Vintage Ornament Wreath

I have wanted to make a vintage ornament wreath for a while and have been slowly stockpiling my collection of ornaments (through garage & estate sales & antique stores). 

 

But I didn't have as many ornaments as I thought!  Or at least enough to make a wreath just out of ornaments.  So I decided to go with a tinsel ornament wreath.  (I purchased some tinsel garlands last year on clearance after Christmas.) 

 

To get started, I bought a straw wreath using my 40% coupon at Michael's.  I kept the plastic wrapping on it.  Then I took white fabric and wrapped it around the wreath, hot gluing it as I went.

 

 

Then I hot glued the tinsel around the wreath.  The hot glue on the tinsel was kinda stinky!

 

Then I got busy picking out my favorite vintage ornaments to add to wreath.  I just hot glued these too.  It was actually harder to pick out the ornaments I wanted to use than I thought it would be.

 

In the end, I absolutely adore the outcome!  Do you see the little reindeer on the left corner?!  It's an old candle that I got in a box of free vintage lights!  Love it! 

 

UPDATE:

 

Here's where the wreath resides now that we've been putting out our Christmas deocrations!

 

 

{Linking up at Tatertots & Jello.}

Family Night.

Tonight we had a special family night... just the 4 of us.  It was something I had been looking forward to all week!  We started out by treating the kids to dinner at their favorite restaurant, Steak -n- Shake.

After we got back in the car from dinner, I gave them each a small box that had a ticket and jingle bell necklace.  The ticket was for a ride on the "Christmas Express," a.k.a our van, to go see some Christmas lights.  {I found the tickets on pinterest... cute idea!}

I had heard of an amazingly decorated house on facebook that we decided to check out first...

It was really cool, and bright!  We all loved it.  All the other lights we saw after that weren't as spectacular.

After our little "Christmas Express" light tour, we headed home, hopped in our pj's and settled down to watch Home Alone with popcorn.  Joel and I both have good memories of watching this movie as kids, but in hindsight, thought maybe ours were still a little young to watch it.  There were a few bad words in it, that we had forgotten about.  But we talked about it and did enjoy it.

And that was the end of our Family Night.  Love my family and look forward to many more moments and memory makers like this!  

Soccer & Singing.

Once again this fall, Izzy has participating in indoor soccer.  It has been such a great experience for her and we love the coach and team she is with.  She's learning and growing in her skills so much. 

The kids have continued to adjust so well to their new schools.  We are so happy that they have made new friends and have wonderful teachers!  Just recently Izzy had a school Christmas music performance. 

Recorders...

Speaking part...

G & G came to watch!

And wait, who is this cute kid?  

Now the countdown to no school .... just a couple more days!

We are all so excited!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I haven't blogged in a while and thought starting back up with some Christmas decorations would be a good idea.  {I love this time of year!}

An old pepsi crate full of candles in ball jars, fresh greenery, and vintage ornaments.  

The red hutch in all its Christmas glory!

The real reason for the season...

Our cute Christmas countdown calendar.

And last but not least, the tree!

Santa in a Jeep

As promised...

Better late than never...

Here is SANTA in a JEEP!!!

He showed up driving a 1942 Military Jeep and surprised us all!

He took a few willing kids on a "sleigh" ride.

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Christmas Day {Part 2}

After we opened our gifts with the kids, we headed to Joel's parents for more festivities.  Here are some shots of the day:

Mommy and Eli

Cousins!

I love this picture because everyone is doing something different!

skyping with A in Montana...

Bec's delicious fruit Christmas tree...

My blessings...

Next up... Santa in a Jeep!

Christmas Day {Part 1}

We enjoyed a quiet morning with our kiddos opening gifts.

Our kids still believe in Santa.  We don't "promote" him, but do let them enjoy the innocence of the jolly man.  He fills their stockings, which always includes Hershey Kisses and matchbox cars ...

Our tree {oh how I miss the twinkling lights!}:

 Eli's list included all sorts of electronics and new game systems, none of which he got, but he also wanted sports stuff...

Izzy got her new doll bed {made by daddy}and bedding {made by mommy} ...

They also each got a new suitcase.  Those were a hit.  Izzy has been playing "travel" with it.  :-)

Hope your Christmas was Merry & Bright!

Christmas Eve.

We spent Christmas Eve with my folks, brother, sister -in- law, and 2 nieces.  It was great!  To start the evening off, Izzy read the Christmas story from Luke.  I loved how my Dad asked her to read. 

Sweet adorable niece, H.  Love this girl... and the 2 crazy kids behind me.  :-)

After our traditional dinner {dinner rolls, chips, cheese, pickles, ham} we opened some gifts. The kids had patiently been waiting and were so excited!  Just a side note - I grew up opening gifts on Christmas Eve and loved it. I hoped to continue that tradition, but alas, we open on Christmas morning when we are in town.

 

The group:

 

One of the highlights of the night was being able to skype my little sister, Lis, in Hawaii and share Christmas Eve with her... all that was missing was our big sister.

My brother, Lis, and I:

The kiddos were happy with their gifts from G & G:

New legos for E -

New tutu, rain boots, and umbrella for H -

and a Pucci Pup and doll carrier for her American Girl for I -

I like this picture of the girls opening matching gifts from Aunt Lis -

 This little one just enjoyed the show with her momma -

Hope ya'll had a great Christmas Eve too!