Hobby Lobby Inspired Lime Green and Red Christmas Wreath

Phew, well I feel like this week has gone by super fast. I was lucky on Monday and my husband was home. I guess that's the upside to not using vacation days during the summer. He's having to use them before the end of the year so he's taking a couple for Christmas, a couple for New Years, and then some random days throughout the month. We got a bunch done out in the yard and a bunch of painting. So I'm just getting around to posting this tutorial.

Back in October, I dropped by Hobby Lobby and they just got their Christmas decorations in. I immediately fell in love with this wreath, but at $140 full price, there was no way it was coming home with me.

So like any DIY blogger, I set out to recreate it for less.

I started with two wreaths from Walmart for $4 and $2.50.

I used the two wreaths together to make them a little fuller. I connected them by first twisting a few of the branches together

then wiring them together. We tend to get really strong wind in Vegas so I wanted to make sure they stayed together if it fell off the door.

Then I used ornament hooks to wire the ornaments onto the wreath

I bought the large ornaments on sale at Michaels for $5 and had the others on hand.

I also had these green leaves from Joann’s for $2 on Black Friday sale.

I used a little hot glue to make sure these and the red berries (Dollar Tree) stayed in place. And lastly, the Merry Christmas was from another wreath I had and reused.

Et voila! I’ll take $14 over $140 any day!

And here’s my little front porch decorations. Not much yet, but working on it. My awesome wreath and my topiary tree. I got a new pot for it and added a fourth tree stake, much better!

Hope you're having a great week!

Butternut Squash and Quinoa Soup

I was in the mood for soup the other day and this was such an amazing recipe! I found it on Pinterest, of course. Butternut Squash and Quinoa Stew

Start by prepping the butternut squash. Cut it up and steam it for about 10 minutes. 

Remove half of the squash and set aside.

Keep steaming the other half for 4-5 minutes until very tender. Then remove the squash and mash with a fork. 

Heat onion over medium heat and cook about 8-10 minutes until brown. 

Add garlic and oregan and cook for an additional minute.

Add tomatoes, butternut squash, and mashed squash. Stir to combine. 

Add broth

and quinoa and cook until the quinoa is translucent. 

I also added zucchini to mine. Stir in pepper and simmer uncovered until the zucchini is tender. 

I really loved this stew because it had a little bit of a sweet taste to it, but not over powering. It was really good on a cold night! Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Quinoa Stew (adapted from Cookin' Canuck)

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

3 1/2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes

2/3 cup uncooked quinoa

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside.

Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside.

In a saucepan on medium heat, heat the olive oil. 

Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to turn brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add minced garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.

To the saucepan, add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash. Stir to combine.

Stir in broth and quinoa. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.

Stir the pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.

Wood Block 'Peace' Christmas Decoration

I'm on a roll. I've gotten several projects done lately and it feels amazing! This is one of the crafts that was done at a church craft night last month, but I was in Utah that weekend so I just got around to finishing it. 

Anyway the wood blocks are from The Wood Connection. It's super easy. The sides of the wood are painted. Then you trace the letters on the backside of scrapbook paper and cut that out. 

 Then I just Mod Podged the paper onto each side. Lastly, they're covered with several coats of clear spray sealant, that way they don't stick to each other.

The 'a' or manger part is supposed to have a star on wire sticking out of it, but the star got lost somewhere between the car and my husband bringing the pieces in the house. So once I find it and get it on, I'll post another picture. 

What projects are you working on this week?