Pregnancy Update: 29 Weeks

22 Jan

20130120_091643We had our second (and final) childbirth class last Saturday. I am so glad we took the class. We learned a lot about the practices specific to the hospital and got to tour the labor/delivery and postpartum rooms. I am very excited to give birth there. Just 11 short weeks away! (give or take)

We also had a newborn care class last Thursday night. It was very informative, and we got to practice giving a doll a bath, changing its diapers, and swaddling.

Emma is definitely moving more often throughout the day and really gets going at night. Last night, I woke up around 4:30 and she was going crazy in there! I love it though. I’m so excited to meet her!

One more weekend left in January and then we’re into February – and it’s going to go fast because I have something going on every single weekend. The first weekend, I’m volunteering at my friends’ race and then it’s Super Bowl Sunday. The next weekend, I’m flying to Minnesota for a baby shower. The next weekend, we fly to Florida. And the last weekend in February, we come back from Florida. It’ll be a whirlwind but a fun one!

………………….

My workouts last week:

Su: 1.15 mile walk

M: 40 minutes prenatal yoga

W: 1.34 mile walk

Sa: 1.15 mile walk

…………………..

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks, back pain, acne (SO ready for this to go away), still some pelvic/inner thigh achiness

Food cravings: ICE CREAM, also loving Mexican

Weight gained: 20 lbs total (no gain this week)

Belly button in or out? In, but very flat

Stretch marks? None so far!

Wedding rings on or off? On

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Goal for 2013: Thanksgiving

17 Jan

gratitudeI’ve been thinking about the year ahead and what I want to focus on, and I keep coming back to Thanksgiving. Since reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp a year ago, I have seen what an amazing difference being thankful for God’s blessings makes in my experience of joy.

It keeps me focused on What Is, instead of What Should Be.

It reminds me that because of God’s intimate involvement in my life, my cup can always be full.

It satisfies me with God’s goodness (Jeremiah 31:14).

It enables me to love and serve others from a place of abundance and contentment, giving new meaning to ‘natural overflow.’

It highlights the grace that God provides even in hard situations and challenges.

It turns to me the ultimate thing to be thankful for, the reason why I have God’s favor and not His wrath – Christ’s death in my place and resurrection to eternal life.

Despite of all these benefits, it’s hard to remember to give thanks. Left to my own devices, I always run back to being consumed with The Way Things Should Be, which is really just me saying that The Ways Things Are isn’t good enough. Whether those ideas of ‘should’ are born from discontent with all that God freely gives, or an attempt to make my life conform more to the Christian ideal, they all lead to the same place: Guilt. Condemnation. Bondage.

Giving thanks for the reality of life is the freedom from that.

In giving thanks, I recognize God’s sovereignty in my life. I rest in the knowledge that He has created me to be who I am, given me the life that I have and provides sufficient grace for all that He calls me to. Who am I to say that things should be different?

Really, thanksgiving paves the path to contentment in God, and enables the full living of life in the moment, no matter what that reality entails.

So to practice thanksgiving regularly in 2013, I’m taking Ann Voskamp’s idea of writing down 1,000 gifts and tweaking it a bit.

My one goal is to write down one thing each day that I thank God for.

I plan to write it down at the end of the day or first thing the next morning, when I can reflect back on the day and be reminded of the ways God blessed me.

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:4-5)

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Shot Debaucle

16 Jan

At one of my prenatal appointments a month or two ago, the midwife recommended that I get a Tdap vaccine during my third trimester, since it passes on the immunity to the baby in utero. They also said that anyone who is going to have contact with the baby should get the shot. So I scheduled an appointment for both me and Travis with the Jefferson County Health Dept (where the midwife told me to go). The earliest opening they had was 3 weeks out from when I called, which was last night.

Our appointment was at 5:30 so I got home around 5:20 and expected Travis to be ready waiting by the door. For various reasons, he wasn’t ready and we didn’t end up leaving our house until 5:30. I hate being late so I was already crabby. Then, it was a challenge finding the building in the dark so we didn’t end up getting there until 5:45, by which time I was completely bent out of shape. I don’t know why it didn’t register earlier, but since this is the public health clinic, appointment times are just for show. The waiting room was full of people, which surprised me since we were the last appointments of the day. We checked in and discovered that they didn’t accept United Healthcare insurance (what?). Travis has additional insurance through his work (Anthem), which they did accept. So my shot would be about $15, and his would be free. Fine.

