Coffee Filter Wreath

I started a coffee filter wreath about six months ago and just finished it in the last week.  It's really a pretty simple project and it turned out pretty well.

I have finished pictures, but not pictures of the process.  I'll put the materials and basic directions below, but you can find this project all over the internet with pictures of the process and different or more detailed directions.

Materials
*foam wreath form- size and shape are up to you
*coffee filters- white or brown, your choice
*hot glue gun
*ribbon for hanging the wreath if you choose
*bow, decorative details- whatever you might like to add to your wreath to finish it
*pins or little floral stakes to affix the decorative elements to the wreath

Directions
Essentially, you just "crunch" the filter up, sort of folding it in on itself and then hot glue the bottom of the filter to the wreath form.  And repeat about 100-150 times.  If you plan on hanging this with ribbon, tie the ribbon around the wreath form before you begin gluing the filters.

I discovered that one row of filters around the wreath form isn't enough to cover the entire form.  That's what I did to begin with and you could still see the green wreath form from the middle and sides when it was hanging on the door.  So, be sure to do a couple rows on the wreath form so that the wreath is full.

After you've filled in your wreath form, add whatever decorative elements you'd like to the wreath.  I used fabric flowers I found with the scrapbooking supplies at Michael's.  Depending on what you choose, you may need some pins or little stakes to stick them on the wreath.

That's it.  It's a fairly fast and easy project.  The hardest part is not burning yourself with the hot glue gun.  At least it was for me.

Mr & Mrs

Zach and Monica got married on Saturday!

We flew out last Wednesday evening, hoping that evening flights would mean a sleeping Ophelia.  Ha.  She was absolutely amazing, though, reading books, looking out the window and playing with us for the longest leg of the trip to Ohio.  Then we were delayed in Chicago for hours and didn't get to mom's until 4:15 Thursday morning.  And Ophelia didn't feel like sleeping for more than a couple hours.  Not a good start to vacation.

The wedding activities went well, though we were exhausted.  We were busy running around Cleveland, but the rehearsal was good and the wedding itself was beautiful.  Zach and Monica planned a very nice ceremony and very fun, festive reception.  Everyone had a fantastic time.  And Ophelia was the life of the party.  She was the only kiddo there so she had the run of the reception- literally.  We got tired of chasing her and just let her run around since everyone knew who she belonged to.  She was amazing and spent the evening making friends with all the adults.  Not once did she flip out or worry about anything.  She ran around, danced, ate cake and talked to everyone. 

Once we got back to mom's house we got a little more sleep.  And then on Monday afternoon Ophelia was playing with uncle Rob... we ended up in the emergency room for 3 hours.  Six x-rays later, Phee's diagnosis was nursemaid's elbow and a sprained shoulder.  The kid was a trooper through the whole thing.  She got a teeny tiny little arm sling to wear and if possible, it made her 47 times cuter than normal.  See.

The moral of the story- don't lift a kid up by their arms/wrists/hands.  It doesn't always work out.

Tuesday morning she woke up ouchy and complaining about her arm.  After a nap, she apparently forgot that it hurt because she spent the rest of the day playing as usual, carrying big toys around, climbing, holding herself up and generally being a silly kid.  I guess the sprain wasn't as bad as she made out on Monday.  Works for me.  Though the sling really was adorable.

(Also, we didn't take a single photo the entire weekend.  We're at the mercy of family members who did.  All I have is this cell phone pic Doug took.  I'll post wedding pics whenever I get some.)