that I will not repeat. 


Anyway, several people weren't able to come so I had "make-up" wreath parties - one with my friend Mendy and one with Ada and Dawn and their kids. Here are some photos from the last 2 parties.  You've already seen Mendy's wreaths. 

Mendy's front door wreath

Mendy's back door wreath

Mendy's mom wreath

For my friend, Karen who could not make it to the party. 

Ada's grandkids - Skye, Asaiah and BJ on the floor in the porch

Ja'Kobe with his wreath, I never spell his name right. He has a lot of personality as do all the grandkids. 

Asaiah with her wreath and her cousin, BJ. I also make an appearance in the mirror. Somehow I am very good at taking shots of myself in the mirror. 

Tiffany looking beautifully color-coordinated with her wreath. 

Dawn's kids are very quiet and were diligently working on their wreaths so I did not get a photo of their creations. They also made a little basket with a "Charlie Brown" tree in it. Very cute.

Finally, The Wreaths! Part 1

Ok, this is not the big reveal because I don't have photos of many of the wreaths, but this gives you an idea of what is made at a wreath-making party.


It's not really designed to be a party for kids, but the kids who did attend were great at the party and came up with great designs. And if they didn't make a wreath, they were very entertaining anyway.

This is Elysia posing with her wreath. She was a very enthusiastic participant.

Group photo of the first night party.

Luke did not want to leave the party. 

Casey and Cooper evaluating her wreath. Luke, Audrey Ann and Emma Kate posing for the camera.

Sara's turn to show off her artistry.

Sara's wreath at home. You can tell she is proud of it as she should be.

Zachary's wreath.  

Ryne's wreath. I hope I spelled his name right.

Cindy is a big Clemson fan and always has this tiger on her door. She designed her wreath to go around the tiger. I think it is beautiful.

Mendy makes most of the bows for me. She wasn't able to attend the official party so we got together on a Saturday to make some wreaths. Mendy made 3 of them that day.

I made a wreath which I mailed to my sister for her birthday.

I also spray-painted some magnolia leaves gold and bronze hoping that they will last more than one Christmas. We'll see. 

My brother was the official wreath photographer. I have not yet received his photos yet. That will be part 2. 

Thank you everybody for making the party a success.

Signs for the party

I planned to post lots of progress photos as I got ready for the wreath-making party, but as the time approached I got more and more anxious about getting actual physical stuff done for the party so I did not manage to do any blog posting. 


Things are more relaxed now so I am able to give you an idea of how things went. 


First I would like to thank everyone who helped me - Kathy, Matt, Sioban (Kathy's grandaughter), Alison, Chandler, Pressley, Mendy, Randy, Martin and his painting helpers, Jo Ann and Rich, Ben and John, Carlton and Chris. If I have forgotten someone, please do not think I am ungrateful, merely forgetful. 


I told Kathy's son, Matt, that I had this vision and that he was helping me realize the vision of how the party should look. One of the important visual elements I imagined was a set of signs to help guide people at the party. The only one I managed to make was the "Wreaths Start Here" sign. I was very proud of it, but quite dismayed that I couldn't do the others. Enter Alison, Chandler and Pressley. Alison and her children are very creative and good at scrapbooking so they made me the rest of the signs.  They saved the vision.

This sign leads to the porch where the greenery and wreath forms were. 

Alison made the cupcake sign. Cupcakes were displayed on some slices of tree trunks that my brother cut for me. That will be in another post.

 Alison's son, Chandler, made my food sign over the food table.

Pressley, Alison's daughter, made the "Decorate Wreaths Here" for the area where we added embellishments to the wreaths - bells, balls, etc.

Pressley, Alison's daughter, made the "Decorate Wreaths Here" for the area where we added embellishments to the wreaths - bells, balls, etc.


I was very tickled about the signs. When I got party ideas I went to some party websites like Hostess with the Mostess. They always give credit for  the "printables" at the parties. I could not have been more happy about my printables courtesy of Alison and her family.

Current projects - finished and in the works

I have a lot going now - lots of family will be coming into town for Thanksgiving, building a shop, preparing to renovate Kathy's kitchen and my bathroom, working tons to pay for everything, and hosting a party that basically takes place over 2 evenings.

Also, people keep having baby girls.

Here is my last baby blanket. It is really more of a play mat because it's a heavy yarn. I used some the peaches and creme yarn that I had on hand. I also learned (finally) how to do a ripple blanket. You really have to be precise in your stitch count to make it ripple as it is supposed to. Not really my skill. I bet I ripped out a section in every row. The good news is that it is a very easy blanket to crochet so if you go back a few stitches, it's easy to get going again.

Here's a better picture of the border.

I think I made that blanket in a week. I have not given it to my neighbor yet because I like to wash them first. And the challenge in washing things in my house is kitty hair. I have to WASH the washer before I put a gift blanket in there so it won't get coated with kitty hair.  I'm doing that now.

Ok, now for the big reveal. I have been making these silly little logs to put my invitations in for the wreath-making party. It has probably taken me 2 weeks to make them but I love them.

Work in progress:

 They are toilet paper rolls covered with Joel Dewberry fabric. I bought some felt balls, collected acorn caps and made acorns to function as the button for closing the little log. I got the idea for the logs from 2 sources - Martha's Yule log favor boxes, of course and from a website called Pretty Little Things. I'll try to post links though I have never done that before. I hope it works.

And here is the finished photo. Not a great photo, but then I am not a great photographer. You'll get the idea.

What looks like little arms is the ribbon closure. It's got holly leaves on top. I am very tickled about this. But like I said 2 weeks of work.

Anyway back to crafting grind. I have to cut out 90 or so holly leaves with my Sizzix cutter. You know how hard it is when you have a day off and the only thing to do is CRAFT. Whew. Tough life.