Then we sat in the waiting room for an hour. I was reading Us magazine so didn’t really mind but Travis got on the phone and found out that Walgreen’s offers the same shot, they accept United Healthcare, and United would cover all of it. There were still a few people in front of us, so we told the receptionist that we were leaving, she gave us the stink eye (you’re mad that you get to leave earlier?), and drove over to Walgreen’s.

The pharmacist was really friendly and while they didn’t have any flu shots for Travis (which I don’t think is critical anyway, since Emma won’t arrive until after flu season, and Travis works from home), they did have the Tdap vaccine. Within 15 minutes, our insurance had been processed, paperwork filled out, shots administered, and we were on our way out the door.

I won’t turn this post into a political rant but I will say that I am very grateful for health insurance, and being able to go to a private clinic that is efficient and friendly.

And if you’re looking to get your Tdap vaccine, go to Walgreen’s.

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Pregnancy Update: 28 Weeks

15 Jan

28w 0dI’m officially in the third trimester now! WOW.

Our first childbirth class on Saturday went well. I didn’t really learn anything new (since I’ve been reading up on the whole birth thing trying to figure out my desired approach) but it was helpful to practice relaxation techniques with Travis. We have the class again next Saturday and we get to tour the hospital, which I’m excited for.

On Sunday, we made some more progress on the nursery – we hung up the shelves that we bought at Ikea and I bought some picture frames for the wall. I’m also on the hunt for a poster to go in a frame I already have and think I decided to buy this one after Emma is born. So freakin’ cute. I’m a sucker for anything with birds.

Yesterday, I finally bought a maternity swimsuit for our Florida trip, a pair of maternity yoga pants and a cute ruffly tank from Target to hopefully wear for maternity pictures and a baby shower. I’m planning to ask my brother to take some maternity pictures for us while we’re down in Florida. I’m assuming he’ll say yes. 🙂 (I wasn’t sure if I wanted pictures or not, and this way they’re free! We’ll save our money for baby pictures.)

As far as the pregnancy itself goes, I’ve been having A LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions this week. Like probably one an hour on average. They don’t hurt but they are noticeable – it’s like my stomach gets really upset for a minute or so. Which makes me wonder that maybe what I thought was Emma moving back during weeks 15-18ish were really Braxton Hicks? Because it’s the exact same feeling, and completely different from her kicking. Kicking is a good sensation! A contraction is not.

I also think Emma went through a growth spurt because I’ve been having a lot of round ligament pain in my lower belly, I feel like my belly is HUGE this week, and I gained 2 lbs in a week, which hasn’t been the trend.

Last week’s workouts were pretty much non-existent, due to our trip to MN. I’m back on it this week.

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks contractions, increased body temp (yay!)
Food cravings: Chocolate, FROYO, ice cream
Weight gained: 20 lbs total (2 lbs this week)

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Back at it

11 Jan

We’re back from Minnesota. It was a good trip. The Focus got us to Minnesota, we stayed in a nice hotel on Tuesday night in Grand Island, Nebraska, and I got to re-meet a lot of Travis’ relatives that I briefly met at our wedding (and couldn’t remember…). As far as traveling while pregnant, my only complaint is that I need my own bed and body pillow to sleep decently well. After 10 hours of sleep last night, I’m still pooped today. It was worth it though. (Now I just have to figure out how to bring my body pillow to Florida…)

I finally had a stranger comment on me being pregnant! We were at the airport going through security and the guy behind me was like, “Whoa, so are you like due really soon?” I told him I was due in April and he said, “So you can tell your kid that you took them through airport security.” Yep. It’s not the first time, and (if all goes according to plan) it won’t be the last.

Tomorrow is our first childbirth class! We’re both really excited, but bummed that it will overlap with the Broncos playoff game. We’ll still be able to see the end of it though, so at least we won’t miss the whole thing. (And worse case, we could just DVR it.)

Anyway, have a great weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with a third trimester pregnancy update!

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Pregnancy Update: 27 Weeks

8 Jan

27w 0dLast week of the 2nd trimester! My due date was 3 months from yesterday. So exciting!

