Pretty in {Pink}: Cupcake Liner Valentine Wreath

I love our double front doors...BUT having double front doors means having double the amount of decorations for the doors. Double the amount of decorations means double the cost.  So to justify changing my door decor with every new season and holiday, cheap is the way I go. These wreaths cost me about $8 a piece.

What you'll need:

• wreath frame
• cupcake liners (about 145 for this size)
• hot glue gun
• garland

I started out with this wreath frame from the Dollar Tree ($1):

I purchased 8 packages of these ADORABLE cupcake liners (24 count each), also from the Dollar Tree, but realized later I needed more.  I ended up buying a total of 12 packages ($12) for both wreaths (6 packages per wreath):

Fold each cupcake liner into fourths (fold in half and then in half again) and hot glue them to the wreath frame, placing just a dot of glue at the point of the folded liner. Keep them close together but not too close because you will end up needing double the amount of liners.  After they are all glued on, you will be able to fluff up the liners and make them look fuller.

I added an embellishment on each wreath by flattening out a liner and cutting slits around the edge (creating a flower shape).  I stacked three on top of each other trimming each one smaller than the one under it. I skewered them with the toothpicks that came with the liners and hot glued the toothpicks to the wreath.

Next, I draped heart garland back and forth across the back of the wreath.  The garland is the reason I can't give you an exact cost on the wreaths. I bought them last year after Valentines Day and can't remember exactly how much I paid for them.  I know it was less than a dollar per garland.

I was so pleased with the final product.  I was afraid they might come out looking too "crafty" (no offense), but I think they resemble carnation wreaths.  The colors are beautiful and look gorgeous from the street. Love spending close to nothing for awesome decorations!

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Simply Designing

Colorful {Closets}

I know I already have way too many projects going on, but I can add to my wish list, right? Somewhere down the road I would like to paint our Master Closet.  We have wonderful custom-made, wood shelving that I'm dying to make pop with an amazing wall color.

Drawing inspiration is always the first step:

Gorgeous stenciled closet by Many Moments of Me

What a beautiful color choice by Russet Street Reno!

Lovely Closet-to-Mudroom Reno by 2 Hound Design

Love this color.

{Sweet} Turkeys

These treats were extremely experimental.  I was dying to make turkeys for my class at school, so I did some research online and sort of spliced together a few different examples. My husband came up with most of the assemblage ideas and helped me put them together. (Thanks, Babe!)  It was a blast, and I think they came out pretty cute.  Not perfect but cute. 

Base: halved oatmeal cream pie

Body: Ding Dong

Head: halved Keebler cookie

Face: colored frosting

Tail: Double-stuffed Oreo; candy corn

Feet: halved candy corn

Glue: powdered sugar frsoting

Let Me Introduce You: author Marshele Waddell {Hope for the Homefront}

A few years ago, the Lord laid on my sister-in-law's heart to start a Bible study with some of her friends. It was neat how the Lord worked things out.  When Dawnielle began planning it, we realized it was all military wives who would be coming.  We had a time of fellowship as well as a time of study and really enjoyed chatting about the trials and joys experienced as military wives (and as wives in general).

In addition to another study source, Dawnielle introduced to us Hope for the Homefront by Marshele Waddell.  We read it together "book club" style and laughed about how much we could relate to the Marshele's experiences.  As cliche as it sounds, I laughed and cried while reading that book.  I have to confess that I had never read any military "help" books before although there are so many great resources out there.  I just didn't think I'd read anything that wouldn't be something I'd already heard or experienced myself.  Marshele's stories WEREN'T new, and that's what was so great...I could relate!

A couple of summers ago, I lent my copy to a fellow military wife whose husband was deployed.  She was having a pretty tough time, and I thought that Hope for the Homefront would show her the more lighthearted side of a deployment.  It did! She finished it in just a couple of days and told me that it was an incredible blessing.

This book is not exclusively for military wives but for anyone who has to be separated from a loved one for any amount of time.  It is tremendously difficult to stay positive when you can't be with someone you love.

The Lord and His Word are my number one source of comfort when my husband is away, but books like these are a refreshment and a blessing.

Visit Hope for the Homefront to read information about the book Hope for the Homefront and other books written by Marshele.

Chili Sauce {Substitute}

I have an amazing Spark People recipe to share that has an added twist. I didn't the have chili sauce that the recipe called for, so I Googled and found an incredible substitute.

First of all, if you haven't heard of Spark People, you have got to visit their site.  They have all the help and guidance you need to start eating healthy and exercising.  They have trackers for EVERYTHING all the way down to the number of glasses of water you drink per day.  I won't say that I track everything that I should, but I do make good use of their meal planner.  They have dozens of suggested meals and snacks that you can customize to your liking.

The recipe that I made was their 20 Min Chicken Creole recipe. It called for chili sauce, and I didn't have any.  In fact, I had never bought chili sauce before and didn't even know where it was in the grocery store and was too embarrassed to ask anyone!!  {shame}  But this dilemma led me to Google search chili sauce substitutes.  I came across this forum on Food.com.  I had all the ingredients necessary except the allspice, which was a surprise....I usually have that.  I also was able to find out what chili sauce actually was.

Chili Sauce Sub:

1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of ground cloves
dash of ground allspice

       = 1 cup chili sauce

I served the chicken over white rice, and it was delicious.  We could taste the sweetness of the brown sugar and cinnamon.  It's definitely going to be a repeat meal.

Should be {framed}

I have a zillion photos at home that are either shoved in a photo box deep in a closet or in file form on my computer.  What would it take for me to pull them out or print them off and actually frame them? Probably a miracle....or just enough frames and wall space to handle them.  I found some frames at Layla Grayce that just might inspire me to get some more pictures on the walls.