candycane wreath

 

Wreath 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

As part of my student teaching, I taught in Germany on an American military base. I was in Europe from August to December of 2007. I had a great time and was so glad I got to experience all of the beer fests in the summer and fall (including Oktoberfest).

But one of my favorite experiences while living over there were the Christkindlmarkets, or Christmas markets, in every town. Little booths are set up all along the main streets. People browse for gifts while drinking gluhwein, a hot spiced wine, in little decorative mugs that commemorate the city and year.
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My sister came to visit me at the end of my stay and fell in love with these markets too. My both kept our mugs from my German hometown, Heidelberg, as part of our souvenirs and future Christmas decorations.

The next year, Emily and I were both living in Chicago, and she told me she had a surprise for me. We headed downtown, to Daley Plaza and were instantly transported back to Germany. 

Turns out, Chicago is home to the largest Christkindlmarket in the United States. It's been a lovely yearly tradition for my sister and I ever since.
This year marks our six annual Christkindlmart. After some trial and error, we finally figured out how to do it right. First, get your drinks at the warming tentand and stand over near there; it's much less crowded and the wait time on drinks is a lot shorter. Second, go early in the season to avoid the Christkindlmarket Fiasco of 2010, when we had to buy the commemorative mugs off of strangers because the market ran out of stock. (We NEEDED them for our collections.)

 This year, our friends Lindsay and Rico wanted to get in on the fun. So Jeremy and I got to go twice. Once with them, and once for my sister and my yearly pilgrimage.  

Sofia's 1st OFFICIAL visit. Last year, she was along for the ride in mama's belly.

And now onto my Christmas inspired craft. It's an easy one this time.

First, I bought a 10 inch wreath from Joann's. I wanted the 12 inch, but they were out. Any size will do.

Then, I wrapped it in white yarn. I used hot glue on the back to adhere it to the wreath.

 
 After this, I used red ribbon to make a candycane sort of look. I was thinking of making thin and thick stripes, but after some experimenting, I liked this look better. I just wrapped the red ribbon around and used more hot glue to make sure it stayed in place.

Next, I attached a green ribbon to hang the wreath with. I use straight pins to hold it in place.

I also wrapped a green ribbon around the bottom right side of the wreath and used pins to attach that.

I made a little green bow and pinned it onto my ribbon. I found this was easier than trying to tie a bow around the wreath.

And the finished product.

If I was to do it again (and I might), I would make the wreath red with white stripes. I think it would make more of a statement.

Off to do some more holiday crafting and "elfing".

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB