Monogram Wreath

Currently I'm procrastinating.  Potatoes are baking in the oven but the rest of dinner hasn't been prepared.  There are a couple loads of laundry waiting to be folded.  And I really should work on a menu and grocery list for the week so that I can pick up anything we need while I'm in town taking Kaitlyn to dance class tonight.  But I'm really happy with the wreath I finished a few days ago and since I got some decent photos thanks to the great weather today I'm anxious to share it with you.  (and I don't have a clue what to make for dinners this week so I'm hoping inspiration hits while I'm typing)

I had this wreath in the entry of the old house, but since we've moved it's just been sitting on a shelf in the garage.  And a few months ago I saw the cutest monogram wreath idea on pinterest.  Eventually the idea hit to reuse the wreath and turn it into something fun I can use during the times of the year when I don't need/want to put out something holiday/seasonal on the front door.

My front door is black and I'm in love with red so the first thing I did was spray paint the wreath red.

Then I scavenged the house for fun things to add to the wreath - like old Christmas ornaments that I painted then added some vinyl design to and covered with Poly to make them shiny.  It worked surprisingly well, except for the larger diamond shape, which didn't want to conform to the round ornament so that one was discarded.  I had already picked up a wooden letter C, which I painted with stripes on the sides then covered the front with patterned paper.  It got a coat of poly on top of the modge podge as well, as it would be hanging outside and modge podge goes all sticky again when it gets wet (how did I discover that?  silly me left some blocks outside drying overnight a few months back and it rained on them!)

Add a little hot glue and some fun ribbon, flowers, and feathers and - Ta Da!  More than anything I have created lately, this wreath is very "me" and I'm very happy with it.

 As I said, original inspiration was this photo from pinterest.  (link here)

Linking to:
Saturday Seven Party @ Positively Splendid

Picky Eating Chronicles #2

Success!  If you remember from my earlier post (here), we have been diligently working on getting the kids to try new foods.  Part of the deal we made with them, was that if both tried 30 new things we would take them on a trip to Great Wolf Lodge (I know that's a huge reward and normally not something I would offer, but we were planning the trip anyway ;)  ).  And they did it!  Sometimes it was a struggle and we were a little concerned that Tyler wouldn't hit 30 before we left, but all in all the kids were actually a whole lot more willing to try new things than we had expected.  In fact, once Kaitlyn got on a roll there were days when she would try 2-3 new things in one meal!

So, last week found us on vacation at Great Wolf Lodge - yay yay yay!  It was a great trip and we all had so much fun, not just at the water park (though that was great and took up most of our time) but with all the activities offered there as well.  I absolutely recommend taking a trip there, if you've been thinking about one.  It's a great way to break up the winter blahs.  (And don't forget to ask about the military discount!)

Even better, family meal times have gotten easier.  Tyler has expanded the list of items he will eat, which gives us a little more freedom.  Kaitlyn is doing even better, and will eat (or try) almost everything I make for dinner every night - such a huge improvement!  And as we discovered while on vacation - eating out with the kids is now a pleasant experience again  :)  Both of the kids are now willing to keep trying new things so it's time to sit down again with the husband and start plotting a new motivational technique...