Tutorial: Felt Rosette Wreath

Since I have been stuck resting my leg at home, I decided to make a wreath that caught my eye on Pinterest. I had lots of red, white, and navy blue felt left over from the Felt Ruffle Wreath project so I decided to stay with the patriotic theme for this wreath too.

Supplies

Felt

   Since I am using 3 colors, I only needed 1/4 yard of each 
   color.

Wreath Form

   I use the 40% off one full priced item coupon at Michael's
   so I can get this 18 inch wreath for $2.99! 

Hot Glue

Scissors

   I use my Olfa Circle Rotary Cutter to make the circles 

   easily, but you will still need to scissors to make the spiral. 

Ribbon

   You can use whatever you want to embellish the wreath,
   I chose to make a bow.


First I made all the rosettes. I would just sit on the couch as we were watching TV to do this step.

You need to cut your felt into circles. Mine are about 4 inches in diameter.

Then you will cut the circle into a spiral. Make sure you keep the spiral the same width all the way around, this will make the rosette nice and flat when you roll it up in the next step.

Then you roll the felt into a rosette starting from the the center of the original circle (the end that is between my thumb and pointer finger).

After you roll lots and lots and lots of rosettes, you can start gluing them onto your wreath.

I bought the hay wreath from the craft store, but this time I kept it in the plastic wrapper to prevent all the hay from getting all over the place! 

Before you start gluing, decide on a pattern. 

These are very easy to glue down, just a small outline of glue is enough to hold it in place!

Just continue all the way around! At the end, I did have to go back with scissors and trim down a few of the rosettes so they were flat. 

It looks so nice on my door! But since I still have my Felt Ruffle Wreath, I am going to give this wreath to my step-grandmother when I visit her!

Doing the "Right" Thing

In life, we are faced with some tough decisions. Some of them easier than others.

Have you ever seen that show, "What Would You Do?"? In this show, they place hidden cameras and actors portray a questionable situation to see what bystanders will do. They had an episode in a bridal shop where a bride found "the dress" and when the salesperson realized the bride was getting married to another woman, she basically ripped the dress off the bride and told her she would not sell her the dress because she was a homosexual. Another episode, this very obviously skinny girl was trying on bikini's for her boyfriend and he was critiquing her, telling her she was fat! 

What would you do if you witnessed those sorts of situations?

I came across a story in my News Feed this morning about a wife that knew her husband was a murderer (he confessed to her) and how she chose to keep it a secret, until now. 
What would you do if a loved one or close friend committed a crime and confessed to you?


My parents and church taught me to always do the right thing, both morally and legally. The times that I have strayed I have been caught, paid for it, felt tremendously guilty. As I grew up, I sadly realized that even though you may do the right thing it doesn't always end up a happy ending like they teach you as a kid. Though I do my best everyday to live my life in a way that others can be proud of, it bothers me that others can do all sorts of wrong and get away with it. Even if they are reported to the proper authorities! That is not how they depict it on TV or in the movies. You are supposed to report the bad guy, they get caught and thrown in jail, and the world is rid of one more menace to society. 

Why is that not the case in reality?

Celebrities and socialites showcase this better than anyone else. It sets a bad example for our society, what it tells young people is "As long as you have money and/or fame, you are exempt from the rules." I have also noticed that if you have the right "friends" you can get away with breaking the rules. All I can do is shake my head and stand by waiting for Karma to catch up. If we all followed the rules, the world would be a better place wouldn't it?

Always let your conscience be your guide, I believe a very wise cricket once said that. So even when doing the "right" thing may not give me the fairy tale ending I hope for, I am going to keep it up. Eventually everyone will answer for the wrongs they have done, if not in this lifetime than in the life thereafter.

I hope I can teach, by example, to my daughter the importance of doing the right thing even when its not the cool or convenient option. Because she is going to be faced with tough choices and I want her to have the confidence to stand up for the little guy, to report the crime, to rat out the wrong-doer.


