The Wreath!

My sister, Susan, and I have this Christmas giving thing down pat!  We both realize that we have far too much stuff in our respective houses so instead of giving some unwanted knickknack we try to find or make something that truly fits the other person..and it all has to cost one dollar or less!  This is quite the challenge at times but so far we have succeeded!  She made me a wonderful wall plaque that consisted of a board and a piece of wood that she found on one of her hikes...I made her a scarf from leftover yarn.  She bought me a pair of stick hedgehogs from a garage sale..I made her gingerbread boy and girl ornaments from cheap cinnamon!  It works out well for both of us and the challenge is all part of the game!  Sometimes the hunt can be considered the hardest part!

Last year, her gift to me was a wreath.  She had been holding a charity auction and the wreath did not sell.  No one wanted this wreath so afterward instead of tossing it in the trash, she snagged it for a one dollar donation.  Her hunt was complete!  My gift was in hand!  Then someone asked her just what she was going to do with such an ummm...unusual wreath.  She responded that it was a gift for her sister causing them to look at her in disbelief.  Then she explained our giving game and added that "She will love it!  She likes the most weird things!"  Uh huh...alrighty then.

Well, she was right.  I suppose that I do like weird things because I really do like this wreath.  If I had been at the auction, I probably would have bid on it!  The whole thing is made from little wood shavings.  I am assuming that they were the leftovers from a wood planing project.  These curly-cues were dyed red.  These formed flowers (roses?) once they were glued to a circular board.  The centers of the flowers are simply sticks cut at an angle!  Filling in around the roses are some dried leaves that I assume are Bay leaves and which most likely gave the wreath a delightful scent when it was first made! I do like this wreath..maybe because of the ingenuity it took to create something from nothing...maybe because of the work put into creating it...maybe because I like weird things.  Who knows...but I do like this wreath!

I was decorating the bathroom today for the holidays.  I am sticking with a more or less rustic theme throughout the house so I did not want to "overdo things" in this small room.  A few carefully placed wooden Santas and vine snowmen should pull the decorations.  I added my "Christmas towels" and thought I was finished.  The bathroom still needed something.  I dug through the boxes hunting for something that would match the towels.  I opted for bright red and olive green towels this year so it was a bit difficult to match decorations to the room.  Then as I walked through the craft room, I spied the wreath!  It was hanging on the door of the craft room but would look much better in the bathroom.  It was the perfect colors!  I snatched the wreath from the door and headed into the bathroom!  There the wreath looked perfect!  The bathroom was complete!  I was happy. Tomorrow if the weather holds nice, a trek down the hill will provide me with some fresh Bay leaves to intersperse with the dried ones and maybe to fill a vase for added aroma!  I do like this wreath!  Thank you, Susan!  (Psst...I hope to get another weird present this year!)