DIY Baseball Wreath

I created  a Cardinals baseball wreath as a birthday gift for my coworker, and have been asked by multiple people how I made it. Most of the burlap wreath tutorials that I've found require sewing and/or are not very helpful, so I decided to make my own.  I hope this helps!

Materials needed:
-wire wreath structure (mine had 3 loops and I found it at Hobby Lobby)
-3 spools of burlap wreath (5-6 inches in diameter, 15 ft long each)
-a wooden or cardboard letter to paint (& the paint supplies to do so)
-a bat or other baseball accessories (this one I found in the Cardinals fan section of Walmart)
-ping pong balls (I got two 8-packs for a dollar each at the Dollar Tree)
-red paint pen (I used Sharpie oil-based)
-hot glue gun

Step 1: Make the burlap wreath

To be quite honest, there is not a way to clearly explain how to pull the burlap ribbon through the wreath frame to get this look.  Begin by looping a few rounds in and out of the frame, not pulling all of the ribbon through but just enough to make the loops.  Push the burlap up against one of the pieces of wire that holds all 3 hoops together, so as to use the force of the burlap on itself to hold it together. If you use the same supplies as I did, you will use so much burlap that it holds itself in place.  If you are ever afraid that it isn't holding together, feel free to use hot glue to adhere the burlap to the frame or itself. I just kept pushing burlap in and around the wire frame until I used all of it up, and the picture above shows what it looks like when it's finished.

Step 2: Create your baseballs

This step requires some patience and a steady hand.  If you look closely at a baseball, you can see the pattern of the stitching. I drew the outline of the pattern using the red paint pen, then went back and drew the chevron stitching all around it.  I would be very careful to let the paint dry before placing your fingers over it to hold the ball at another angle to continue drawing, as some of my baseballs had a few smudges and smears. It's pretty tedious, but the overall effect is lovely!

Step 3: Paint your letter and use hot glue to put it all together

I selected the letter "B" for my coworker's last name.  You could always use multiple smaller letters to spell out a team or a family name if you wanted to.  I also chose the solid white color since the rest of the wreath already had enough red and busy-ness to it. 

Step 4: Hang your wreath for the whole world to see!

This is actually a picture that my coworker sent me of the wreath on her front door.  Her husband, an avid Cardinal fan whose birthday was a week later, said he had already received multiple compliments from the neighbors. 

It's pretty simple, and I hope this helps you create a baseball wreath of your own!

Like Mother Like Daughter

I am happy to report that I am writing to you from the comfort of my back porch.  Our little condo came with a deck (probably 10x10 if I had to guess), and recently a friend of ours gave us a pair of patio chairs with a side table.  So, with a cup of coffee made by the Keurig that some other friends gave us (I  really don't know what we would actually own without the generosity of the people we know), I am trying out my deck.  Here is a view from where I'm sitting:

It's a lovely 70 degrees with sunshine and enough humidity to make you comfortable.  The birds are chirping and there is even a family in the birdhouse that I took from my great grandmother's home. Basically, it is a perfect quiet Saturday morning...although Leonard doesn't seem too happy that I'm not letting him outside (I'm not sure what he would do and since he doesn't have front claws or a collar).  Ok, I gave in and let him explore:

Last weekend I had the extraordinary pleasure of going home for the first time since Christmas.  Again, this was only made possible by the kindness of my friend and coworker, Rachel, who allowed me to use her points to fly home.  The idea was to spend Mother's Day weekend & my mom's birthday (Monday, May 13th) with her, and it was fabulous.  Not only was I able to see my mom, but both of my sisters (and Morgan's husband), my grandmother, and my cousin (and her boyfriend) also celebrated Mother's Day with us.

I arrived Friday night, just in time to go grocery shopping for the weekend's meals.  It's funny that I looked forward to pushing a cart around Walmart with my mom, but the truth is that every time I go to the store and see mother-daughter pairs, I miss mine.  There's something to be said about doing everyday seemingly monotonous things with the people that you love.