 
 

New DIY Projects!

After being stuck inside for days now, I decided we had to get out! Target has some amazing deals going on right now so I ran a few errands then headed over there. 

I have to admit, I do thoroughly enjoy the upside to being gimpy: I get to use the electric shopping cart!

We cruised through Target and thank goodness it was pretty empty because I am definitely not a professional electric buggy driver. Luckily most of the display are on wheels, hehehe.

During deployment, I generally get on a home decorating kick and make-over a room or two. Last time, I vamped up the living room. This time I want to change up the master bedroom and bath. I already did all I could to the bathroom, I bought an awesome new shower curtain for $10 at TJ Maxx and a matching rug for $3 at JC Penny. I really want new bathroom towels but I haven't found any that are the quality I want and in the desired price range either. I like to take my time and shop around for the best deals, especially since I like to change things up fairly often!

Anyways, Target is clearing out some of their 8 piece bedding sets and I found an amazing one for $50. That is a great price for a king sized bedding set. The set included the comforter, bed skirt, 2 throw pillows, regular sham, and euro shams. I loved the grommet design and the colors, it just looked so trendy. Also, I think Hubs will like it too. Not like he is here to give his nod of approval though...

So I came home and immediately put it on my bed. It looks great! I need to buy pillows to fit the euro shams though. Then I realized something: My window coverings don't match!

I hate shopping for curtains and now that I have a sewing machine, I can just make them myself! I have been perusing Pinterest and found a few tutorials I like, I definitely want lined curtains. What I am thinking is navy blue curtains with a painted silvery/white grommet design on the top third and leaving the rest unpainted, with a silvery/white silk ribbon separating the painted portion from the unpainted portion. I don't want to do the painted grommet design on the entire curtain because I think it would be overkill since the comforter is that same design. This is #3 on my list of to-do's.

I also bought a jersey sheet set for Little Miss, it was so cheap that I couldn't make it for that price! Plus, it matches her bedding perfectly. Now I just need to make the throw pillows, that is #2 on my list.

Last night I started making felt rosettes for my next wreath. I plan on doing a big tutorial when I am finished! Here is a sneak peak of what I have been working on, lots and lots of felt rosettes!

If you want to see all the stuff I am working on, check out my "Upcoming Projects" board on Pinterest!

How Do You Say "I Love You"?

With all the emails Hubs and I exchange during deployment, I find that saying "I Love You" gets rather monotonous. While I mean it with all of my heart every time I say it (or type it), I worry that the meaning gets lost when this phrase gets so casually tossed around in today's society.

To change things up, this deployment I am sending Hubs an love quote each day. I feel like at this point, none of my material is original anymore! Poets, authors, and songwriters do such a great job I decided to borrow their words. 

“The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.” 

“I love you, not just for now, but for always, and I dream of the day that you’ll take me in your arms again.” 

“While I sleep, I dream of you, and when I wake, I long to hold you in my arms. If anything, our time apart has only made me more certain that I want to spend my nights by your side, and my days with your heart.”

“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give you forever” 

“Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.” 

Those are a few of my favorites, I believe they are all from Nicholas Sparks. What I have been doing is looking up quotes online and putting them in emails in my Drafts folder so I can simply send one of the each day.

I find it interesting how other people describe love and the things people do to express it. I think it is important to tell the person you love how you feel as often as possible, but also in many different ways. It kind of spices things up! I am also thinking about sending actual love letters to Hubs, I didn't do that last deployment so maybe something to new to surprise him.


What ways do you show someone you care if they are thousands of miles away? I want to hear your ideas!


 

When Life Hands You Lemons...

I went to the Dr. yesterday to get my leg looked at and he said I have to stay off of it for 2 weeks! Ughh...

To make myself feel better, I decided to make a list of reasons why 2 weeks stuck at home isn't a bad thing:

More potty training!

Perhaps I can get Little Miss to understand the difference between "big girl panties" and diapers. She has no accidents when I let her run around bare bottomed, but as soon as we put on the panties she wets them. Now I have lots of time at home to work on this.