I took my glucose test last Thursday morning and got the results back Friday afternoon. My glucose and hemoglobin levels are normal, meaning I don’t have gestational diabetes or anemia. I was very glad to hear that! So I’m pretty much back to normal with my eating and exercise habits. I’ll do a post soon about how it’s going eating intuitively while pregnant. I also have a post in the works about the prenatal workout videos I’ve tried.

My back had been hurting a lot at night until I discovered that when I was laying directly on my side, I’d end up tilting slightly backward while I was sleeping – putting my back at a very awkward, painful angle. As soon as I started intentionally tilting slightly forward onto my body pillow, my back stopped hurting. I’ve also tried putting my arm behind me, instead of laying on it. At first, I thought it would be horribly uncomfortable but it gives my poor cramped collarbone a nice break.

So my sleep this past week has been pretty decent. I still wake up every hour or two to switch sides, and I still have some crazy dreams, but overall, it’s not too bad. I do lay on my back for a minute or so every once in a while and it’s like sinking into a cup of warm pudding. Ahhh…

I’m flying back to Minnesota for my baby shower the weekend of February 9 & 10 and just bought my plane ticket this past week. It was only $150! That is the best ticket price we’ve seen in years, maybe ever, from Denver to Minneapolis. And it’s on Southwest, which means I get to check 2 free bags (for bringing gifts back)! I’m so excited.

We’re actually making another impromptu trip to Minnesota today for a reason that’s not so happy – Travis’ grandma passed away and we’re going to back for the visitation and funeral, which are Wednesday night and Thursday morning. We’re driving our old Focus back to give to Travis’ brother and then we’re flying back to Denver on Thursday night. It’ll be a short trip, but I’m glad we can make it.

……………………

My workouts for last week:

Su: 1.15 mile walk

M: 40 minutes Prenatal Fitness Fix video

T: 1.55 mile walk

Th: 30 minutes elliptical

F: 1.15 mile walk

Sa: 1.15 mile walk

My pelvic/inner thigh pain was ridiculous on Friday – I assume from doing the elliptical (since your legs are going different directions the whole time, which I’ve read aggravates this kind of pain). I had to jog across the road as a car was coming on my walk with the dogs Friday morning and that solidified that my pregnant jogging days are over. I’m going to stick to walking, workout videos, and hopefully start doing some swimming (need to buy a suit first). I am enjoying this whole “light intensity exercise” thing but I’m really looking forward to getting back into running!

…………………

Mixing it up a bit this week…

Maternity clothes? Pants are all maternity, except for a few pairs of workout/pajama pants. Tops are 90% maternity – I still have a few pre-pregnancy tops that are long enough, and I still wear my cardigans.
Stretch marks? None
Symptoms: Pelvic/inner thigh pain, some heartburn, backache
Best moment this week: Went to Ikea (for the first time in Denver) and bought gray shelves for the nursery
Miss Anything?  sleeping on my stomach/back, wine, running
Movement: Lots of kicking! Mostly in the middle of the night
Food cravings: Chocolate still! There’s a box of chocolates sitting in my hall at work and I probably eat at least 3 a day. So hard to resist!
Weight gained: 18 lbs total (1 lb this week)
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: No labor signs, but I’ve been having Braxton Hicks contractions during the night
Belly Button in or out? It’s getting flatter every day
Mood: Frequently annoyed at the world over little stuff, but overall, I’m happy and excited
Looking forward to:  Childbirth classes starting this weekend
What I am NOT looking forward to: Having the pelvic pain get worse, 13 more weeks of sleeping on my side
Milestones: Last week of the 2nd trimester!

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Sewing Adventures

3 Jan

Last Saturday, I didn’t have anything going on and since it was pretty much the last open weekend we have until March, I decided it was the perfect time to finish my sewing projects.

First up was redoing Travis’ Christmas stocking and making Emma’s. I am happy to say that these stockings went MUCH smoother than the last ones and I am a LOT better at using the sewing machine. Funny how practicing something makes you better at it.

Though they’re still not perfect, my OCD self is very pleased with how these turned out.

blendsgiving 026 (Large)I think Emma’s stocking (in the middle) is the cutest. I’d be tempted to claim it as my own if she weren’t my daughter.

blendsgiving 027 (Large)Next up was the crib skirt for the nursery. I unfortunately can’t find the blog tutorial I used to get the general idea of how to make this crib skirt, but there are a lot of them out there. And since I am possibly the least qualified person to explain how to make this, I will leave it to others.

