I have a problem

The photo is clearly worth a thousand words.

The real problem, though, may not be evident. You might think the problem is my obsession with ribbon, but that is not the problem. The problem is what to do with all of this ribbon. I managed to consolidate several boxes (well, 2) and have the ribbon organized by types and colors. I think I can fit (hide) all of it under my bed. 

See,  that is much better. I feel better about it in any case.

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.

Woodland Christmas Decor

When I decided to make my log boxes for the invitations, I also decided to use a woodland theme for my Christmas decorations. That meant natural materials, greens, browns, and golds. No red. Well, not in the main room anyway. The porch had plenty of red. 


Here a few photos of the woodland theme. 


Christmas tree in green, brown and golds - this is the top of the tree

Overall view of the tree

The fox ornament. Notice the extreme rain through the windows. The day of the first party was seriously rainy. 

I just love what that Jo Ann did here. I had saved some bird's nests that I found to use as decorations. She placed them in the tree and added some Christmas balls as eggs. Then we placed a mother bird around behind the nest. It is my favorite part of the tree. 

Jo Ann also covered some tin cans with my woodgrain fabric. I didn't know what to use them for at first,  then it became obvious that they should hold the bamboo spoons and forks. This was a big hit at the party. 

General design of the serving table. Ben cut some logs for me to use as serving platters. Also a BIG hit at the party. 

Cupcakes were also served on a log, but really a much larger slab with many more cupcakes than shown in the photo. I neglected to take a picture at the party. I get very nervous before a party so I was not able to document how lovely it looked thanks to all my wonderful helpers.

Next post will show the wreaths themselves. Everyone really made beautiful wreaths. 

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.