More crafting!

I can make more bows and more wreaths and perhaps make a pillowcase dress for Little Miss. Except today I ran out of hot glue, oops.

I can finally start reading The Hunger Games on my Kindle!

I haven't had the chance to sit down and read them yet, now I have no excuse not to.

I can catch up on trashy reality shows!

Today my TV stayed on Bravo, so I caught up on RHOC, RHATL, and Shahs of Sunset. 

Lots of quality time with Little Miss!

The past few days have been rough for her, she realized that Daddy isn't coming home for a long time. Last night on the car ride home from the Dr., she tells me, "Mommy I miss my Daddy.". I turn around to tell her how much Daddy misses her, only to see tears rolling down her little cheeks. It broke my heart to see her crying. I am frustrated because I don't know how to make her understand and I am pretty sure that she is too young to understand time. All I can do is assure her that Daddy loves her and misses her, that he will be home eventually, and show her lots of pictures. 

My triceps are going to look awesome after being on crutches for 2 weeks!

I can get really creative with my care packages!

Time to get my Pinterest on to find out some cool themes for care packages. I wonder if Hubs appreciates them as much as I like making them...

I guess I could cook some more and post a few recipes for you guys, I haven't done that in a while either.

So I am going to try my hardest to focus on the positive here. Its only 2 weeks and it could definitely be worse! 

Are We Ever Really Alone?

One of the things I hate the most about deployments: Being alone when I get hurt. If Little Miss gets hurt or sick, I know I can handle it. But who is going to take care of me if I get sick or hurt? Last deployment I was lucky and didn't have any mishaps, this time not so much.

Remember I mentioned how I pulled my quadricep muscle last weekend? Remember how excited I was that my muscle healed up quickly and I was able to go to spin class?

Last night I pulled my quadricep again only much worse this time. Its a funny story now, but last night I was pretty panicked. I suffer from Night Terrors. My mom has them and so did my great-grandmother. It is like a nightmare times ten. They are very realistic to me; most of them take place in my bedroom and I see people or things that aren't really there, but to me they are real.

In last nights episode, something was attacking Little Miss & me in my bed. Both in my terror and in reality, I am screaming. Usually at this point Hubs can wake me up.

But no one is here to wake me up and stop the terror from escalating.

After the screaming comes "sleep walking". Though I didn't really walk, I just started crawling around my bed trying to fight off the invisible intruder. It is all so real to me. I am sweating, my heart is racing, and I am fighting hard. That is when my quadricep *snaps* and I wake up mid-fight with one of the most intense pains I have ever felt.

When you wake up from a Night Terror, you are very confused because you don't fully realize what happened. At this point, all I know is my leg is hurting so much I am crying and I am panicking. 

No one is here to help me. 

I can't even put weight on my leg to walk. I am seeing white spots as I crawl down the stairs to get an ice pack. I crawl back up the stairs and I start panicking even more: Do I need to go to the ER? This pain is too intense to sleep through, who is going to watch Little Miss? What if I really tore something and I need surgery? WHO IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL IF I CAN'T?? (See how this is escalating?)

I call one of my friends with a medical background, thank goodness she is a night owl. She offered to drop everything and bring me to the ER if that is what I really want. As we sit there and talk it out, she tells me what I need to do for my leg. I start to calm down. I start to think clearly. I decide to sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning. My leg isn't swollen, there is no bruising, so there are no immediate signs of a tear.

I woke up this morning feeling better, I could really use a pair of crutches though. Today I realized that one of my biggest fears during deployment, being alone and getting hurt, is not really a problem anymore. I have a great support system here and if I ever hurt myself that badly, I have people here who will pitch in to help us out.

One of the great things about being a milispouse: You are never really alone!

Today I Learned How To...

Today has been a pretty awesome day, I think things are finally starting to look up!

