It's been a busy week here in the casa. My parents came down to help me pack ---HALLELUJAH! Sidenote - my mother could be a professional packer. It's almost scary how good she is (especially considering she hasn't moved in 30 years or so) and how much she can pack in a short period of time. If Macie had stayed still for more than 5 seconds, she could have ended up wrapped in a box.
While my parents were here, my dad was bemoaning how his beloved Phillies have started their season. My dad is a giant Phillies fan, I mean HUGE. He loves baseball, he even gave me a baseball, bat and glove when I was about seven.
After a bad game of catch that ended with him having a pair of broken glasses, it became safe to assume I would not be a baseball star. I don't have the deep love for baseball that my dad does, though he is trying pretty hard to indoctrinate Macie at a young age.
I think she's studying up on the rules of the game.
Since my parents are so baseball crazy, (my dad has sucked my mom in) I saw this pin for a new spring wreath and knew exactly what front door it belonged on... theirs. I love the idea of how Caught My Fancy did this one. I thought it would be a snap, and if I had a bunch of baseballs lying around it would have been! The hardest part of the entire project was gathering some balls. I finally found a sports equipment shop that sold used baseballs and softballs. (We live in a lacrosse town so baseballs are oddly hard to find.) Once I grabbed some baseballs and softballs it was time to get started.
I got out my handy dandy drill and drilled holes through seven baseballs and three softballs. WARNING BASEBALL FANS - graphic image below.
I found it easier to drill through the ball in one direction and then drill through it in the opposite direction to clean the hole out. If you decide to use softballs, make sure you have a longer drill bit because as you can see from the picture, a normal size bit barely gets through the baseball. Once you've drilled all of the balls out, grab a metal coat hanger and straighten it out. I used some handy dandy plier and it made the whole thing much easier. Once the coat hanger is straightened, snip the curly ends off so you are left with the straight wire.. like this.
Now just randomly string the baseballs and softballs on the straight wire. I would love to tell you I have an amazing picture of this step but well, I don't. Macie woke up and I got completely distracted. Sorry about that. You should only be left with a little bit of the hanger on either side of the soon to be wreath. Twist one side to make a loop and then curl the wreath so it creates the wreath shape and the other side of the hanger meets the loop. Wrap the remaining section of hanger through the loop you created and close so that it's secure. See?
Technically you are done at this point, but I thought my wreath needed a little something (and a way to hang it on the door... small detail) so I added some ribbon to hide the joined metal and a bow for a little extra something.
Even after the bow, I still thought that this didn't really have the vibe that screamed Phillies fan the way I had hoped. It needed a little something extra to make it fit to hang on my parent's door.
Wait for it....Wait for it....
Perfect. Bring on the baseball season!