Saturday brought a group outing to Scarborough Faire, the Dallas Renaissance Festival that I grew up attending every year with my family.  Since I hadn't been there in about 13 years, I didn't dress up in the outfit I used as a child.  Once I got there I realized there really was no need to dress up, as all of the other attendees had done enough costuming for the rest of us.  I enjoyed seeing my family pick different activities to attend and booths to visit, and I especially liked when we all tried our hand at archery and I hit a bulls-eye!  It was fun to explore a place that I only had memories of as a child and to find it just as imaginative and enchanting (if not weird) as I remembered it to be.

Seesters :) Morgan got that beautiful headpiece as her souvenir

Seester and bro-in-law at archery 

Archery was Aubree's idea. She also got a headband as her souvenir

I thought this little elephant fountain was cute

Just one of the many strange booth craft items

You can call me Catniss ;)

On Sunday, Mom and I went to church and I got to see some of my most favorite people in the world.  It was also cool to see how the church has undergone a recent face-lift!

The weather that day was absolutely perfect, so I requested that we all go on a picnic at the local park for dinner.  We made sandwiches and brought along some balls and games to play.  Texas doesn't often have days that are a perfect mix of warm and sunny without being sweltering hot, so I'm glad I was able to visit on one of those days and get my family outside.

My cousin Amanda and I spent part of the afternoon browsing some of the photo albums that we have at the house.  Here are just a few treasures that we found (I just used my iPhone to take pictures of these, so they aren't great quality).

I LOVE this one for some reason...

All 4 generations

Pregnant with Morgan!

Happy cousins!

Monday was Mom's birthday, and we decided we would take it easy and hang out together doing whatever we felt like.  You see, quality one-on-one time with my mom just doesn't happen very often.  It was tough to find that time once I moved to college, as when I came home I spent time equally with her, my dad, my sisters, and Darren's family.  Once I moved to St. Louis, our opportunities narrowed even further, making it nearly impossible to get more than 5 minutes together on the rare occasion that we were in the same state.

I adore my mother, I think that's pretty obvious.  She is not only my best friend and role model, but she is my confidant, my encourager, and my strength.  I took her physical appearance when I came into this world, but also her mind and her brain, her handwriting, her insecurities, her passions.  Yes, we are different in a lot of ways, but we are of the same heart.

It was wonderful to walk around Firewheel mall, aimlessly wandering in and out of stores and talking.  We stopped for lunch to get one of her favorite salads and celebrated her birthday with a free ice cream sundae.  Later that evening, she took me to the airport and I cried while saying goodbye for the first time in years. There truly is no relationship quite like that of mother and daughter, and I know just how lucky I am to have what I do.

Happy birthday, Mom!

That was last weekend, and since then  I have one more bit of news that is completely unrelated... I started this job in July of 2011 and began my 3 year internship with St. Jude Medical (read one of the earliest posts for an explanation).  As of this week, I have not only completed my training on the 3D mapping software for ablations, but I have been officially promoted out of the program.  I'm not sure yet what this will mean for my contract, but I do know that I am no longer an "intern"! Can I get a WHOOP?!!!

Until next time,

Keeping up or jumping ahead?

Ok, I am going to be pretty honest here for just a few minutes.

I'm a dreamer.  I'm ambitious, I'm determined, and I like to dream big.  That means I jump head-first into challenges like earning a degree in Biomedical Engineering and winning my dream job right out of college.  It also means that I have these grandiose visions for my life, my marriage, and my home that, well, aren't always exactly obtainable.

My mom taught me a long time ago that where you set your expectations can highly influence your happiness.  For example, if you expect your boyfriend/husband to bring you flowers on a bi-monthly basis (doesn't sound like it's asking too much, right?), you will be disappointed in him when it doesn't happen.  However, if you realize that buying flowers is not something you are ever going to get him to do and therefore do not expect him to do it, on the rare occasion that he does bring you those flowers, you will be thrilled!