I’ll just say that I cut a white rectangle of fabric to go under the mattress, and then sewed 4 other rectangles of 2 different sizes to the edges (after hemming the exposed edges first). There are brackets on each corner of the crib that hold the metal springy thing (what the mattress sits on) in place and they interfere a bit with how the crib skirt falls. If I were to do this again, I might look into just tacking 4 pieces of fabric directly to the crib, instead of sewing them all together (there are tutorials for that too). BUT, since my sewing skills have dramatically improved over the past couple of months, I am thrilled with how this crib skirt turned out.

blendsgiving 024 (Large)My last sewing project for yesterday was to cover a pillow for the glider. Again, I will spare you the tutorial, since I got the whole thing done and it was twice as wide as it needed to be. It was a simple fix – I just cut it in two and sewed those edges. And I ended up with 2 pillowcases for the effort of 1! (Though I’m not sure I need 2.)

blendsgiving 022 (Large) And here is how the nursery looks with all of the chevron pattern together:

blendsgiving 025 (Large)That’s a lot of zig zags. But I love it.

I also love being able to put my sewing machine away for another year! 😉 Sewing, for me, is a means to an end. I don’t sew for fun. I sew to save money and still get what I want. And I’m happy to say I accomplished that.

(If for some reason, you’re really interested in how I made these, email me and I’ll let you know.)

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2012 Goals: End-of-Year Review

2 Jan

12 in 2012

2012 was an amazing year for Travis and me. Our Christmas card summed it up nicely:

In March, Travis started working from home for a small engineering company. He surveys and designs updates to outdated railroad bridges, which involves quite a bit of traveling, but he enjoys it.

In April, Travis took the Professional Engineer Exam.  He found out in June that HE PASSED!

In May, Travis completed his Masters degree! We also celebrated 5 years of marriage and Kathy was brought on as a permanent employee at her company.

In June, we spent two weeks in Alaska with Travis’ family, where Kathy ran her first full marathon. (That’s 26.2 miles!)

In August, we found out we are expecting a baby in April.

In November, we found out it’s a girl! Her name will be Emma Grace.

As we look back on this year, we are in awe of God’s lavish GRACE. We don’t deserve His blessings. He doesn’t owe us anything. And yet, He overwhelms our days with good. What a privilege it is to know this God — our God!

“Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 7:12)

 “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 100:6)

May God heap His blessings on you this Christmas season and throughout 2013.

So in light of all the blessings God has given us, I can’t really say anything bad about 2012. I didn’t accomplish all of my “goals” but back when I set them, I wanted them to serve less as a measuring stick for how well I did, and more of a way to be intentional about doing things I enjoy.

With that said, here’s my 2012 goal recap. My goals were to: 

…get pregnant. Check!

…run 700 miles. Close but no cigar… 568.77 miles!

…finish writing my nonfiction book. Didn’t do this, but it’s still on my radar for 2013.

…read 27 books (one more than in 2011). I only read 17.

…consistently track my workouts so I have accurate totals on 12/31/12! Check! With the exception of dog walks during marathon training, I tracked all of my workouts this year using MapMyRun.

…grow in being a loving, supportive wife to my amazing husband. While I still have a long way to go, I do feel like I grew in this area this year. I’ve learned to support my husband’s hobbies, even when I don’t understand their appeal, and to verbally encourage him more about how much I appreciate his hard work in providing for us, taking care of our house and cars, making wise financial decisions, and loving me despite my failures and shortcomings.

And my ’12 in 2012′ monthly goals:

January – Forego sweets for an entire month. Done!

Update 1   |    Update 2    |   Update 3    |   Conclusion

February – Read or listen to the entire Harry Potter book series. Done! And we watched all 8 movies too!

Update 1 | Update 2

March – Try Bikram Yoga. Done!

Update 1 | Conclusion

April – Finish a memory book about our first 5 years of marriage. Still working on this. It’s on the ‘hope to get done before baby comes’ list. 😉

Update 1 | Update 2

May – Make a time capsule for our 5-year wedding anniversary. Done!

Update 1

June – Run a marathon… in Alaska. Done!

