L for Love!

I am a lover of all things DIY.

I am creative, scatterbrained, and find true joy in taking a bunch of nothing and creating something new and beautiful.

 

My latest craft was inspired by Pinterest and Etsy.

I am a Pinterest Junkie and SO not afraid to admit it.

And honestly, can any of us take full credit for our projects and recipes anymore?

I don't think so.

 

Anyways, one of my dearest friends in Maryland had her bridal shower a few weeks ago. Subsequently, she and her fiance recently purchased a house and I thought I would make them a one-of-a-kind wreath for their new home.

 

It may or may not have also been an excuse to make one for our house, too.

More bang for my buck, right? ;)

 

Anyways, here is the finished product!

 

 

Here are the supplies you will need:

wreath

wood letter

twine

1/3 yard of any 2 fabrics (I went with burlap and a plain cream colored cotton)

Pearl pins (optional)

hot glue gun

floral wire

 

I purchased everything I needed for two wreaths at Jo Ann's for less than $30!

Go ahead and try to buy two fabulous wreaths at target for that price. I dare you.

 

The first thing you need to do is wrap your wood letter with the twine, hot gluing in various places as you go. You could paint the letter for a different, unique look.

 

I used the floral wire and hot glue to secure the letter to the wreath.

 

For the fabric flowers, there are many tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest to create different types of flowers. I found roses to be the easiest for me with no sewing required. Check out this tutorial:

 

I hot glued the roses to my wreath, secured with the pretty pearl pins, and voila!

 

For the record, my use of the letter "L" is for Ray's last name, Love.

Wishful thinking on my part?

 

But since it's Valentine's Day, we can say it stands for our favorite noun,

love.

Yeah, let's go with that. ;)

 

Happy Valentine's Day sweethearts!





Hot Crabs, Cold Beer and Super Bowl Sunday

Like many retired northerners, my grandparents migrated to Daytona Beach every year from January through April. One of my favorite memories of visiting them was going to DJ's Oyster Deck, nicknamed "Down Under" because it is located on a dock under a bridge. This is a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and bar that locals love and is flooded with bikers during Bike Week.

 

Low and behold, it still exists and is exactly like I remember it. Since moving to Florida this is one of our favorite places to go. In case anyone has never been to Orlando, the seafood here is sub-par to say the least. Probably once a month we make the 1.5 hour drive to Daytona to get our fill of good hot crab legs, steamed shrimp, fried scallops and of course HUSHPUPPIES! This was the first place I ever tried them (at the age of 9!) and still maintain that theirs are the best.

 

I'm salivating just typing this.

 

Don't judge me. You would too.

 

We brought a couple of Ray's friends there on Saturday. We were starving and wanted to grub on some good food, and introducting friends to a new place seemed like a good enough excuse to make the trip :) We were not disappointed! Here are a couple snapshots of our night.

 

 

My handsome and I <3

(P.S. This is the biggest smile I could get him to muster up. He is just like other guys when it comes to taking photos, groaning every time I pull out the camera. Aren't boys ridiculous?)

 

Our feast! Or at least what remained about halfway through the meal. I was too excited when the food came to take a before picture!

 

And how about them Ravens?! My team is the Buffalo Bills, but I figured their odds were not good last night so I rooted for Baltimore ;) Honestly though, I didn't care who won as long as it was a good game, and that was the most exciting Super Bowl I've seen in a while!

 

More importantly, let's talk about the commercials! My favorite was the "So God made a Farmer" one by Dodge. I think that one hit close to home for so many people in my little hometown, where we have more cows than people. For real. What were some of your favorites?

 

Sigh. Now I'm thinking about all that junk I consumed the past two days, and all the cardio and healthy eating I'm going to have to do this week to make up for it.... bahaha who am I kidding. I'll probably skip the cardio, it was so worth the extra 2 pounds! ;)  

 

What a PERFECT weekend.

I'm not sure I want to return to the real world today :(

 

Till next time... happy Monday y'all!