Now, apply that to real life here for a second.  If you expect to have a full blown career right from the get-go with yearly promotions that allow you to buy a new car, put a down payment on a house, have the perfect church to attend, always have something fun, unique, and super interesting to do on date nights, you will be disappointed.

I learn this lesson over and over again.

Why? I ask myself this, and I think I've come up with some reasons.

First of all, I'm new to adulthood.  Yes, I've been living in the zip code of post-college life for a while now, but I'm still learning my way around.  I've figured out quite a few things on my own (bills, car repairs, insurance choices, 401k options, etc), but heaven knows I can't even begin to touch the subject of mutual funds or gap insurance yet (I'm on my way there though!).  That being said, the examples of adults that I have before me aren't new to adulthood.  My parents and family friends are well-established in their careers and have worked hard for decades to build the adulthood dynasty that I am so used to.  They started somewhere too, though!

My second reason: social networking.  I'm not the first person to point it out, but we have to be honest with ourselves: everyone puts up a very positive side of his or her life on Facebook.  I literally unfriend people who frequently complain or post negative things all the time because, let's face it, I don't really want to be stressed out by the fact that you can't get your life together... So, what we have is an overwhelming congregation of people I know looking their best, having what seems like the best time, wearing the best clothes with the best hair, hanging out with the best people, updating statuses to the best witty thing they can come up with.  I'm guilty of it; we all do it.  Why on earth would I post an unflattering picture of myself or tell you that, hey, I messed up big time at work the other day?

It isn't just the fact that a large majority of what I see on Facebook of the people I know is all positive, if that were the case then we would all just be one big happy family and I wouldn't be writing this.  No, it's the fact that I compare myself to them.  Back before Darren and I were engaged, I got jealous when friends of ours would get engaged, especially if they had been dating for a shorter amount of time than we had. Um, hello, how ridiculous is that?! What on earth does their relationship have to do with mine?? After the rounds of engagements came the engagement photos (wow I wish I looked that pretty in mine, man those props are cuter than ours, yadda yadda yadda).  Then of course, there were the weddings (why didn't I think to get a such and such or serve this blah blah blah).  Now it's the houses and the babies (why can't we afford to put a down payment on a house, man I wish it was our turn to have a cute little cuddly sleeping infant).

So, first Facebook, then Pinterest.  Now don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Pinterest.  I use it as my personal reference guide of how-to's and an idea board of gifts and projects and things to do. It's extremely useful and very addicting.  But, of course, then comes the comparison part of me that negatively thinks that I could never afford to have a home like that or that I am not talented enough to ever create something as amazing as this.  Goodness gracious! How stinking ridiculous.

The fact of the matter is, every time I see a house for sale with the little flyers out front, I swing by and pick one up.  Can we afford a house? No.  Are we at a place in our lives where we should be buying retail in St. Louis? No.  Do we even really want to start thinking about such a commitment right now? No.  But, because I am always trying to keep up with the Joneses in my head, this is what I do.

Which brings me to my final point.... these illusive Joneses in my head that I'm trying to keep up with are well beyond where I am in life right now.  I am not a 30+ year old with an established career and years of experience of adulthood and savings and maturity stacked up behind me.  I'm 24, I've only been married a year, and I have so much still to learn.

When I think about it that way, I wouldn't be keeping up if I made all these big life changes, I would be jumping ahead.  Even though I wanted to get engaged sooner than we did, the time was perfect when Darren asked me on NYE of 2010. I didn't want to wait 16 months after that to get married, but we couldn't have picked a better day, place, or time of year to say, "I do."  When the timing is right, Darren and I will buy a house that is a good fit for us in the place where we need to be.  And, later on, God will bless us with our first kiddo once we are a few more years into marriage so we have a strong foundation to work from.

Just a little lesson that I have to reteach myself every now and again that I wanted to share...





As a side note, all of these lovely Blog facelift changes have been done by my sorta sister-in-law Krista Cannon (I say that because she is Darren's brother's wife so technically we aren't sister-in-laws but who cares about technicalities!). Thank you so much, Krista, for finally helping my blog fit my personality!