Race Recap

July – Bike 50 miles in one ride. Didn’t happen because of getting pregnant.

August – Climb a 14er. No go, due to being pregnant.

September – Complete at least one big home project in preparation for moving in 2013.  Done! We replaced the window in the nursery. Not as “big” of a project as I had planned but it still counts!

October – Make Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread with Buttered Rum Glaze I wussed out on this one. Anything that involves yeast and dough rising intimidates me!

November – Make our own Christmas stockings. Done!

Update 1 | Conclusion (coming soon!)

December – Watch the movie classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. Not done yet BUT after being on a waiting list for about a month, I can finally check this out from the library. So it will get done, just not in 2012. I’m checking it off anyway.

As for 2013…

I am making no goals or resolutions for 2013. There are things I would like to happen – such as giving birth naturally (without medication, I’ll post about that in the next couple of weeks), having a healthy baby girl, being able to breastfeed, losing the pregnancy weight, getting back into running/triathlons, reading more, etc – but to be honest, the goals I set for 2012 ended up stressing me out. As much as I love the idea of being intentional and not going through life on auto-pilot, God has been teaching me to be realistic about what I can handle in the moment and to accept that I can’t do it all – and that that’s okay. So I might set monthly goals. Or I might not. We’ll see. But for now, I’m taking it one day at a time.

Happy 2013!

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Pregnancy Update: 26 Weeks

31 Dec

26w 1d 002I’m working from home in my PJ’s today!

I had my most recent prenatal checkup last Friday morning and completely expected it to go exactly how the others have – the doctor says everything looks good and I come back in a month. Well, this appointment was a little different.

For every prenatal appointment until this one, the same very nice lady brings me back and weighs me, takes my blood pressure, all that good stuff. I got a different lady for this appointment and she was a little more gruff/disgruntled. Their computers were down that morning, so maybe that contributed to her attitude. Anyway, she sent me to the bathroom for a urine sample, then weighed me. After taking my blood pressure (and not telling me what it was), she ran her pee test and remarked numerous times about how much sugar was in my urine – ‘just a crazy amount.’ She asked what I had eaten for breakfast and feeling sheepish (since I had had 1/2 bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats and a big bowl of Rice Krispies), I just said, “Cereal,” and then added, “Probably not the most healthy breakfast ever.” To which she replied that ‘in her opinion, all cereal is just sugar.’ Because of the sugar in my urine, she pricked my finger to test my glucose level and when she got the result, said “Well, that’s not horrible.” And then sent me on my way to an exam room.

The doctor came in after a few minutes and asked if I had taken my gestational diabetes test (with the sugary drink). No, I had not. (Apparently, that was something they forgot to prepare me with at my last appointment.) She said I could come in before my next appointment and have my blood drawn after drinking the drink. Then she asked if I had any questions. I did have a few and after each, she quickly said that they were very common symptoms and nothing to be worried about. Once I was done with my questions, she reviewed my chart and said that my glucose level was 122, which wasn’t horrible but they liked to keep it below 140. Also, I should watch my weight gain since I had gained 9 lbs in a month, putting me at 22 total lbs gained with 14 weeks to go.

Say what?!?!?

My mind reeled with this information, since according to my own calculations, I had only gained 2 lbs in 4 weeks. At the time, I could only think to tell the doctor that on my home scale, I had only gained about 17 or 18 lbs total, not 22. She brushed that off and gave me the speech about hidden calories in juice and soda, how carbs can add lots of calories, I should add in light intensity exercise, yadda yadda. I brushed her off because I know all of that. What’s more, after going 2 weeks with gaining nothing (or so I thought?), I had been intentionally eating more.

It was like a twilight zone.

That appointment has bothered me more than I like to admit. I actually cried on my way home. There are several reasons why this bothers me – One, because I don’t think it’s true. Two, because I identify myself as a healthy person and this undermines that. Three, I had felt like I was eating healthier and being more active than earlier in my pregnancy and this made me feel like even that wasn’t enough. Four, I had finally gotten into the groove of intuitive eating and this situation has made me hyperaware of everything I’m eating and rife with guilt anytime I consume something sugary.