OHH, I want to thank Jen over at New Mommy Confessions for featuring my blog as her Blog of the Month! First of all, I am so flattered that people actually read my blog and secondly, I am excited that Jen is sharing my blog with her followers :) If you haven't checked out her blog, she is a fellow milispouse and SAHM. She is so funny, does lots of giveaways, and puts out great military information as well!

So 3 days ago I managed to pull my quadricep muscle so I have been icing it, wrapping it, and staying away from the gym. Which really sucks because 1. I am a gym junkee and 2. I enjoy the hour or so each day that Little Miss and I can spend apart. Distance makes the heart grow fonder folks (even if its only a few walls separating myself from my daughter!)! 

However, this was the perfect excuse for Operation: Potty Training. Little Miss has been running around for 3 days without a diaper and she has been doing very well, no accidents! But wow I have gone through an entire container of Lysol wipes. And everytime she makes her business in the potty, she gets up and dances! Which is super cute until there are droplets of pee on the floor, she is just air drying right? The only time she wears a pull-up is when she is sleeping or when we leave the house. We haven't made the transition to "big girl panties" yet, that is going to happen tomorrow wish us luck...

Since we have been cooped up in the house, I have started doing educational activities disguised as crafts and games *insert evil laugh* Yesterday we did painting and worked on our colors. Today we did an "Alphabet Bugs" game. I taped all the letters on our big glass doors and we sang our ABC's, identified the letter, and tried to put them in order. We made it all the way to "J" before Little Miss had enough. I can't force her to learn everything I want her to, things need to be fun at this age or else she may not enjoy learning later on! Keep it light, have fun with it.

The weather was cooperating so I decided to finally wash my car. Last July when we bought the RAV we paid extra $$ for Car Armor on the inside & out, and it has been so worth the money. Little Miss's messes wipe up with ease and all those nasty bugs and scratches come right off the exterior! After we bought the car, I diligently washed it every week. Well, then winter came and it was too cold for me to do that anymore so today was the first day this year I busted out the sponges and bucket. 

Then I did something new: I WAXED THE CAR! That is just one of those things Hubs always has done. Gotta love being a military wife, you learn how to do all sorts of handy things while your SO is deployed! Last month I learned how to restring the weed-eater, this month I wax the car, next month I may just possibly conquer the world! Everyone will get a million dollars and their own house and will be happy all the time...because I said so  :)

After being so impressed with my car waxing skills, I decided it was time to test out my strained quadricep. Good news, I made it through spin class with only minor modifications. Yippee!

Alright guys, I have a small confession to make: Even though I work out regularly and I eat right, I still feel guilty when I eat anything not considered "healthy". I want to conquer this love/hate relationship I have with food, so during my self-inflicted lock down I came across this weight loss app called Lose It! I have never kept a food diary and I want to have a better understanding of the balance between the amount of calories I consume and the amount of calories I burn. This app is amazing and very user friendly. You just put in your information (current weight, height, goal weight) and it comes up with what you caloric intake should be each day. You simply enter in what food you eat, your exercises, and it crunches all the numbers for you!

So today I warmed up on the treadmill then did spin class, I came home, entered the numbers online, and realized I burned off all the calories I consumed! Holy cow. This means that I can eat a few of Little Miss's seasoned potato wedges (with my turkey burger wrapped in romaine) and not feel guilty. For me, that is a huge break through. Bye Bye Guilt! Not that I am going to go out and eat a carton of chocolate ice cream now. But the numbers show me that with a healthy diet & a good workout, I can indulge a little bit and still be okay.
 

Its a challenge to look at my before & after pictures and not be terrified that I will put back on all the weight. I am at a healthy weight that I am happy with, now I want to be stronger. Like I want to look GI Jane-ish, minus the shaved head. Not scary muscly like Madonna though. I want to look as strong as I feel! Life has thrown quite a bit at me in the last 2 years and it have forced me to learn & grow. 

Overall, one of the best days I have had since deployment began! One month down folks :)