Ornament Wreath

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday of the year...second to Christmas.  I attribute my love of the holidays to friends, family, and food.  Lots of food.  I have dreams of mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  This Thanksgiving did not disappoint. I ate so much I had to punch a new hole into my leather belt, no big deal.  I hope all of my readers had an amazing holiday, like I did!

I typically spend the day after Thanksgiving bargain hunting.  My sister and I used to pride ourselves on being super shoppers.  We would scour the ads and wait in the Best Buy line at 4 am in order to score the best Christmas gifts...but this year....this year I was not feeling it. I think I might be at a point in my life where I'm just too grouchy and tired to care about the $2 DVDs and $4 toasters, maybe next year.  So, instead I ate an entire bag of crunchers, watched Heavyweights, and decorated for Christmas.

My dad was nice enough to bring some of my Christmas decorations to the city.  He is always whining about how my sister and I have too much stuff in the garage at home, so I think he was eager to make some room.  I don't even know what decorations I have...so whatever he brought was going to be a surprise.

I opened bin #1:  Hundreds of round ornaments.

Bin #2:  Hold on...what is that?  That doesn't look like Christmas decorations....

DAD WTF.  He sent me a baby sinclair stuffed animal. 

Box #3:  PreLit Christmas Tree....with half the lights not working.

So, needless to say it was going to take some effort to get the apartment looking in tip top Christmas shape.  I turned on Christmas Pandora and got to work.

Today's tutorial:  DIY Ornament Wreath

I needed to find a way to utilize all of those round ornaments.  A while back I came across Eddie Ross's DIY Ornament Wreath.....this turned out to be a SIMPLE and cheap project.  It cost me $0.  I had all of the supplies on hand.  All I needed was a wire hanger, round ornaments, hot glue, and ribbon.

My current wreath was a little...lacking (Sorry to whoever's hand me down wreath this is....I think it has seen better days...)

I followed the instructions to a T.  It was so easy!  It only took me one hour, and one mug of peppermint schnapps +hot cocoa.

Hanger in the process of getting wreathified

So BEHOLD, the final product:

LOVES IT!  Upgrade from the previous wreath.  I used the bow from the previous wreath to cover the hanger.  Another DIY wreath idea that is very similar would be to use vintage ornaments that you often can find for little to no money at estate sales and garages sales.

The Wreath Blog is a great place to get some inspiration (Mind you only inspiration...those wreaths are PRICY)!  The next time I score some vintage ornaments this will be a #1 priority!

Welcome wagon

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5 rotations down....6 to go!  I just finished my psychiatric rotation at Cook County...and can you believe it?  I liked it!  My entire life I've only had the opportunity to question my own sanity...so it was fun getting to question someone else's! I interviewed some interesting characters, but their stories may be a little too racy for my rated G blog, so I'll just leave it at that.

A month ago I mentioned my sister was here for the marathon, and I never got around to writing about some of the fun things we did.  Better late than never right?

First off, let me share a story of the past.  My sister does not visit Chicago all that often, so when she does I want to make it memorable.  The last time she visited we went for rooftop cocktails and had late night tacos.  At the end of the night, I made up a bed for her on the futon, then it was off to sleep.  It was so cute in the morning, Rishi my little grey kitten was snuggled up next to Erin (my sister)....however....wait for it....she awakens to discover he peed all over her. I mean really, who doesn't love the smell of male cat urine. Needless to say, I had to redeem myself (I can't speak for Rishi).

So, I was determined to have a nice bed for her this time.  I browsed amazon and picked out the perfect air mattress.  The one I decided on looked better than my own bed.  Queen sized, padded top, built in pump, and my sister was going to be the first one to try this baby out.  Once again, we blew up the bed, put some sheets on, and hit the hay.
Can you believe it deflated over night?  I really need to work on this hospitality thing.

Luckily I was able to make up for the bed situation.  Ever wondered what to do with all of those hotel shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc?  I look like a hoarder with the bins and bins of sample sized junk I own.  To put these to good use, I made a care basket.

This how-to is pretty self explanatory. Get a tray, basket, bag, etc. and fill it with little personal care toiletries intended for your guest. The basket really makes your guest feel like they're at their own personal suite.  Okay maybe not...but it does give your guest little warm fuzzy feelings.

All in all, the visit was a lot of fun.  Here are some photo recaps:

View from the Willis Tower Skydeck

Let's play: Wheres Erin?

Erin doing awesome at mile 12

3D TRex movie at the Field Museum

Mom + Erin outside of the Field Museum

Come back soon, I miss you!