Our Crafty Men

We have creative women all over my family. We paint, we knit, we do floral arranging, we make cards, we make wedding cakes, we sew ... we do it all. The men hardly get to show off what they've got up their sleeve in the craft department... so November of 2005 we let them have their chance in the crafty spotlight.

I can NOT remember what sparked this... but we decided to let the men make their own Christmas wreath during the 1/2 time of the Thanksgiving Day football game.
My sister & I went to JoAnn's where we bought all the fun stuff:

Straw wreaths
Ribbon
Hot glue guns (we needed enough to go around)
Bells, jingles & jangles
Holly Berry Picks
Pipe Cleaners
Yarn
Tulle
Whatever else you see on the table...

My sister Becky made "Teasers" which we posted around the house... the guys had no idea what we meant by them, but they made us laugh & get excited every time we saw them. :)


Then during Half-time, we broke the news to the guys...

... that this was waiting for them in the kitchen. You can imagine the excitement. (ahem)

I wrote my husband a little inspirational message at his seat!

After probably being asked "Are you serious?" about 10 times, our guys got to work.

They shared tips...

The creative juices were flowing...

I think my cousin Doug (left) got glitter in his eye....

Here is my mom giving my dad some moral support. I love this photo of my dad laughing! :) And Martha Stewart, eat your heart out. I have Kyle Twenter.
Are those pipe cleaner glasses? Being married to me & all my creativity must have rubbed off on him at some point.

Finally, when it was all over... all the hot glue had dried, every last ribbon was delicately tied...

... it was time for the Presentation. Each of the guys showed off their finished wreath & talked about their design, their inspiration, etc.

I also love this picture of my Grandma laughing. She couldn't even look at them during their presentations. As if we hadn't laughed enough during the production phase, the presentations were priceless.

I wanted to give you all plenty of time to work this in to your Thanksgiving & Holiday plans. This was truly one of the funniest things I'd ever been a part of... and I wanted to pass the idea on to you. :) Your abs will get a good work-out... It'll make up for the 2nd slice of pumpkin pie, I promise!