Christmas Wreath

I love making wreaths for each holiday. 

This one's simple.

Cast of Characters:

• Styrofoam Circle (From Michael's)
• Lot of PLASTIC Christmas ornaments
• Ribbon
• Hot Glue (not pictured)

These plastic, shatterproof ornaments generally have plastic tops that can easily be pulled off.

Start sticking them into the styrofoam. Halfway through, I realized that they weren't sticking on their own. I tried some tacky glue. No luck.

Hot Glue Gun it is!

Throw some hotglue down then stick the top of the ornament into the styrofoam until the protruding end is all the way into the foam.

Keep affixing them to the wreath.

And keep going. Try to cover the whole surface area.
I used little present accent pieces between the open spots.

So I ran out of ornaments, so I grabbed a star ornament that I picked up for a dollar at the local Walmart.

Then I threw a bow on it that I made on the Bowdabra.
You should get one. (Look at those instructions.)

And complete.

Custom Frames

Ever get sick of the frames in the stores. Not the right size, color, blah, blah?

Let's make our own.

Cast of Characters:

• Mitre Box and Saw (find it at Home Depot, like $7.) This will be what makes our angles in our wood.
• Wood. I used beautiful crown molding from Home Depot. You can use whatever you'd like.
• Staple gun.
• Pencil
• Ruler, measuring tape.

Start with a section of wood that already has a 45 degree cut. See it on the right? 

Next, measure the wood (starting with the shorter end of the cut) to be whatever size you want your frame to be. We'll do 4 x 6. So measure 6 inches and make a mark on the wood.

Place in mitre box. Match up the mark with the spot on the 45 degree mark. Make sure you cut in a way that the degree cuts are the same direction.

Cut your wood and repeat for the same size. 

Repeat with a 4 inch piece.

This is what you'll get at the end.

Next, we'll attach it. See how the angles will fit perfectly?

Use the staple gun **ON THE BACK of the wood. 

Pretty. Now to paint it.

Walmart carries paint samples like below. They're premixed in multiple colors and have a brush attached to the lid, which makes it super easy.

Find me a similar frame, not likely. Yay homemade.

Make sure to saturate the corners with paint, this helps to hide the attachment areas if it's not perfect.

The finished product:

Apple Pie with a lattice top.

It's fall. That means it's obligatory to make at least 1 apple pie.

Cast of Characters:

• Apples (roughly 6 cups total)
• 3 Granny Smith
• 4 Cortland
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 stick butter
• Premade pie crusts (because I'm lazy and they're easy)

Peel, core and cut your apples. Throw em in a bowl. 

Mix in your sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Mix until all apples are completely coated.

Then you're going to put your premade crust into the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate.

Open the package and unroll it directly on the pie plate.

Press crust into the sides of the pie plate until uniform and smooth.

Pour your apple mixture right inside that beautiful crust.

Cut up half a stick of butter into "pats." (Who came up with that name?)

Place your pats on top of the apples. 

Set your pie aside. Time for the crust, but not just any crust, a fancy LATTICE crust. Yep, we're gonna do it.

Flour the bottom of a baking sheet, don't do it on a counter because we're going to be cutting the dough. Protect your surfaces and use a baking sheet.

Unroll and place your pie crust on the baking sheet.

Use a pizza cutter to cut your dough into 1/2 inch strips.

Let's LATTICE. 

Start by placing 5 strips horizontally on your pie. Space em out evenly too.

Fold over every other strip, so strips 2 and 4.

Place one dough strip down the center on top of strips 1, 3 and 5. 

Fold strips 2 and 4 back over the vertical strip.

Fold strips 1, 3 and 5 over. 

Place another strip vertically.

Fold strips 1, 3, and 5 back over. See how pretty already?

Fold over strips 2 and 4 to the left.

Place another strip vertically, and fold strips 2 and 4 back over.

From the other side, fold strips 1, 3 and 5 to the right.

Place a dough strip vertically and fold the strips back over.

Complete the last strip by folding strips 2 and 4 to the right. Place the last vertical strip and fold strips 2 and 4 back over. Lattice complete.

Cut off the ends until flush with the side of the pan. Use the remainder of the dough to create a ring around the outer edge.

Ain't it pretty.

Let's go a little crazy and spruce it up a bit, shall we.

Roll out the remainder of your dough. 

Cut into strands in groups of 3.

Begin to braid the dough (yeah, just as you would hair, same way). 

Place on the outside of the pie.

Place in a preheated oven at 425.

Bake for 15 minutes. 

Here's a sneak preview of the beautiful pie.

Then take out, and cover top with tinfoil. 

This helps keep the crust from over browning.

Bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Take it out, let cool for at least 2 hours before serving.