A Post from Peggy - Disclaimers and an Egg Wreath

Hello friends of the Internets, I'm Peggy and I'm so excited to be able to provide the first post for our little blog! Before I jump in, I feel like there are a few things you should know about me: 1. I do not own a DSLR. I will probably always take pictures from my iPhone or the sweet little point-and-shoot that has served me well over the years. Maybe one day, I'll post Pinterest-worthy photos that will awe and inspire but not today. Or tomorrow. Probably not next week either. When the day comes, believe me, you will know. 2. I am NOT Martha Stewart or even her distant cousin! I'm a girl who likes to craft. Sometimes this stuff turns out GREAT and other times, well...other times my projects are so hideous my 4 year old rolls her eyes and I know she's thinking she could have done a better job. If nothing else, I'm genuine. I will always show you my finished product, no matter how embarrassing it is!

Okay, disclaimers out of the way, let's get to it! So I saw this pin from Tatertots and Jello on Pinterest and thought it looked totally cute. One of my good friends just bought a new house and I thought it'd be fun to take it to her as a housewarming gift! 

So this wreath uses white plastic Easter eggs, which the pinner says can be obtained at Hobby Lobby. Not my Hobby Lobby. Or Target. Or Wal-Mart. Or Michaels. Or Jo-Ann. Ask me how I know--I hauled my kids in and out of each and every one of them! Feeling especially stabby I finally settled on the plain colored eggs you can find ANYWHERE for next to nothing.  So I brought everything home, grabbed a Diet Coke (a crafting necessity) and got started! First I gathered my materials:

• A foam wreath
• Some colored burlap
• Washi tape
• A cute little pinwheel
• Ribbon
• Glue gun and glue sticks

First I decided to cut that wreath in half. Naturally (because I have a Pinterest problem and nearly all of my sentances start with "I saw on Pinterest...") I got this idea from a pin that said if you cut the wreath in half, you get two wreaths for the price of one and it lays better against the door. I'm all over that! So I grabbed a knife and started hacking away..

and then THIS happened

 the wreath started cracking! I decided it wasn't worth it (I'm not always terribly ambitious..) and started wrapping it with ribbon.  Then I ran out of ribbon before it was even half-covered..sigh..and busted out that cute burlap. I wrapped the wreath like so 

my hands aren't really that distorted and freaky. I just needed to both hold the wreath AND take the picture!

because pink is cuter than foam-green. I wrapped it all the way around, keeping it as tight as possible and then used hot glue to fasten the end. 

See the delightful way the hot glue stuck to my finger? Yeah, 

sometimes I forget that my fingers aren't invincible to heat 

and every time the lesson ends with me muttering words I don't 

want my kids to hear their mother say!

Then I called my best friend Camille and we caught up while I wrapped washi tape (as per the pin instructions) around the eggs. This is a little tricky, since washi tape on round objects tends to wrinkle. So keep it as tight as possible and smooth out the wrinkles the best you can with your finger.

Then I started gluing those suckers on, keeping the wreath flat against the table so it would eventually lay flat against a door, and starting in the middle. I kept gluing them on, going outwards until I realized I was about to run out of eggs and I wasn't even halfway through. (I swear I am cursed!)

Luckily I bought two bags of eggs but it took FOREVER to washi tape all of those puppies so I decided I'd just have taped and non-taped eggs and I'd arrange them so it looked like it was supposed to be that way. Gluing, gluing...

GLUED! With that done, I snipped off the handle of the pinwheel, glued that on and then tied the ribbon around the top in a cute little knot. Tada! Egg wreath!

I really need to wash my door. Don't judge.

So in retrospect, I probably would not have washi taped the eggs.  I think that's a good idea with the white plastic eggs to add a pop of color but it just wasn't necessary with the colored eggs. I also would have used a different colored pinwheel that contrasted more. Meh. Woulda-shoulda-coulda..

Here is the cost breakdown of this project:

• Wreath 3.97
• Colored Burlap 4.97
• 2 packages of plastic eggs at 1.97 each=3.94
• Pinwheel 1.00
• Items that I already had onhand-Washi tape, glue, ribbon

Total for this project was 13.88+tax.  I probably could have purchased something similar with a 40% off coupon but then I wouldn't have the satisfaction of telling my cute friend I made it myself and I wouldn't have this blister on my finger that gives me some major street cred in the crafting world. I'm like the Gangster of Glue, but don't be intimidated. I put my washi tape down from the left to the right just like you do.

Until next time!