DIY Crafts: Branch Wreath (Take #2)

Probably the last crafts post (although I am trying to squeeze in one more thing before Christmas comes around) for the holidays and its a Take 2 of Branch Wreath. We’ve been having some really crappy weather so its rather gloomy. To cheer up my in-laws, because I do that every once in a while when I have something fun to share, I decided to make them a new wreath, specifically a branch wreath (since that is apparently my new obsession).

This one is definitely more for my mother-in-law who likes angels (according to my husband) so we found the only angel decor and built the wreath around it.

Here’s our shopping haul at Michael’s:

• Gold Branch Wreath
• 1 Mistletoe
• 1 Fir and Pine Cones
• 2 Angels
• 2 Holly Leaves with Birds
• 2 Eucalyptus and White Berries
• 2 Snowy Branches (I don’t know how to describe them but its the long white ones)

After a lot of deliberation and moving things around and a floor full of gold sparkles and branches, this was the final result.

In my opinion, I actually think this one beats my own (which I am not working on fluffing up a little to give it more volume). This is where this one has more of and works pretty well also. It feels more dimensional and has some depth with layers of different decors. I did hot glue the pieces into the wreath so that my in-laws can store it without anything breaking off.

Improvements to this one (because what crafting wouldn’t have that in my opinion):

• I’d have added another angel to give it a row which would make it an obvious centerpiece.
• Would have gotten some wire to tie down some of the stems that are embedded in the wreath as I had to twist it forcibly and then glue it to the wreath and hopefully it won’t come out

Other than that, I’m pretty happy with this one. It highlights the theme I’m going for and adds the greenery and the color scheme works pretty well. I like the symmetry but also the parts that stand out are the ones where its subtle changes with the mistletoe on one side and the fir and pine cones on the other, giving it subtle differences. Its an improvement in my opinion from the previous one because it adds some three dimensional feeling to it.

I’m not quite sure that I’d work with a gold wreath again though because its a very dominating sort of backdrop color palette that very few things seem to work with. Maybe I’ll try out the silver wreath next time (or maybe the red which is the remaining option, I think, but that might also be hard and not easy to decorate the house with).

Future wreath themes to think about: North Pole or Rustic Woodland

You can check out my previous wreath post HERE.

My Weekly Adventures!

December has been hard to get anything up.  Its really funny because I’m not particularly busy or going out but rather I’m just sitting around binging on series and movies and kind of getting life back to a healthy routine.  Trust me, that takes up a lot of time and then blogging falls behind. I try everyday to get something up and for the most part, its working out. I just wish I could compile these Weekly Adventures because seriously, I’ve had a few interesting things to talk about. I just get tired and lazy…when in doubt, blame the weather so I’m going to do that 😉

Anyways, I haven’t completely been blog-less, I think about stuff for here all the time.

1) TV Binge!

So, I’m done all of the two seasons of Witches of East End and of course, this show is recently announced to be cancelled by Lifetime which really sucks because they ended the second season so strong and at such a good place for this to just kick ass. Maybe it’ll get picked up by another network? I just regret that I didn’t find it earlier. It does get a little frustrating in the second season and plus, there just wasn’t enough of the handsome Killian (played by Daniel diTomasso).

My boyfriend is rolling his eyes as I talk about this…again! Daniel diTomasso gets extra points other than being brooding and handsome for being from Montreal and loving the Habs 🙂 Although Eric Winters is not quite the same, he is quite good-looking as well but in this unknown evil sort of way.

Since I finished this now, I have a bunch of series ending in January on Netflix. I chose the easiest one to finish with only 2 seasons: Life Unexpected. I’m almost done Season 1.  I really love Britt Robertson and wish she would have more stuff.  This show is really fun to watch with lots of funny moments mixed with some drama.

What shows are you watching right now?

2) Black Friday shopping!

I haven’t really gone Black Friday shopping like physically at a store and last year was just stupid deals all over the place.  This year, its a completely different story.  There were some good buys.  Now, for physical purchases, I got these movies.  Along with some Yurbuds earbuds for women which are fantastic because they actually don’t fall out even when I run for the bus.

Aside from that, I ordered Sharknado, A Good Day to Die Hard and Fast and Furious 6 for a pretty awesome price on Amazon.  On Cyber Monday week, there was a one day deal for the complete series (5 seasons) of Flashpoint for $29.99 and that was THE BEST DEAL! 🙂 My boyfriend’s still not in the Sharknado thing but I say he should because its just epically bad but awesome at the same time.  Haha!

Did you do any Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping?

3) Salon des Metiers d’Art du Quebec (aka arts and crafts fair in Quebec)

I’ve been going to this show for many years. Its a great place for unique gift ideas and as I got older, its a great place to try out new ice ciders/ice wines/food, etc.  We went last weekend to check that out.  Its gotten a lot smaller throughout the years but the food/wine area was still great.

I figured now that a bunch of family is on Facebook, I won’t post up the pictures because then everyone will know their own gifts if they land on my post and that kind of ruins the surprise. But, some very nice finds includes:

• Coach Shortbread House’s Sugar Plum Shortbread Cookies
• Roasted garlic and rosemary pecans
• Union Libre fire cider
• La Face Cachee de la Pomme: Neige Noir (Apple Cognac)
• Cryo ice cider

I’ve linked up some of the ice wines so you could check it out if you’d like 🙂

4) Day Trip to Plattsburgh!

Last weekend was all about shopping and getting all those gifts covered. After a little bit of discussion, my girl friends and I decided to head to Plattsburgh last Sunday. I didn’t really spend a lot since my day before at Salons des Metiers d’arts was pretty intense totalling at about $200. I ended up spending mostly on groceries and got myself some knee wraps for workout. Target had these awesome Slow Cooker Sauces which I’ve never seen in Canada. Plus, I bought two candles at Bath and Body Works and some car freshener at Yankee Candles.

My goal was to scout to see if Chromecast was cheaper but with the exchange rate, it actually wasn’t. Plus, Canada has a $20 Google Play credit in addition for the same price so I’d say that pretty much seals the deal 😉

Still, I tried out Applebee’s for lunch and that was pretty alright. Here’s what I had:

Boneless Chicken Wings

Double Crunch Shrimp

Applebee’s has a pretty nice atmosphere to it. You know, nice cozy family joint.  Me and one of the girls took the 2 for $25 meal which includes an appetizer to share and each of us a meal.  The Double Crunch Shrimp was a bit oily and heavy but I guess thats to be expected, right? I ended up getting a cup of tea at Starbucks and it helped settle my stomach a little 😉

5) Christmas wreath! 🙂

Generally, its the same wreath as last year.  I added a few more ornaments to spice it up a little. I’m still figuring out how to use my ribbons to tie a nice bow to finish it up. My girl friends just give me a really good tip on how to do it so I just have to go get some nice ribbons and then it’ll be all good to go 🙂

6) A few blog recaps (in case you missed it)

• Advanced Screening of Serena (review HERE)
• 007 Blogathon entries for MovieRob HERE and HERE (click on MovieRob to go to his site and check out other entries)

To wrap it up, lets end with a quote that is absolutely awesome.

I need some of that, well, more of that, to be so masterful.  🙂

This week has been exceptionally long and I actually think weekly adventures will change to biweekly adventures soon. I think I have next year pretty much set with a few projects so expect something going up soon.  Every year I wait till the last 2 weeks and then its all Christmas and New Year’s celebrations so not so much feedback.  I’ll try it earlier this year and hope for more feedback ;).

Happy Thursday, my lovelies!

Its Friday tomorrow! YAY!