Easy to make paper wreath

I decided to make a tutorial on how to make this wreath.  It is fun and easy to make and then you will have a really cute decoration for your home when you are finished. 

First you will need to gather your supplies.  You will need the following:

Wreath Form (I got mine at Walmart for $4)

3-5 Sheets of 12 x 12 Scrapbook Paper (depending on how full you want your wreath to be.  For this wreath I used 5 sheets of paper)

Straight Pins (make sure they are not too long so they don't go all the way through your form)

A Paper Cutter or Scissors

A Pencil or Pen

Optional: Ribbon and Embellishments

Next you will need to cut your paper.  For this wreath I cut 3/4 of the sheet of paper in 1 inch strips and the last 1/4 of the paper into 1/2 inch strips.

*For this wreath two of the sheets of paper I saved a portion (as you can see below) to use for embellishment at the end.*

Next you will take your pencil or pen and use it to curl the paper, as pictured below, by just wrapping the paper around the pencil and then pulling it off.  You can curl it from one end to the next or curl both ends to the middle or make it look like a ringlet, for whatever effect you want to have.

The next step is optional.  I decided to wrap my wreath form in ribbon so that you could not see the green underneath the paper.  If you do not want to wrap your wreath you do not have to.  I just started by pinning the end of the ribbon in place and then tightly wrapping it around.  When I got to the end I just cut the ribbon and pinned the end in place.  It should look like this when you have finished this step.

Now you are ready to start pinning the paper to your wreath form.  You just start pinning the paper on and there is no right or wrong way to do this.  You can pin at both ends, pin in the middle, whatever you choose. Here are a couple of pictures of what it looks like as you go.

Don't get discouraged if it looks weird or funny as you start out, it comes together the more paper you get pinned on.  You can weave it in and out of each other, leave pieces dangling, all sorts of things.  Just be creative and make it look the way you want it to.  When you are done it will look like this:

Now you can add embellishments as you choose or just leave it like this.  For this wreath I wanted it to be a decoration for the 4th of July, so I decided to add some embellishments to it.  I made the pinwheel by folding 2 smaller pieces of paper like a fan, folding them in half, spreading them out, and stapling them together to form a circle.  I made the stars out of scrapbook paper as well, but cutting stars out and then making an embossing line from point to point, and then folding the long lines out and the short lines in.  I then took some little jewels and hot glued them and the stars to the pinwheel and attached it to my wreath with staples and hot glue.  I then just took a piece of ribbon and put it around the top of the wreath so that I could hang it up. Here is the finished product:

Fun, easy, and very inexpensive to create.  If you try it out I would love to see pictures of what you come up with!

Hair Flowers for Sale

I have recently become addicted to making hair flower clips out of pop cans.  I know it sounds odd but they are really cute and look great with any outfit, as long as you have the matching color.  I have made a lot of them lately and love doing it.  I have now decided to sale them because I have gotten so many questions about them when I wear them.  So if anyone is interested they are $3 each.  Here are some pictures of some that I have made. 

I don't always have the same colors because I just use pop cans that people save for me because I don't drink soda.  Or I use what I can get out of the pop can recycle box at work.  If you are interested just let me know.  :)

Fun with Pictures

With the birth of my adorable nephew I have become addicted to playing with pictures.  I have taken a ton of pictures of little Kyler and just can't get enough of him.  So in my spare time and when I get bored I have been playing with the pictures and making cute little collages of him.  Here are a couple of my favorite ones.

After playing with the pictures of Kyler I decided to play with some pictures of one of my friends children too.  This is what I made for him.

It is a lot of fun to play with the pictures and make cute collages that can be printed and used.  I love it!!!

Also I just love being an Aunt.  Kyler is absolutely adorable and is doing really well.  Momma is also doing really well too.  The entire family is enjoying have this new bundle of joy in our family.

Life is . . . . Busy and Fun

Life has been so busy these last 3 months since coming home from Hawaii.  I have spent a ton of time with my two of my best friends and we have had a lot of fun.  We have kind of been through a lot in the last little while as well.  Between emergency surgery, the passing of a loved one, and an engagement, the three of us have been there for each other.  (No I did not get engaged!  I have decided to give up on men completely for now.)  Anyhow, I am so very grateful for my friends!!!  They have been a great blessing in my life and they are such great examples to me.  I don't know what I would do without them.  Thanks guys!!!!

Also in the last 3 months I have been working on my goal of losing weight.  As of yesterday, I have lost 20.4 pounds since coming home from Hawaii!!!!  It makes me so happy to know that I have kept this up for three months and am making progress.  I hope to continue on my weight loss path and I would really like to lose about 30 more pounds.  We will see how it goes. . .

