Paper Snowflake Week: Wreath

I came up with this idea immediately after coming up with the idea for snowflake week. However, I was very uncertain if it would ever turn out in a manner that I was happy with. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Apart from the snowflake making, this was actually a really easy process. I made the snowflakes (for my six secrets of snowflake making see Monday's post), and then dipped them in wax just like I did for the ornaments and candles. I ended up hanging this wreath on the front door in the end and I figured the wax could help the paper weather a bit better.

For the wreath frame I just bent the lower triangle part of a wire hanger into a circle. I used some fabric I had acquired secondhand to sew a tube of fabric. I contemplated hot gluing it but abandoned this idea when David took a little too much interest in the cord of the glue gun and I wound up with burnt fingers (but better me than him). In any case, I think the sewing ended up better than the glue would have.

Paper Snowflake Week: Candles

Today I decided to put paper snowflakes on my candles. This process was slightly less successful than I had anticipated, but that had more to do with inferior materials than a problem with the process in my opinion.

I didn't have a candle to try this idea on, so I went to the trusty dollar store. I can walk to the dollar store. Unfortunately, the only candles they have are either this really ugly green color and kind of short or in containers. I really didn't feel like going home, getting in the car, and driving to another store to try and find my candles, so I just got one of the candles in a jar.

Paper Snowflake Week: Wax-dipped Snowflake Ornaments

I can't really remember if I heard of someone else dipping snowflakes in wax or if I came up with it myself. I had actually never tried it until today, but I am pleased to report that it works like a charm.

I began by making snowflakes like I did in Monday's post. You should be able to dip any size snowflake, but I was making ornaments and did not want really large ones. As such, I made mine quarter-sized--that is to say I divided my original sheet of computer paper in 4 and made a snowflake out of each section. The resulting snowflakes were just under 5 inches in diameter at the widest part, which I found a perfect size.

Paper Snowflake Week: Pictures in Your Snowflakes

Welcome to day 2 of snowflake week. Here is a link to yesterday's post, My Snowflake Secrets in case you missed it.

Now on to today's post,  picture snowflakes!

I am not exactly sure where I got the idea to put pictures in my snowflakes, but I am quite certain it was not an original idea of mine. I remember trying to do this as early as freshman year, so I think it is likely that someone on my dorm room floor sparked the idea. Whatever or whoever it was that gave me the idea, however, I have now developed 2 methods.

Paper Snowflake Week: My Snowflake Secrets

It has been a while. My excuse is morning sickness. But I am back with a bang and will give you a post each day this week, each one about paper snowflakes. It has started to snow a bit lately and I actually love snow. In my opinion, if it is going to be cold and grey, it might as well snow. Since the weather doesn't always oblige, I will give you ideas about making it snow yourself. I am going to skip false humility here and admit up front that I actually consider myself pretty good at making snowflakes. However, this has not always been the case.

Recipe Review Roundup

Perhaps these posts will be interesting to no one but me, but I have decided to start doing what I am going to call Recipe Review Roundups every so often. Basically, they will discuss some of the recipes I have tried recently. It will document what I liked and what I did not like about the recipes, where I had trouble with the process, what I ended up changing, and how they were received by Patrick and I (and sometimes David).

I think it important to note that Patrick is not exactly what you would call a picky eater. He has a super high metabolism and generally likes anything that can fill him up, and has a special love for spicy things after living in Fiji for 2 years and eating Indian food there. Things fall into 3 categories for him: it is inedible, it serves its purpose as food (fills his stomach and tastes okay), or it is really good. The middle category can really have a large range of how much he likes it, but it is hard to get him to elaborate upon it (I did not marry a man of many words).

Particle Board Bookshelf Makeover

A couple Saturday's ago, Patrick and I helped a neighbor move around some furniture in her small apartment in order to allow delivery of a new bed. She decided that she had all too many books in the process and began to get rid of several of them. She also had two particle board shelves that were, in all honesty, really ugly. She planned to get rid of them because they didn't really fit where they were and, as previously stated, they were ugly. Still, the storage would be helpful to her, and after having a hard time finding the right thing to replace the storage for a very low price, I suggested just making over the shelves.