Jim and I used our time wisely on Sunday by decorating my mom’s door and her walker. She is so happy. She says that Valentine’s is her favorite day.
While I worked on the door…
Jim decorated her walker. He did a good job considering what he had to work with.
The best part happened when mom walked out her door to see the decorations. She is so happy!
She is happy with the results and is looking forward to how I decorate things for Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and everything else. I plan on surprising her with a special Cindo de Mayo decoration as well!!!!
Items used for this project were purchased at Dollar Tree, Wal Mart, Joann’s, Hobby Lobby, and Amazon. It truly takes a village to complete a project like the ones I do for my mom’s door!
I did not know if I wanted to decorate our door or not. Then I decided I would!
I decided I would make a small rag wreath for the door. Of course it would be a nautical theme. I lucked out and found the perfect fat quarters with anchors on them at Walmart. I also purchased some fat quarters at Joanns along with some red fabric and white dots. I felt like I need an equal amount of patterned and solid fabrics to make it work.
While browsing on Party City, I just happened to find this banner that magically fell in my cart!!!!
There is one more item I purchased at Dollar Tree that I may or may not use. I can’t make up my mind. I will probably leave it at home as I don’t really like the idea of having glitter everywhere! It might just stay on my front door instead.
I will be using Command Strips to attach them to our stateroom door. I use command strips for EVERYTHING that needs to be hung in our stateroom, including the over-the-door shoe hanger. I strongly recommend them, hands down!!!!
This the extent of my stateroom door decorations. I will be sure to post of picture of our stateroom door when I start the cruise recap series.
Thanks for taking the time to read this short blog. I hope you will return to read my other blogs as well.
The final outcome. I did make some changes to the fabrics I selected. I decided this project needed one additional print fabric and one additional solid color fabric and decided against using any of the ribbon I had purchased. The fabric with the stars definitely would not work with what I had in mind.
The solid fabrics and the red fabric with white dots were purchased at Joann’s.
The fat quarters with the anchors were purchased at WalMart.
Once the item I purchased from Party City arrived, I decided on using the smaller 8 inch wreath I purchased at Dollar Tree.
As with all rag wreaths, I first ironed all of the fabric I would be using then cut them in strips of 1/4 inch by 8 inches. I feel that this size of fabric strips works best on the small frame.
Now the fun begins starting with the outer ring.
Then the center ring.
And finally the inner ring to finish the wreath.
Making rag wreaths is quickly becoming a favorite past time. Especially since it is something I can easily make for my mom as well as for myself.
The next rag wreath I will be making will have a Mardi Gras theme as far as the colors are concerned. I hope you will return to see how it looks or to read my other blogs.
My mother lives in at assisted living facility approximately one mile from my home. This location makes it easy for me to get to her should she need anything. Most of the time, she needs me to get her Cokes, Kleenex, Charmin toilet paper, Bounty paper towels, and cookes. Especially Oreo’s and Nabisco Nilla wafers. And the occasional Snickers bar!!! She is very particular about her things!
While living in an assisted living facility has it’s advantages and we love where she is at, the hallways seem like that are lacking in something. A lot of the residents have wreaths on their door but nothing that really stands out.
The first year she was there at Christmas, I went all out on decorating her door and continued doing it for her. It brings her joy. And if my mother is happy, I am happy!
So I started thinking, why not decorate her door for all of the occasions? I decided I would decorate for all the season and occasional happenings during the year. And I will be starting With Valentines Day.
Of course, that would mean shopping for all the goodies at Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby, WalMart, and Joanns. I want to make her door look like Cupid paid her a visit. Here are all the goodies I will be using.
From Dollar Tree:
From Hobby Lobby:
From Joanns
In this photo, the bows are from Joann’s, the red heart picks are from Dollar Tree, and the Happy Valentine’s Day teddy bear is from WalMart.
Unfortunately I am not able to decorate her door just yet as they are having a temporary lockdown of sorts. But I hope to be able to make her door stand out on January 30th.
Wish me luck and please come back to see the final outcome.
This has definitely been a real learning experience as I have never done anything like this before.
I wasn’t sure how to start this project so the first thing I did after ironing the pieces, was to cut the cloth to sections of 8″ x 21″ with some left over.
Then I trimmed it down to 8″ x 1″ then trimming those down to 8″ x 1/4″. When the strips of material were 1″ wide, it just did not look right. Probably because the wreath form is small. I thing the 1/4″ width works perfectly for this size wreath form. At least it did for me.
Once all of the strips were cut and laid them out in the order I wanted to put them on the wreath.
I started putting the strips on the wreath with the outer ring first.
And several hours later, the wreath was finished with strips of material left over. Actually lots of material left over, but I will find a use for it, that is for certain.
Now, this was my first attempt at making a rag wreath and I’m happy that it is one that does not have to be or look perfect because this one does not look perfect.
I may or may not add some things to it but I’m not 100% certain about it, at least not yet. Only time will tell and that time will be coming up on February 27th when I decorate the outside of her door for Valentines!
Please be sure to return to see how it looks when her door decorations are complete.
When we travel, there are some items that we make sure we take on each and every trip. I would like to share with you what are essentials are for this cruise.
First and foremost are the fans. Yes, more than one. The large black one is for the room while the other two are for outside use. Well, mostly outside use any way. I say that because when we were on the Carnival Vista in August/September, our embarkation was at terminal 2. It was our first time embarking from that terminal so we did not know what to expect. What we found was that it was very hot. We used the necklace fans a lot while we were standing in line. I thought it was probably cooler outside!!!!
We bring an over-the-door shoe hanger on each trip. This time, I purchased a new one that is slender and came in a a package of 2. We do not use the hangers that come with it. Instead, we use Command Strips. They have never failed us!
Our first aid kit has everything we could possibly need and then some. Better safe than sorry.
Do NOT forget to bring some antacids. It is definitely a necessity. Any brand will do. These were purchased at Dollar Tree but the container has since been refilled with whatever we have on hand at the time.
We also bring plenty of hand sanitizer, both liquid and wipes. I keep wipes in my purse, beach bag, and back pack because you never know when you will need them.
Let’s not forget our beverage cups. Hubby brings a Bubba Mug he has had for years and years. I bring my trusty Tervis tumbler that I found a Bed Bath and Beyond many years ago.
Typically, we bring two bottles of wine on board with us at embarkation. So, we bring plastic, reusable wine and champagne classes to use. A corkscrew is kept with the wine and glasses so we do not forget it like we have done before. We also bring metal straws with us since plastic straws are no longer available and I do not like the straws they are now using.
We also bring a travel power strip that stays in camera bag when not in use. It has been awesome to have.
Also in the camera bag is spare batteries.
Do not forget face masks. We bring disposable ones as well as reusable ones. I am fully aware that I’m bringing more than I will probably use.
A battery operated night light works well when your room gets dark. Even the balcony rooms tend to get dark at night.
Water shoes and rain ponchos come in handy as well. I purchased these water shoes on Amazon several years ago and the rain poncho was purchased at Dollar Tree.
So that is it for now. I know there are some things I have left off. Anything not included here will be in a packing blog.
our life reality 