Jingle Someone!

We recently moved to a different part of the same metro area. Our old neighborhood was, well, very old. It was one of the first "suburbs" built around 80 years ago. It's a mix of older grandparents and young singles and couples with young families peppered in. It's a tight little community, about 6500 in our "city". Even though it is minutes from downtown, it definitely has a small town feel to it. You really do get to know quite a lot of people around the area. So, to my point, last Halloween, "You've Been Booed" went around. If you can't be bothered to click the link, it is a secret gift game. You leave treats and printouts at two houses. They have a couple of days to "boo it forward" so to speak. You aren't supposed to know who booed you, and you need to boo in secret, as well. It was really a lot of fun watching it spread...and, boy, did it spread!

Well, fast forward to now. We're in a much more suburban area. It is actually were I grew up. I am literally a few blocks from my old house and my old elementary school. We've only been here a few months. but our street seems pretty friendly. We know they have an annual block party because it was happening the weekend we moved in. When we took Bean trick-or-treating, everyone was really nice and knew we had just moved in. (Is that friendly, creepy, nosey? Perspective...) Anyway, I wanted to start a "boo", but time got away from me. I was so excited when I found their sister site, "You've been Jingled". I've been waiting a whole month to start this! Gasp!

So, tonight, I ding-dong-ditched two neighbors. I only remember doing this once as a kid. It was to my friend down the block. Her mom marched straight up to my house to tell my parents. Seriously? I mean, I have a kid now. I fully expect this to happen to us. Ok, so I go to an empty door. Is it really worth a trip up the street? I was also made painfully aware of the fact that I really need to start jogging again. Now, I know that I say I try to avoid processed foods. I love making baked treats or candies, but since this is anonymous, I needed something from the store. I went with coca and holiday marshmallows. The two houses I jingled are families. I thought it would be a fun treat to share. Man, I will be severely disappointed if these little elf pictures don't line the street by Christmas.

  

Why don't you start a "jingle" in your neighborhood or office? Go outside the box. Start a white elephant jingle, a book exchange jingle, whatever strikes your fancy. It's a fun way to spread the holidays around to friends and coworkers.

Winter Wreath

The little boy is at school this morning, so I decided to finish a project I started a couple of weeks ago. Like a lot of folks I know, I have a small Pinterest obsession. Around Halloween, I came across an elegant wreath from The Art of Doing Stuff. What I love about this Halloween wreath is that it is the perfect balance of elegant and creepy. I decided to make my own version for winter with white boas and snowflakes.

I didn't want to spend a ton of money, so I went to the dollar store for my two wreaths and snowflake ornaments. I used my husband's employee discount for feather boas from US Toy. You could also use 40% off coupons at a craft store. Joann and Michael's both take competitor coupons. Hobby Lobby always has a printable one on it's website.

2 wreaths to layer together, or one bigger one

6 - 6 ft white feather boas

snowflake ornaments

string

thread

scissors

First, I tied the two wreaths together to make one wreath. The smaller, inner wreath is sort of suspended within the larger, outer one. Alone, they would be too thin for the effect I wanted, but together they are perfect. This only cost me $2, but you could also just start out with a larger styrofoam one from the craft store. Next I started wrapping my boas. I used my white string (not thread)  to attach the end of each boa to the wreath, wrapped, then used another string on the other end. I'm not sure what part of my brain thought that two of these boas would be enough, but it only covered about a third of the wreath. That's why this project sat unfinished for a couple of weeks. You can imagine how long a trip becomes when you take a 3-year-old into a toy store...on top of the obvious chaos, add to it that he knows the store because Daddy works there. Well, I had to wait for a school day to make another trip. Alas, six boas was perfect.

Now to the ornaments. Two things came to mind while working on this part. First, I was reminded that I despise all things sparkle. Sparkles have a way of migrating into EVERYTHING. Just like the pooch nugget's dog hair, I find sparkles in places that haven't been touched for years. My worst nightmare is opening a card to find it covered in sparkles. The real dilemma will be when Bean starts coming home with sparkle covered art projects, but I digress. The second, and more important point, 3D ornaments! Mine were flat, and although they worked, I would have been more pleased with 3D snowflakes.

So once I arranged the ornaments in a manor that suited me, I tied them on with thread. Somehow I didn't have white, but cream worked just fine. The feathers have so much poof, that you really can't notice. Last, I tied one more piece of string (not thread) to the inner wreath. That way you don't see the loop as it hangs on the door.

   

As you can see, the snowflakes aren't very noticeable. Even standing in front of it, they don't stand out all that much. Maybe next year I will change them out. It works for now. My front door has a welcoming wreath with a wintery feel. That was my goal.

Now I'm off to vacuum flyaway feathers and...sigh...sparkles.