DIY – The Charming Jay

DIY Ornament Wreath

Happy Holidays, everyone!! Over here, I’m busy decorating, baking and shopping to get ready for the season. Long before I decided to start writing my blog, I made one of my favorite Christmas decorations, an ornament wreath which I love and use every season. As luck would have it, this year while taking it out of the box, I dropped it! It broke in half and several ornaments fell off and broke on the ground. Below is a picture of my decorating casualty. I was able to salvage the wreath, for the most part, glue it back together, and add some new ornaments, but honestly, it is just not the same. So I decided to make a new wreath and share it will you all.

Ornament wreaths look so pretty and you can make them for a sweet $20 on your own! A fraction of the price online or at any store. Plus, they also make great gifts! Here’s what you’ll need to create this beauty for yourself.

25 count ornament pack. Diameter: 1+ inches
50 count ornament pack. Diameter: 2+ inches
Hot glue gun
15+ hot glue sticks
Styrofoam wreath

I purchased all of these items at Hobby Lobby and during the holiday day season almost all Christmas decorations are 50% off. If you don’t own your own glue gun, purchasing one will add to your cost but you can use the 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon to reduce the cost.

Let’s get started! Start by lining and gluing your larger ornaments around the inside and outside of your Styrofoam wreath. I take off the hardware to hang the ornament to better be able to glue the ornament down. Let the hot glue dry before moving on to another ornament, blowing on it helps, it not they start to slide because the glue it hot. Once you have ornaments around the inside and outside start gluing and filling in the ornaments all along your wreath. Make sure to alternate colors. There really is not correct way to do this, just make sure you cover almost all of the white space. It helps to keep the ornaments in place by gluing them together. Let cool for a few seconds and move on the next. Once you have used all of your larger ornaments you will use the smaller ornaments to fill in the wreath and hide any white spots around the wreath. You want it to look full and with very little space of white showing.

Once you’re done, let the glue dry completely and your wreath is ready to be put on display!! It really is that easy! I hope you love your ornament wreath as much as I do mine. Hope you all have a great holiday season!

Halloween Pumpkin Carving Party

I love almost every holiday, and Halloween is no different! One, I love any excuse to get family and friends together, and two, I love the tradition of carving pumpkins, making costumes and eating yummy treats together. As fun as pumpkin carving can be, it can also turn into a big mess and take away from the fun. Here are some tips to help you plan a fun, festive, low-stress, pumpkin carving party you and your guests will love.

First, start with your guest list and invite guests providing them with the party details. This year, our party was BYOP-Bring Your Own Pumpkin. All party guests arrived with their own pumpkin or pumpkins and everything was set up for them to get to work. Second, if possible, pick an afternoon or evening warm enough to work outside. I don’t know about you, but over here, pumpkin carving can get messy and being outside helps with the mess and clean up. Luckily, we have an outdoor chiminea to help keep everyone nice and warm, especially when the sun goes down. I’m thinking of setting up a station to make s’mores right by the fire next year.

Next, set up a carving table for your guests to work and have easy access to all the tools they will need for carving. Here’s a little tip, cover the table with a plastic, disposable table-cloth. You can find them at Target, Party City, even the Dollar Store. This will save you so much time when cleaning up! Have guests dump their seeds and pumpkin guts directly onto the table and when everyone is done you can wrap up the plastic table cover with all the pumpkin guts inside and toss right into the trash. Easiest clean up ever!

I like to have tool stations on the table for easy access. I used mason jars I had around the house and filled them with pumpkin carving necessities, knives, picks, pumpkin scrapers, large spoons and scissors. We also had a station to carve your pumpkin using a power drill! I’ll have to write a separate post on how to do this because the pumpkins came out awesome and the drilling method is so easy and saves so much time if you are in a hurry. If possible set up several tool stations along the table so everyone can work at the same time. I always have a book of patterns for guests to look through and pick out a design. I’ve gotten smart and made copies of the patterns so I’m not looking for new patterns or buying a new book every year. Make sure to have candles on hand to light up your pumpkins and you are all set!

Finish up the fun with festive holiday treats. My best advice is to keep it simple. This year I went with pizza, salad and Halloween caramel apples. Easy, festive and lots of fun!

Hope all your traditions are off to a great start and these tips help you plan a little Halloween fun!

thecharmingjay

thecharmingjay