Cauliflower Crust Pizza

The hubster and I are trying healthier alternatives to our favorite foods. Tonight, we chose PIZZA! Highly recommended, I used this recipe for the crust. [Photo courtesy of Fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com]

Overall, the number 1 thing I wish I'd done differently was use a food processor. I don't have one, so I had to cook and chop the bits by hand. The result was a delicious crust, but a rubbery, moist texture. We tried mozzarella, ham, and tomato for one pizza, and seasoned chevre with tomato.

Definitely delicious, but we'll have to try it again with these changes.

Button Wreath DIY

Time for a first post!

I'm a big fan of wreaths. They're easy to change with the season or holiday, and a great way for me to find a creative outlet. When I get stressed, I craft. I wouldn't go so far as to call it 'upcycling,' but I tend to pair whatever I have laying around with a couple pieces I pick up on clearance or at the thrift shops.

This weekend, I tackled a project that took far longer than anticipated. I've been looking for a wreath that I could leave on my door that would be cute, crafty and non-seasonal, for when I'm tired of my holiday and seasonal wreaths. I decided on a button wreath because:

1. I had a collection of buttons from my Nana and my wedding that needed to find a more permanent home than a Ball jar.
2. It was a pretty rough week at vet school and at my University.
3. I Pinterested enough button crafts to have that itch. Darn Pinterest.

 To do this project, I gathered what remained of a 3-lb bag of white buttons that I bought off eBay for my wedding bouquet and my collection of my Nana's vintage buttons. On hand, I had a glue gun, Tacky Glue, some green ribbon from my winter wreath project, and some nice navy fleece. I thought about snagging a styrofoam wreath form, but settled for snagging this piece of art at Goodwill:

Isn't it just lovely (*shudders*)? I chose this frame not because of the front (far too many waves to apply buttons), but because of the back:

The back of the frame has a nice, broad, flat surface that would easily accomodate glued buttons. I removed the hardware and applied fleece to the front of the frame on the surface that would touch the door (I'm leasing -- no scratches means I can keep my security deposit!). I also applied fleece to the lip that holds the glass and picture, as that sticks out far enough that it would be visible behind the buttons. Almost every frame has that lip, so if you try this, have a game plan for it! I wound up using Tacky Glue to apply fleece to the front of the frame because it was going to have constant pressure on it while I was working, and hot glue to attach the fleece to the lip, as I needed a faster adhesion. In retrospect, i wish I had just wrapped the whole frame and saved myself the time.

[From here on out, it's all glue gun] Next, I carefully arranged buttons around the inner surface glued them down:

I meant to take better photos of the progress, but my sister called to tell me she was ENGAGED (squee!), so I got a little distracted. The basic rules of thumb are:

1. Pick out your buttons and organize them by size first - you want to lay down large buttons on the inner ring, to fill out all four corners, and to start filling the outer edges. I recommend using large buttons with shanks to fill the corners - the back acts like an anchor and they fit SO nicely.
2. Once you have the corners and edges covered, organize by color! It may seem like a pain to keep reorganizing these buttons, but creating a 'random' pattern takes work!
3. Keep aside tiny buttons and smaller buttons with shanks to fill in any gaps as you finish layering. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I was adding small buttons for the better part of an hour to cover the gaps. This is why I wish I had wrapped the frame completely in the fleece. I could have stopped earlier if the wood of the frame wasn't peeking through.

The end result of about 3 hours of button rearrangement:

Gorgeous, right? Next, choose a side to be the top! I attached green ribbon to the front of the frame with a staple gun to use for hanging. I doubled the staples to ensure that they wouldn't pull from the frame, pop through the ribbon. It also prevents the ribbon from fraying too much.

That's it! I hung it and looooove it.

I think I might add some sort of letter embellishment eventually, but I haven't figured out the perfect style for one yet.

Total cost for me: $2.39 for the frame, the rest I had on hand!

But if you're not lucky enough to have the supplies ready to go...
Frame: $2.39+/- at Goodwill
Buttons: $10.00+ for 1 lb. bulk buttons on eBay
Fleece: $8.99 at JoAnn's, but with the 40% discount, $5.40
Ribbon: $3.00 spool
TOTAL:  $20.79, assuming you buy the buttons as cheaply as possible online

More to come. Until then, stay crafty!