Inexpensive Craftiness

So I had last night off of work to register for Spring classes. I caught up on some stuff, and then felt my fingers itching to be crafty. I ran across this blog by The Nester, and thought I can totally do that for Thanksgiving!

So here is my Ragamuffin Wreath:

I already had 2 types of gold/yellow cloth torn into long strips because I was thinking about crocheting Huck a new bed. I went to Michael's and started looking around. Their Halloween stuff is 80% off, and in their $1 bin where I found the autumn leaves and brown ribbon. When I took it up to the register it was $2.50 each, but when I decided not to buy them the girl asked the manager walking by who gave them to me for $1! Yay! I did not even have to be brave and ask her to do it!

Anyways, I followed the Nester's tutorial and cut the strips of fabric and ribbon about 10" long. I then ripped apart an $.80 candle wreath I also got in the clearance section and glue gunned all the do-dads onto the ribbon. Nester recommends using ring clips to attach do-dads and to use on the ends. At Target the ring clips were $4.99 so I took a pass on those. The wreath is attached to the sides of the door with thumb tacks.

I am wondering if I should have hung it higher. It is not like we use the peep hole. I also am not very happy with the color in this picture. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. Especially when my mom is nice enough to let me hijack her camera for months on end since mine broke.

So, final total on my little project with TX sales tax is $3.03.

My project was almost priceless as Isabelle was sneaky in her sneakers and snuck past me while I was hanging the wreath. I caught her in the driveway, but nearly had a heart attack imagining her darting off into the neighbor's bushes. Someone got a spank and so stayed away while mom was cleaning the door to take pictures today.

Back to the front door. I think I need some yellow mums or something to complete the picture. My garage sale pumpkins from this post are out there, but I need some yellow or orange.

P.S. I think my front door needs some color. Not red, as EVERYONE and their dog has a red door and our brick is not quite red. I am thinking navy...

Turkey Wrangling

I am determined to have a big, fluffy Thanksgiving this year. The hubs and I have gone a little overboard inviting people. He because he wants to fry turkeys, and I for many reasons some conscious and some unconscious. 

The main dilemma seems to be coming up with a suitable activity to fit the outrageousness that I feel. Personally, turkey wrangling seems to fit the bill. I can see people in jeans chasing a turkey around my backyard falling in the mud, shouting obscenities at the turkey, rolling around laughing, and people cheering from the porch. It's beautiful! 

I was slightly disappointed not to be able to find any pictures of anyone ACTUALLY wrangling turkeys by hand. But apparently, it is not for ordinary folks.

When we lived on our 3rd floor apartment we had the Great Pumpkin Toss of '06 after dinner. 

Ideally we could repeat this, but even if we got on the roof what would we be aiming for? the dumpster in the apartment complex was perfect. Sigh. I have gotten some suggestions, but most lack the OOMPH of fun and unforgettableness that I am trying to achieve. Call me modern, but charades just doesn't do it for me. 

There is a possible option of turkey bowling. One of the local bowling alleys sells old pins 10 for $5. We could do a small turkey or chicken to stay cheap. S and I are still trying to work out the logistics. For example, are the neighbors going to be down with this? It also seems to be mostly in places with hard-packed snow. 

I did find an interesting article here which talks about the various types of turkey bowling. My favorite is the third type of turkey bowling. It reminds me of the hind-and-go-seek we used to play in Walmart in college:

The last and final style is the rogue "Grocery Store Turkey Bowler". This menace to society will set up soda bottles,(or any other bottles he/she can get their hands on) in an empty grocery store isle. This method usually involves an accomplice to watch for store employees, and another to shoot video while the bowler pitches his bird down the makeshift lane. It's not likely you will get a full 10 frames in the store. Usually it's pitch and run before you hear "Security in the frozen meat section".

Apparently Texas has a long history of turkey bowling if you would like to see George Bush turkey bowl while governor you can do so here.  It seems I am just gathering more and more evidence to talk myself into this turkey bowling. :)  I'll let you know how it goes.