Walnut Wreath

Howdy Ho, Friends!

Are you getting excited for the weekend yet?

I know it's not Friday, but around here everyone is getting ready for the football game of the year. We love football--especially Cat/Griz.

Go Cats!

So while I am preparing the food and festive activities for this weekend I thought I would share another one of my simple, but fun Christmas tutorials.

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I did it. I jumped on the bandwagon. I mean, really, who wouldn't? I have seen them all. Lima bean wreaths, hazel nut wreaths, candy wreaths, feather wreaths, cupcake wreaths--wreaths, wreaths, wreaths.

So I did it, I gave in and made a walnut wreath.

 The supplies are simple. However, finding walnuts proved to be a more difficult venture. I am sure you will have better luck finding them then I did. I finally found some at Wally World...go figure ;)

 So I bought four bags of the JUMBO walnuts. I am not a walnut expert but they are big guys! I ended up using every single one; so if you use a ten inch wreath form then you may want four bags as well.

 I started off by gluing the walnuts to the wreath. I made sure to also glue the walnuts to each other for added support.

Fairly simple, right?

When I finished my wreath weighed the size of a small large country.

I knew I wanted to coordinate my wreath to match my Christmas colors so I gave it a coat of Kilz Primer as well as a nice cover of Krylon white spray paint. 

 the spray paint obsession continues.....

 While the wreath dried I sorted through some fan-tabulous ornaments that I picked up at Wal-Mart. I decided to use these ornaments to embellish the wreath.

The best part about these little guys is that they were only a dollar a piece.

Sparkly, cute, and cheap, what could be better?

 I then took my nifty glue glue and stuck the ornaments to the wreath, added a coordinated ribbon and hung the sucker on our front door!

Voila!

Update: Because this wreath is so heavy make sure that the ribbon is very secure. I had a near scare last year. Now, that it has a better ribbon it has hung on a peg in my basement all year without falling.

FYI.... don't forget to enter this week's lovely giveaway from Shabby Apple!

Wednesday Giveaway

I am so excited giddy about today's giveaway.

Seriously, friends, this one is awesome.

 Have you heard of Shabby Apple?

If you have then you know they carry the most amazing women's dresses, clothes, and accessories.

 Not only do they create fabulous dresses and skirts for everyday style, but they also have a great selection of maternity dresses, girls dresses, blouses, swimwear and fitness apparel.

And today...

Shabby Apple has so graciously decided to giveaway one of their "bow" skirts to one lucky Spunky Junky reader.

I love this skirt because it fits practically any body style, and it has that slim and sophisticated look to complete any outfit.

Imagine wearing this baby to your work Christmas party?!

Hello, Hottie!!!

So how would you like to win a "bow" skirt (you pick the color of your choice of course)?

Here's how you can win:

Mandatory

Become a fan of Shabby Apple on Facebook-make sure to come back and tell me (1 entry)

All entrants must be public followers of Spunky Junky (1 entry)

Optional:

Visit Shabby Apple and come back and tell me which dress is your favorite (1 entry)

Blog, Tweet, or Facebook this giveaway (3 entries) 

And a a bonus, Shabby Apple is offering 10% off your entire purchase just by using the promocode:

SPUNKYJUNKY10OFF

Good Luck!

All giveaways are open to US addresses only.

No exchanges can be made for the winning dress.

The opinions in this post are mine only--I have not received any endorsements for this post.

The Blissful Market

For all of our local friends!

I would love to see you at this wonderful event! More information to follow!

Ribbon Organizer

Hey Friends!

For those of you that are new to Spunky Junky this week I am showcasing all of my favorite Christmas projects from the past, and on Friday I am having a wonderful link party where you can show off your favorite projects too!

Sounds fun right?!

The project below isn't technically Christmas--but it always seems that around this time of year I am using yards and yards of ribbon when I am wrapping gifts, making ornaments, and decorating baggies.

Enjoy!

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Today's tutorial is so simple I think Hunk could even do it. HA!

