Simple Rosemary Wreaths to Dress Up the Kitchen

We have actually finished our Holiday shopping! Granted, we get it easy this year since both kids are with their other parents and we decided to plan a trip rather than do gifts for each other. Still, it's nice to check it off the list! Now I sit back and watch White Christmas while spilling glitter all over. I heart Danny Kaye.

Today's project is seriously the easiest thing but I LOVE IT SOOOO MUCH. Forgive me for yelling. I just can't contain my enthusiasm.

Gargantuan rosemary bush + ribbon + sparkly snowflakes = Happy Me!

Now, I recognize that not everyone has a massive rosemary bush to hack away at when the mood strikes. We happen to be really lucky that there is one right in front of the door to our apartment. In the beginning I felt guilty chopping it up, but I figure it's better being put to use in my house or cooking than being mercilessly trimmed and left for yard scraps by Groundskeeper Willie.

See? Isn't that AweSome! I've had this little tiny sucker for about 4 years and look how tiny it is still:

When we graduate and get jobs the first thing I'm doing is planting rosemary somewhere in my yard. Ok, probably not. The first thing will be a happy dance and THEN I'll plant the rosemary.

These couldn't be easier. Cut a length of rosemary about 12-15 inches and form a loop. I've found that the younger thinner stems are more flexible, the older ones are too woody and they just snap in half. I used green embroidery floss to tie the ends and then trimmed the stray edges. Hang it from the top of your cabinets with a loop of ribbon (just tape it inside the door) and then adhere a sparkly snowflake.

The broken or otherwise random pieces of rosemary got tucked into my garland. I was hoping to smell it but I really don't.

That branch the center snowflakes are sitting on is actually rosemary.

They are so simple but I really, really adore them. Like, a ridiculous amount. They make me smile everytime I see them. This is what I was talking about when I said I'd show you how I used the snowflakes. I tried using them in more complicated arrangements but in the end, the sparkle was just right with a little bit of nature.

I'm in love.

Snow Where it Rarely Snows

Once in a while I miss the snow. Not often, mind you. Especially without a garage. I would gladly take the deluge of rain in an Oregon winter than have to scrape my windows and preheat my car without in an apartment parking lot, but I do miss the gleaming sparkle of fresh powder early in the morning. You know those days; When you wake up and peek outside to see what things are doing and the air is crisp and still, the sidewalks, streets, and trees covered in a smooth sheet of white that glistens under a streetlight or as the Sun begins to rise. Oh, it is lovely. {Said while wearing sweats in a 70 degree house and contemplating making hot chocolate to enjoy the current lack of rain.}

I can appreciate the beauty of snow while also appreciating that I don't have to deal with it, right?

In keeping with my blinging up Christmas, I made this silly little sign rather spontaneously. This frame holds a simple Valentines Day sign I made last year and I just decided today that it would become part of the normal Holiday rotation.

As I often do, I started with rummaging through our recycling. This box was just the right size so I chopped it up and kept a piece that 5x7 inches.

Then began the highly technical process of painting the cardboard (paperboard? whatever it is) white and sprinkling with snow while it was still wet.

Yep, it looked about like that. I just put the school paper down to keep glue off my cutting mat. I let it dry for a while, and naturally the paper started to curl.

So I flipped it over...

... and put grad school textbooks to good use flattening it out!

Where I let it hang out for a while until it was completely dry. Then I grabbed this package of thickers:

And ended up with this:

Which was fine, but I didn't completely love it. I like the sparkle and the simplicity, and the grey letters which are more subtle in person, but I just looked at it and said "meh." Until I played around with different locations, added some glittery snowflakes, and ended up here:

Much better.

Now I've got a sparkly bit of Holiday cheer to stare at as I wash dishes.

Craving Some Sparkle

I have long loved natural, rustic decor for Christmas but lately I've been needing a little more sparkle in my life. I blame it on a friend who's no longer in the Grad school world and has a lot of fun decorating her home. I'm determined to stick within my budget of $0, for a little while at least, so I tried to add a little sparkle using only what I could round up at home.

For a few years now I've had these foam cutouts from American Crafts waiting to be used:

That was my launching point. Since my tacky glue is running low, I turned to a staple in our house: regular washable school glue. Tell me I'm not the only one who stocks up on this stuff when it's on sale for a quarter...

I decided to try a couple different types of sparkle. First, was fake snow. I bought a bag of this a few weeks ago hoping to make snow globes but it hasn't happened yet. I love the mixture of textures and opacities in the bag and wanted to see if this would work.

After covering the snowflake with glue I buried it beneath a pile of "snow" and pressed down to make sure it was stuck pretty well. Then I just let it sit as a happy little haystack and dry for a few hours.

You may have seen this coming, but the snow stayed put in a bulky pile and had to be cut away for the snowflake shape to show. I don't have a picture of the cutting because I was a little all-consumed by it, but I'm sure you can imagine that part. And yes, it is very messy. I'm lucky my kids weren't home during this phase. Oy Vey. That would have been a mess and a half more than the mess I ended up with on my own.

Next, I tried a tube of silver Crayola glitter glue. My kids love the idea of those things but once it gets about halfway used they really struggle to squeeze the glue out and we have a bunch of half-used tubes hanging around. It seemed perfect, and not messy since there would be no loose glitter or snow floating around.

I found the glue really thick and tricky to maneuver so after doing this one snowflake I decided one was enough and moved on.

Which brings us to regular, fine grained, silver glitter of awesomeness. Seriously, who doesn't love a little glitter? In other news, this project got me to finally vacuum.

I love the mixed pile of glitter/snow leftovers all mixed together. You better believe I scooped that stuff into a baggie to use next time I feel like blinging something up a little.

Which ones do you like best?

I can't quite decide. I had more fun making the glitter snowflakes because the snow ones were a bit cumbersome to cut out afterwards, but I really think they are worth it. The texture is awesome from the fake snow, but the glitter bounces light around better. So, really, I like them both and keep changing my mind about which I like better. 

I mixed some into my garland just for a little bit of contrast and I really like how subtle they are. Then I used some for another project I'll show you tomorrow!

How do you feel about a little bling in your Holiday decor? I'm rapidly becoming consumed by it.