$1 Wreath

Oh those Pinterest tricks get me every time!!  Someone finds an amazing way to save money and be crafty at the same time and I'm immediately sold and think everything will work out just as perfectly for me.  The truth is, sometimes you stumble across something and it works perfectly for you and maybe not so perfectly for the next guy, for whatever reason...

I've always wanted a cute wreath on my front door, like one of these:

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Yep.  Any one of those would make my front door more homey and less homely.  The problem is, I'm way too cheap to buy a cute wreath, and my only attempt at making one went something like this:

I ran across this beauty on Pinterest, and actually thought I could make a wreath for $1 total!!  I mean, hey, I had some old yard, ribbon, and fabric lying around.  All I had to buy was one of those tube things.  So the search was on.  

I thought I found the right kind of tube, but I very well may not have, because trying to get that thing into a circle would have qualified me for the summer olympics.  Or winter.  When do they do Greco-Roman wrestling??  I ended up having to kind of twist it while duct taping it while trying to hold it together.  It took at least two of us to finally get it taped together so that it was a circle, and I was still hopeful that it would all work out.  

I dug out my yarn and found a variegated brown/green number that I thought would work well.  Then I dug out some fabric to make rosettes.  When I was done with all of that, I tied on some ribbon to hang it, and didn't account for the added weight of the rosettes (so no, it's not your eyes playing tricks on you; it is hanging crooked).  

Even though it wasn't exactly how I had pictured it in my head, I still thought it turned out pretty well once I was done--definitely worth hanging on the naked front door!

After a week or two of hanging outside it had rained/snowed enough that the wreath wasn't a circle anymore.  I think it was really a combination of both the yarn and the foam tubing, but the water just held onto this stinking wreath like nobody's business!  It was looking pretty sad, so it didn't last very long (and, actually, if we're being completely honest here, I probably left it there far longer than I should have...)

So, this isn't the cutest wreath ever, and it's not my favorite project, but I still have 2 or 3 leftover tubes that I'm hanging on to.  And I really think I'll use them for something (I'm not a hoarder at all....), but it might just have to be for something less wet than the front door.  

 

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Definitely try this one!!  I count it as a health food, because it has been making me want to eat more salad.  I don't even always like italian dressing, but this is really delicious.  

You can go look here to find a link to the recipe I used to make this via The Country Cook, but I'll put it on my page too in case you're lazy like me and don't want to go looking for it    :)

INGREDIENTS:
~ 1 pkt Good Seasonings Italian Dressing
~ 1/4 c vinegar
~ 3 T water
~ 1/2 c olive oil

~ 1/2 t dry Italian Seasoning
~ 1/2 t salt
~ 1/4 t black pepper (I used a little extra, cause I like pepper and it has antioxidants in it, and I like the idea of something fighting free radicals in my body!!)
~ 1/2 t sugar
~ 1/4 t garlic powder
~ 1/2 T mayo
~ 1/4 c olive oil
~ 2 T white vinegar
~ 1 1/2 T water

First, mix up the first set of (four) ingredients, according to the package directions.  Then add everything else and SHAKE IT UP!!!  It's as easy as that.

You could also use a bowl and whisk it together if you prefer or if you don't have a big old bottle to shake it up in.  You know those great big cups you get after having a baby at the hospital??  That's what I use whenever I make salad dressing because it has a pour spout with a lid and then I don't have to do any extra dishes.  It has made for an awkward moment or two when we've had company over for dinner and we're all pouring junk out of a "Salt Lake Regional Medical Center" mug, but when you're with us you're going to have to take it or leave it sometimes!

P.S.  I realize this salad looks boring and lame...but that's how we do it in this house unless we're trying to impress somebody.  Okay, so really we usually do it without the olives and sometimes without the cucumbers or cheese (yep, basically just lettuce).