Damask and Ribbon Snowflake Wreath

Who doesn't love a new wreath at Christmas? I have been putting out my traditional pine garland wreath for about 7 years now. SEVEN. Yep, I was ready for a change. So, I decided to go bright, bold, and bling-y. I didn't go double, though. One of these is for my neighbor. We may end up with almost-matching doors. Oh well. :) We'll both be bright and bold.

This wreath is made 100% with items available at Walmart. One stop (frugal) shopping for this baby. Ribbon varieties may vary, but I feel certain you can find the rest of the supplies at most any Walmart with a craft and fabric section. If you don't have a Walmart or don't want to brave a trip there during the holidays, I've seen similar supplies to these at Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's; and similar ornaments at Dollar Tree and Target. 

Here's what you'll need: 

• 1/2 yard damask fabric
• Ribbon of choice (yardage varies--2-6, depending on preferred wreath style)
• Foam wreath form
• Flat head sewing pins
• Glittered snowflake ornaments
• Hot glue sticks and glue gun

I chose a black and white nylon damask. The white has a bit of sheen, and the black design is flocked (so a bit fuzzy, like suede.).

These foam wreaths are easy to find and easy to work with. I paid about $7 for one.

This pack of snowflake ornaments was a steal, as you can see.  Good ole Wally World.

I bought a few larger ornaments (all about $1 each). I didn't end up using the kind pictured at the top, but you may like it on your wreath. :)

Directions: 1. Cut the fabric into 6-inch strips. Use a sewing pin to pin one end into the foam wreath. Wrap tightly around, overlapping as needed to make a smooth surface. When you run out of fabric, pin another piece and continue until the entire wreath is covered. Finish with a pin.

2. Wrap wreath with ribbon, pinning each end to secure. Here you see two ways of wrapping. A metallic silver ribbon would have been pretty, too, I think.

3. Arrange the snowflake ornaments on the wreaths as desired, then hot-glue in place. 

4. Wrap an extra loop of ribbon around the top of the wreath to hang. I secured mine in the back with a pin. 

Ta-da! You are done!

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Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Father's Day is this Sunday, which naturally makes me think of bacon. So I decided to take action.

Dates are starting to show up in the produce department. I found mine at Costco last week. And I bought their big brick of Raskas Cream Cheese (to use in another recipe, but it is a BIG brick). It is THE BEST cream cheese I've had.   I also had some cashews leftover from my trailmix recipe.  Adding some thick-cut bacon and honey to the mix, and I was ready to rock.

Pit the dates. Make a thin slice lengthwise to open, then the pit is pretty loose in there. Pull out each pit and discard it.   

Next, put a 1-2 teaspoon slab (depending on the size of the date) of cream cheese in each opened date. Then push a cashew into the cream cheese on each one.

Now pre-cook the bacon a bit by placing it between a couple of paper towels on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high for 1 minute. 

Here is the bacon after the pre-cook step. It is not crispy at all. It should be just starting to curl up at the ends.

Cut the strips of bacon into halves or thirds. I did mostly halves, but thirds for some of my skinnier dates.  It isn't an exact science. Wrap the dates in the bacon and secure through the middle with a toothpick. 

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can skip the parchment, but I recommend it if you have it.  Makes clean-up much easier.

Put a squirt of honey on each bacon-date roll.  This glaze is SO yummy when it bakes.

Bake for 7 minutes at 450°. Turn over each one and return to the oven to bake 5-7 minutes more, until crispy on the edges.

Tastes divine. And has a fair amount of redeeming value--that's whole fruit in there...whole milk in the cheese... a whole nut... and a whole bunch of yummy. 

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Merry Monday 16

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