Hey-o! Hope you’re having a fabulous, fall Saturday!

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I woke up to the persistent, uber-annoying ringing of the doorbell at 8am this morning. Who, whaa, huuuh?? It was the chimney sweep company! Whoops, definitely forgot they were coming today. ;)

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Despite living in our house for 3 1/2 years, Ben and I have never lit a fire in our fireplace (tragic, no?!) The previous owners used it a lot – the roaring fire they had going during their open house is actually what sucked us in – but we’ve been hesitant to set one ablaze not knowing if/when they’d last cleaned it.

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Well the build-up was sucked out lickity split this morning, so tonight Ben and I are going to have ourselves a nice little fire. I am PUMPED!

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Ben had to work a bit this afternoon and has been sending me pictures of roaring fires. I think he’s excited too. ;) (PS can you all please be horrified with me over the fact that he was splitting firewood in his mandals??? There is no reasoning with this man when it comes to those shoes!)

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In other news, yesterday I got bit by the crafting bug, and whipped up the decorative twig vase I featured in a Friday Favorite’s post a few weeks ago. BONUS: It didn’t cost me a DIME! :D

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Ugh I love it so much. Here’s how you can make one too!

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Step One: Gather your supplies:

  • Clear vase
  • Paper bag
  • Scissors
  • Twigs
  • Sharp gardening shears
  • Glue gun & glue sticks
  • Raffia (or twine/rustic-looking ribbon)

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Step Two: Cut a panel from the paper bag that’s just under the height of the vase. This is so you can’t see through any gaps or spaces in the twigs to whatever you put inside. Curl and place inside the vase.

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Step Three: Using very sharp gardening shears, cut a bunch of twigs that are roughly the same width, to about 1″ taller than the vase. Trim off small branches, etc, that are growing off the side of the twig.

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Tip: Try and find straight twigs, rather than curved ones, otherwise it gets hard to line everything up on the vase later.

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Step Four: Heat up a glue gun and run a line of glue down the length of the vase. Attach the twig and hold until glue is set, about 30 seconds or so.

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Continue gluing sticks to the vase until you’ve come around the entire thing. Fill in any gaps with smaller, thinner twigs.

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Step Five: Wrap the vase with raffia or other decorative ribbon/string.

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I already had the glue gun, random vase and decorative flowers at home, so all I needed to do was borrow some shears, raffia and twigs from my parents. Huzzah for DIY on the cheap! :D

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Well our Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Northwestern Wildcats tonight at 6. My parents are coming over to watch the game, and I’m making some delectable treats for the occasion – sweet & spicy Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies (OMG) and cheesy, savory Fiesta Dip. My stomach is already growling!!!

Have a great night!