DIY Holiday Wreath

Happy Wednesday, folks!  We're officially more than half-way through the work-week and I'm celebrating with a little DIY Christmas wreath adventure.  My inspiration came from this wreath at Target for $24.99 (although it looks like it's on sale now for $22.50).

There are always little things I spot and say, "I could totally make that" (and never do), but this time I actually did.  I started with 3 bags of large white pompoms from Hobby Lobby ($2.99 each).  I considered using cotton balls, which would be cheaper, but I didn't think it would hold up over the years.  The 18" foam wreath was about 4 bucks, and I already had the bells, so the total for this project was about $13.  Half the cost of the inspiration wreath from Target.  Woop woop!

The whole deal is pretty simple...

I started by marking where I wanted my bells.  I actually used a tape measure on account of my OCDness about spacing :)  After I hot-glued them on, I applied the pompoms one-by-one starting from one of the bells and working my way out.  The Target version of this seemed to have a bit of a pattern with the way the pompoms were attached.  Not mine though.  Once I started adding them, I just kind of went with it.

When it was done, I used a little fishing wire and a thumb tack to hang it from the door like the last wreath I made.  If I had a smaller, less stained-glass-y door, I think a silver satin ribbon would be pretty to hang it from.

Here's the end result...

Have a great rest of the week!

Sweet Little Red Wing, MN

As mentioned in my last post, Will and I drove up to Minnesota for Thanksgiving last week.  While much of his family lives in Minneapolis, we spent the majority of our time in Red Wing, a small town about an hour south-east of Minneapolis where his step-dad grew up and now owns a condo.  Red Wing is Minnesota's Mayberry, with small-town charm and traditions of which all the locals know the history.  It's a fun place to escape to after experiencing the hustle and bustle of the big city nearby.

Ever heard of Red Wing Shoes?  Guess where it originated?

The St. James Hotel originally opened in 1875 (yep, just 5 years before our big ol' house was built), more recently renovated by Red Wing Shoe Company.  Maybe it's the "old house gal" in me, but I couldn't get enough of the old features and decor.  

Ah.  Can I just take this dining room home with me?  Check out that tin ceiling!  I'm really diggin' the white paint with navy walls.

I think Will could appreciate a study like this one.

Red Wing has a festival and official "lighting" of the town the day after Thanksgiving each year.  Obviously, we needed to see it firsthand.

Sheep?  Of course!  Why wouldn't there be sheep?

"The 11th annual Holiday Stroll"

It's not Christmas without reindeer pulling carriages, am I right?

There was live entertainment...

They even served free food. FREE! Who does that nowadays?!

We took another trip to the St. James Hotel... this time to visit the cozy bar on the top floor, Jimmy's Pub.

Even Santa paid a visit!  (that's not Santa's martini, by the way)

The drive home was a lot less foggy... but equally as long.

We had a great trip, but it's good to be home.  Back to the grind!

A Minnesotan Thanksgiving

The past few years we've bounced around from place to place for Thanksgiving.  Last year we spent a few days in Evansville, the year before we stayed in Indianapolis and volunteered at a soup kitchen, and for several years prior to that we flew to Tucson to see Will's mom and step-dad.  This year we mixed it up a bit and made the 10 hour drive to Red Wing, MN.  Will's grandpa, uncle, and cousins live in Minneapolis, so we were able to see some of the family we miss the rest of the year.

The drive up was a little wild.  Fog was so dense we could only see clearly about 30-40 feet in front of us.  See the van up ahead?  Barely?

The necessary driving accessories.

See that guy?  Yep, it's a bald eagle!  We had several sightings on the way up!

My Thanksgiving morning consisted of pie-baking.  I'll just toot my horn here for a second and admit that I make a darn good apple pie.  The crust is the key.  Someday I'll post the recipe here.

The master-food-sampler of Thanksgiving (Will) caught me in action.

Will's mom prepared the turkey (and everything else, for that matter).

Deep discussions with his grandpa.

We met the cousins for breakfast on Black Friday.  Wishing these two lived much closer...

Christmas trees topped many of the cars on the way home from Minneapolis on Black Friday.

I took a lot more pictures of the quaint town of Red Wing, MN that I'll be posting soon.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!