Pompom & Pinecone Garland DIY

OK so let me start by saying, technically these are NOT pinecones, but they are cones from my daughter's Hugh Jass evergreen tree, which I think is a blue spruce.  They are cones...they work.  Where I live the pines are few are far between, so I subbed in the next best thing! Real pine cones would be FAB!! 

Let's carry on shall we?

Ok so I have been obsessing over all the Pompom things this Christmas and everything is RE.DIC.U.LOUS.LY overpriced for my budget, so when met with a challenge...Martha comes out to play in the sandbox.  

I am feeling over the top creative this holiday season and because we all need a bit more glitter and fuzzy things in our lives, I decided to make this garland.  My kitchen window was looking sad and lonely and this was the perfect accoutrement. 

I bought this yarn a few years ago at Michaels and found it in my stash and throught it was about right for the task.  And Ohhhh, those pompoms are sooooo fluffy!

I didn't resort to rocket science.  I wedged a piece of thin jute between my center fingers to tie the pompom, then wrapped my hand 40 times (It sounded logical in my head) and then tied it off, cut the loops, then gave it a good jhuzzing (aka: fluffing) and trimmed it into a pretty shape.  

Onwards to the bling.  Glitter...the glue that hold my life together.  #notkidding

So I dug in my craft box for glitter I already had and found my Martha stash.  I got this a few years ago, and honestly, I am not even sure it is still in stores.  Since copper is the hot trend right now and the perfect compliment to the teal yarn, the choice was easy.

 *CAWWWW, CAWWWW*

 I simply brushed on some white paint...I had Behr Swiss Coffee for another project so I cracked open the can, brushed paint on the bottom half(ish) of the cones and then while the paint was still wet I sprinkled the magical glitter over the paint.

 I propped the cones up on a little piece of wood I had to dry.  

So here is the deal on assembly:  I made 7 pompoms and 6 pinecones.  I roughly measured the length of garland to my window so it went across the top and down both side. I used a thin jute string.  I spaced out the pompoms evenly on the jute, and simply tied them to the main piece of jute string I cut. I grabbed some thread from my sewing box for the cones, because jute was too heavy to tie around these as they are more delicate.  I tied the thread around the cones, knotted twice, then tied one cone between each pompom.  EASY, PEASY! That's it.  

I hung it above the window, giving it a little bit of a drapey swoop in the centre.  I think it is a fun addition to my holiday decor and it really took no time at all.  Because I had all the materials in my stash, this project cost me nothing, which to me is winning!  :-)

Do you love to create your own holiday decor?  I'd love to see what you are making.  If you have a blog post, drop your link to your creations below in comments.

Stay weird,

Wendy

How Do You Express Your Creativity?

Life...let's discuss.

We eat...we sleep...we work..we go full on, full tilt, shit hits the fan for pretty much every day of the week.  Most of us have lives that are pretty fast paced and we can get to the point where there doesn't seem to be any time at ALL during the day to squeeze in some time to just.  Be.  Creative.  

Now by creative, I do not mean whipping out the sliding compound miter saw and building a full picnic table and adirondack chair set (BUT you can if this is your thing...I did it once...hahaaa!!).  But whatever YOUR definition of creativity is...you need to be taking the time to actually DO it!

Going full on NOS speed gets shit done, but we all just need time to download.  Relax.  Appreciate the birds tweeting, being ok with kicking back with a book for 30 minutes and a good cup of coffee and coconut oil and JUST being present in that moment! 

For a good long time, I used to work on the road, traveling province wide for work.  I would be gone all week, come home on the weekends and spend 2 days playing catch up and then get up Monday morning to do it all again.  Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.  But all that washing was making for a very dry, and unhealthy head.  Literally.  

With everything I was doing I somehow, slowly over time, managed to deplete my life of all the simple things that gave me pleasure.  The little things that SO were the therapy I needed to balance out all the other stuff.  It hit me like a ton of bricks one day.  

So I decided it was time to get some of the love back in my life.  I decided that I needed SOUL FOOD.  

All the little things that made me feel wonderful like reading, knitting, gardening, cooking a gourmet meal, mini road trips with the fam jam, creating something with glitter (yes, I am THAT person), spending time in a bookstore, visiting with my kids, sewing, Adult colouring (addicted, btw), searching out new and unique little stores, decorating my home and showing it some love...these all came back into my life and added the element that was missing for so long.  I lost ME....and I was getting Wendy BACK!!

My days now feel complete...like I am whole.  And this download time helps me better focus on the work I DO have on tap for the day when I jump back in. 

It's just like in running, using the run/walk method.  You run till you need that little break....you take the time to slow it down, focus on your breathing and recover.  Then you jump back in the race and you run STRONGER because of it.  A total freakin' epiphany!  :-)

THESE are some of the things that inspire me and ignite my creative side:

HOW can you NOT love everything about coloring Mandalas?  Ahh, BLISS!

Caffeine...life juice, nectar of the gods, therapy in a mug..you name it.  I enjoy the entire process of making AND drinking a cup of coffee.  Happy Place!

Keeping a journal is imperative.  I look at it as a daily reminder of that BHAG I have to write that book one day!

Books...make...me...happy!!

My man and I hit the road.  We love just seeing this beautiful country we live in!

I always dreamed that one day I would have a restaurant.  Maybe, just maybe....:-)

No.  Words.  Happy heart!  :-) :-) 

I would love to hear in comments what makes your soul happy?  Talk to me!