SOCIAL MEDIA

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Christmas Baking + DIY PBK Wreath

Alternatively titled "When You Give A Toddler Sugar..."  He miigghht wake you up in the middle of the night & ask for food + juice 5,070 times, run into the walls screaming, or poop in your bed.  Take your pick.
Aye Aye Aye!  Christmas cookies + a baking day is a given for our family in December.  It's g o n n a happen!  But this year I found it a tad challenging with Cam.  Anyone else in the same dilemma with their toddler?  Brother Bear would rather cram the cookie dough in his mouth & spit it back out on the wax paper while picking his nose than do things the normal, sanitary, traditional way.  And yes.  He's wearing his underwear in almost every picture-we're in heavy potty training mode for the second time, people-the less clothes the better--not to mention it's 70 degrees in December over here & we'll have a little less laundry to tend to! (Mother of the year award in the bag...).
His favorite part was using the standing mixer.  "I wanna dude it, Mom!"  I had to completely unplug the thing because he found that he could scoot a chair up to the counter & turn it on himself.  He l o v e s changing the speeds while I mix the cookie dough in which he says, "it makes it c w a z y!" as he shakes his little hips & moves his hands in a circular motion to give you the full mixer play by play. 
I guess the best thing I did all three nights we decorated was give him his own plate & let him go to town.  Sure, he may have smashed his face into the sprinkles & licked the plate dry.  Lighten up!  It's Christmas, right?  See what I did there?  
I definitely gave up my insane dream of baking/decorating cookies with a toddler + having everything as perfect & sanitary as I dreamed up...not gonna happen, girlfriend!  No matter how many times you wash his hands it's going back up the nostril again.  You know it.
I have to say-- as crazy & as imperfect as it is- I love it:)  
* When he ran off to play-we totally salvaged a few to share with other people who would rather not have a tsp of toddler snot mixed in.  Your welcome.

Ahhhh, the sweet memories we are making:)
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PBK Inspired Wreath Tutorial

I seen the wreath to the left in the Pottery Barn Kid magazine before Christmas & drooled over it.  But for almost 50 bucks?  Come on,  I can't do that this time of year, crazy people!
Soooo, I decided to attempt my own with a few items I found at Walmart.

You Will Need: Scissors, styrofoam wreath, green felt material, red bow, hot glue gun + glue sticks

1.  Cover entire styrofoam wreath in green felt by hot gluing material to base.
2.  Cut out "popsicle shaped" felt leaves.  Pinch some at the bottom & glue together, while leaving others in original shape.  Glue in a flower-like pattern. 
3.  Cover entire wreath, varying the pinched leaves & original shapes.  It took me like a month just because I did it when I had a free minute.  It was a great way to relieve some stress & make something pretty!  The way you arrange them is totally up to you:)
4.  Hot glue the bow to the top center & there you have it!
You can also add some white balls to make it more like the PBK wreath, but I couldn't find ones like in the picture & ended up liking mine without...
Simple enough, right?  I probably spent a whopping $10 on this little DIY.  It may not be as pretty as the one from PBK, but it sure is cute & a bank account friendly:)