First thing you need to know...I have this habit of buying ribbon. I mean I have a lot of ribbon. I usually end up taking it off the spool and shoving it all in clear containers. That usually turns into a disaster. When I try to retrieve a specific strand of ribbon I end up pulling all the of out, and then I spend more time untangling my mess then actually doing my project.

I have even tried the hanger trick where you undo a metal hanger and then slide the ribbon rolls onto the straight part--the ribbon would always be hanging down or it would unwind on its own.

ahhhhhh.

So I finally decided to tackle my ribbon once and for all. And this is what I came up with...

For this project you will need:

*slotted Tupperware bin (I found mine in the organization/storage section of Walmart).

*1/4 inch dowel rod (can be purchased at any hardware or craft store).

 I then inserted each ribbon spool onto the rod. Once I had enough spools on the rod I then stuck each end of rod into the holes on each side of the bin.

 Like so...Isn't that cool?

Then I pulled each ribbon end through a hole on the front. Now the spools can't roll and I don't have to worry about a tangled mess.

Cost:

Bin: $3

dowels: $.12 (clearance)

My mental state: sane and gleeful ;)

Thanks for reading!

Tissue Paper Christmas Trees!

Goood Morning!

We have had a bout of the colds around here the last few days. But that hasn't kept us down because it has finally snowed.

We were starting to wonder if it would ever happen. With Christmas music playing in all the department stores, ornaments lining the shelves of Walmart, and Holiday commercials on the tv it didn't seem right to be celebrating the holidays without some snow.

But it is here and I am happy.

It now means wool socks, crock pot soup recipes, hot chocolate mornings, flannel sheets, and pea coats--just to name a few of my favorite things.

This week in celebration of the snow and because I just can't hold out much longer I am going to by revisiting some of my favorite Christmas tutorials, as well as showcasing some new ones too!

On Friday there will also be a Holiday Link Party where I would love it if you linked up your favorite Christmas tutorials, Holiday recipes, Christmas traditions--whatever you want!

So without further delay here is one of my lovely Christmas tutorials from last year!

Enjoy!

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So remember how I talked about hoarding? Well, if you don't remember check it out. I hoard a lot of things. One thing that I just can't break the habit of hoarding is tissue paper. I unwrap presents carefully so as not to rip the tissue paper. I then stack in nice, neat piles. The stack is tall...I mean very tall...and very annoying to Hunk. I just can't bring myself to throw it away. It's an addiction.

Sooooo, I figured out a way to put all that tissue paper to a good use.

 That's right! I made Christmas trees out of tissue paper, and it was soooo easy!

For this project you will need:

*tissue paper (Ten sheets for the large tree and six or eight sheets for the small trees)

*Styrofoam tree foams

*LOTS of hot glue

Once I had made a ba-gillion tissue paper flowers I then started from the bottom of the tree foam and began to glue them in place.

While doing this step I made sure to glue them close enough that I didn't see the Styrofoam, but not so close that they overcrowded one another.

When I was finished I used the extra tissue flowers to fill in the bare spots! Note: You will see that I started off using polka dot paper, but I ran out...So when I started the blue tree above I mixed different colors of blue paper together to provide added texture. I am just that much of a genius ;)....and I will finish the polka dot tree, promise.

Fact: I am somewhat lazy. Okay, maybe I am not lazy, but I hate driving to the store. Sooo, when I ran out of Styrofoam tree foams I decided to make my own. Easy, easy, and it will save you a ton of money. AND, since YOU will be covering it up, who cares what is underneath the tissue paper!

Note: I used a cup as the base because it has a curled lip and it was more sturdy then just using scrapbook paper....it also provided extra height to the tree.

I knew I wanted a variety of textures so for the green tree I cut  tissue paper in 1 1/2 inch wide strips and rolled them into rosettes. NOTE: occasionally place a dab of glue on the rosette as you roll so it stays together. Once I had finished making a few I would glue them to the ghetto, yet ingenious, tree form.

Didn't they turn out great!

And the price?

Styrofoam Tree form: $3.99

Tissue Paper: FREE

Paper cup tree forms: FREE

Time: 2.5 hours

Look: Supa' Stylin'

If you would like to see the original post you can visit it here.

Also, don't forget to come back tomorrow and thanks for reading!