I am also VERY excited because we are going to Disneyland one month from today.  My parents, my little sister and her husband, and me and my very best friend will be going to Vegas for 3 days and then on to California where we we will spend 5 days at Disneyland plus a day probably at the beach or something.  I am so excited to go to the happiest place on earth.  I could never get tired of going there, it is one of my favorite places on earth.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is my favorite time of the year, however, not for the same reasons that it is for others.  I love the Christmas season because I love the acts of service that go along with it.  My favorite thing to do at Christmas time is to serve others anonymously.  This has been a tradition in my family growing up that I have really grown to love.  This year I was able to participate in sub for Santa program at work.  I was assigned a 3 1/2 year old boy to provide Christmas for.  Reading his list of wants and needs was very touching and really made me realize just how much I have to be grateful for.  All this child wanted for Christmas was a ball, a toy car, and coloring books and crayons.  His needs were a coat, shoes, pants, and shirts.  I was able to purchase all of these things for this child so that he would have a nice Christmas and have the basic necessities that most of us take for granted.

This sub for Santa program is done through Utah Central Credit Union and the company I work for goes every year and gets several ornaments off of the tree.  This year our company provided Christmas for 32 children in need.  There was a story on KSL about the children receiving their Christmas presents that made me very happy that I was able to provide what I did.  You can watch the story at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13684184.

I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and remember the true reason that we celebrate this wonderful holiday.  Don't get caught up in the gifts and packages but remember that it is about our Savior.  I am truly grateful for my Savior and for His willingness to suffer for me so that I may return to live with my Heavenly Father.  I am thankful to all of my family and friends for the love and support that they have provided me with throughout this year.  I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful Christmas!!

Hawaii = Paradise

I am now home from my amazing Hawaii vacation.  I absolutely loved Hawaii and told my mom that I wasn't going to come home.  We stayed on the island of Oahu for an entire week.  The temperature was in the 80's the entire time and we really enjoyed the heat.  Here is a little bit of what we did and some pictures to go along with it.

On Friday we picked up our rental car and decided to take a drive all the way around the island.  We were in awe of how green everything was and just the sheer beauty of the island.  It really is magnificent to see.  We did end up at Waikiki Beach, so the pictures below here are of our trip around the island, ending at Waikiki Beach.

On Saturday we wanted to hit up the beach.  On our way to the beach we stopped at Matsumotos on the North Shore and had a shaved ice with ice cream.  It was awesome!!!  We then went to Hukilau Beach, however it wasn't the cleanest beach ever, so we decided not to stay.  We ended up going to the Waimea Valley Botanical Gardens, which was beautiful.  It poured on us while we were there, but luckily we were in our swimming suits so it wasn't a big deal.

On Sunday we attended the Singles Ward in Wahiawa.  They were the most welcoming people I have ever met.  I don't even feel that welcome in my own ward.  They even invited us to stay for their "Break the Fast".  After church we then went for a drive and went out to the Ko'Olina Resort.  We were told that the Black Pearl was docked there due to the building of a new Disney Resort there.  So we went and checked it out.

On Monday we went to the temple open house and then spent the rest of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  The night show there is amazing, it was really good.  Also the food at the luau was delicious.  After the show we were trying to find an old friend of mine and one of the dancers took us back stage to see what we could find out.  It was really cool to see back there.  We didn't end up finding my friend, but I did get to talk to him on the phone a couple of times.

On Tuesday we went to the Dole Plantation and took the ride on the train and did the garden tour.  We also ate lunch there, which was divine!!  We had Kalua Pork with BBQ Sauce and Pineapple.  Afterwards we went back to Ko'Olina and spent the rest of the day on the beach.  It was a beautiful day and we very much enjoyed our time on the beach without being rained on for once.

On Wednesday we got up early to go to Pearl Harbor and then we went to the Swap Meet.  It was a lot of fun, however I did get a little bit of heat stroke, which sucked, but we still had a lot of fun.  The feeling at Pearl Harbor is seriously amazing, I couldn't believe it.  It is really cool, it is as if you are standing on hallowed ground.

Hawaii was great and I am so glad that I got to go.  I also got to stay with my amazing relatives which I love so much.  I am so greatful to you for letting us stay at your house.  Your kids are adorable and I miss them already.  I hope you get to come up soon so we can see you again.  Here are a couple pictures of the kids and an awesome video of them jamming out in the car.