To get to the bottom of the situation, I weighed myself Saturday morning and my scale said exactly what I expected it to. I have gone around and around trying to figure out how our figures could be so off – not that I really care about the discrepancy of 5 lbs total but how in the world did they calculate me gaining 9 lbs in a month, when I only calculated 2? Maybe I stood on the scale weirdly and it read incorrectly? Maybe keeping my shoes on skewed the results? Maybe it was because they used a different scale this time? Maybe my scale at home is broken, even though it seems to give me accurate readings and has showed me gaining 2 lbs in the past 4 weeks?

I can think of a lot of explanations for the total lbs gained being off, but I can’t for the life of me figure how it could show me gaining 9 lbs in a month. It boggles my mind. For now, I’ll let it rest and hopefully my next prenatal appointment weighing will show that this scale was on crack on Friday.

As for the blood sugar, I am going to take the gestational diabetes test this Wednesday morning so you can be praying about that. I am going to let this whole situation encourage me to not eat as much sugar (I was going a little overboard there for a bit…) but I’m not going to freak out and start counting calories (because it makes me miserable).

The other interesting development this week has actually been in the works for the past several weeks. My inner thighs constantly feel like I’ve done 500 reps on the adductor machine. At first, it was only noticeable when I walked. I assumed that my Pilates video worked my inner thighs more than I realized, and that I was also more out of shape than I realized. But then Christmas came around and after 4 days of doing nothing much, my inner thighs still were really sore. They have gotten increasingly more sore over the past couple of weeks so now they hurt when I walk, get up from sitting, squat, pull pants on, get out of the car. I can’t even close a drawer with my leg anymore. I can’t say I’m excited for another 14 weeks of this. BUT once again, I’m thankful that my pregnancy has been fairly uneventful, and that my baby girl is still healthy and kicking up a storm.

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My workouts this past week were on the light side, due to Christmas and me not sleeping well:

Su: 1.15 mile walk

W: 12 minute walk

Th: 20 minutes prenatal Pilates

Sa: 1.7 mile walk

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Symptoms: Inner thigh/pelvic soreness, acne

Cravings: Chocolate

Weight Gain: 17 lbs total (o gain this week – according to MY scale)

Favorite Moment: Finishing up my nursery sewing projects (which I’ll post about soon)

Least Favorite Moment: Prenatal appointment

Looking Forward To: Our childbirth class in a week and a half!

 

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A Christmas Wreath

30 Dec

Back when my parents were out visiting and my mom and I sewed the curtains for the nursery, we were standing in line at the checkout at Joann Fabrics and I saw a yarn ball wreath on the cover of Martha Stewart Living. It was ridiculously cute (of course) and it looked totally doable. I quickly paged to the tutorial, saw that they had just used a styrofoam wreath and balls, wrapped in yarn and glued together and knew it was something I could do.

So when I drew my sister-in-law’s name for Christmas, I decided that I would make her a wreath (and me as well, while I was at it). I didn’t want to actually buy the magazine for the tutorial so I looked online and found this tutorial, which suggested using crumpled up newspaper instead of really expensive styrofoam balls. I also saw on Pinterest a suggestion to use pipe insulation instead of a styrofoam wreath. Initially, I had planned on just going with the Martha Stewart way – it just seemed better. Well, the prices of styrofoam balls and wreaths are ridiculous. Seriously, it would cost just as much to buy a yarn ball wreath already made as it would to make it myself that way. So newspaper and pipe insulation it was.

The pipe insulation ended up being the perfect length, and I just taped the ends together into a circle. I covered it with white yarn and then was on to making the balls. I had chosen white yarn, red yarn and twine (inspired by the blog tutorial I used, above, and the colors my SIL likes) for the balls, and also bought some sparkly little balls to use as well. I discovered how much newspaper made what size of ball and tried to make a variety. Once I had about 15 balls, I started hot-gluing them on the wreath. After that, I made the balls as I needed them, so that I could make the perfect color and size for the spot.

Once all the balls were glued on, I affixed some beading wire across the back (like you do for a heavy picture frame) so she could hang it easily.

Voila!

blendsgiving 008 (Large)

blendsgiving 009 (Large)

I LOVE how the wreath turned out and would totally have made one for myself like I had planned, except that the whole wreath took forever to wrap and glue. So I made one for my sister-in-law, took pictures and called it done.

Maybe I’ll get ambitious again in another life?

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