Valentine Wreath

Here's my latest version of a holiday wreath. Sorry for the lack of pictures, and the poor quality of the pictures I do have. But it's easy enough without more.

First, take a metal hanger, and with strong wire cutters, cut off the hook. Bend into a heart, and duct tape the ends together. My ends are actually on one flat side. I just overlapped them an inch and taped.
Cut fabric into 1x4" strips and leave all the edges raw. I don't remember how much fabric I used, but I think it was 1/2 yard of each of the two patterns. Proceed to tie the pieces around the heart form in any pattern. You could do 2 or 3 of each, or alternate every other one. You can tie in a know, or fold the strip in half and loop the ends through.
When you've covered the hanger, evenly spread out the strips, and fluff your fabric.

This wreath was so quick and easy, I thought I'd try a different holiday. The clover was harder to bend into shape, but it turned out cute. I tend to push all the fabric to the outside to make the clover shape more distinguishable. On this one, I didn't even cut off the hanger hook. I just straightened it and that became the clover's stem.

Matched

Yes, I'm still alive. Just having a terribly busy semester. I did take time out for a GNO. These are some of the ladies responsible for my sanity. I depend on them and our get-togethers. We love a good party, and this month, we had a guest: Ally Condie, the author of Matched. Here we are with our gorgeous green books.

Now, we don't always have elaborate parties, but we love a good excuse for one. Matched provided us with a perfect opportunity. We matched our decorations to the book: green tablecloths and balloons, bowls of "pills" . . .

. . . foil dinnerware . . .

. . . and a dessert buffet.

After a great chat with Ally, in which she answered lots of questions and talked to us about writing in general, we presented Ally a gift. One aspect of the book is the "100 Poems" in society. This poem is one that was not kept by the society, but plays an important role:

"Do not go gentle into that good night . . ." by Dylan Thomas. The sign is vinyl on glass.

When we thought all was done, Nancy pulled a surprise on us all. She presented us all with a gift, a "memento" straight out of the book. She gave us all these beautiful compacts, just like the memento Cassia keeps her pills in.

What a great night. Thanks, girls for all the laughs. Now, what's next?

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This machine is currently at the top of my wish list:

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