Making Valentines~

The kiddos and I finished their Valentine's cards yesterday. For reals. I honestly don't think we've ever been ready this far in advance. Aren't you impressed? ;-)


But before I get to that...I had a lot of questions about how I applied the wrapping paper to the wall in my last post...I did it the same way as I did the first time (you can read about it by clicking the link about gift wrapped walls in the post) I used my staple gun. I just stapled the paper around the edges, and a couple of times in the middle. Because the space I was covering was relatively small, it worked like a dream, and it's easy to remove, which is important because this is a rental house.

Okey dokey, now on to the cards.


I saw this very cute idea floating around blogland last year, and mentally filed it away to use for this year's Valentine's cards.



So first things first, I took photos of each of the four kiddos with one hand extended in a fist. (They are wearing their Sunday clothes because I grabbed them right after we got home from church...not a bad idea...their hair was combed, their faces were clean, they looked presentable.)

Then I used Picnik.com to add borders and text to each.

I poked holes in each card at the top and bottom of each child's fist. And then the five of us had fun putting lollipops on each card by weaving the sticks through the holes.

Didn't they turn out ADORABLE?!? (If I do say so myself.)

And the best part is, they are completely, 100% personalized. No one else in their classes will have cards exactly like theirs. I love that.

Have a great day...

Go eat a lollipop.

A Little Bit of Valentine's~

I started to pull out the Valentine's Decor this weekend. I thought I'd get more decorating done, but it was one of those weekends where I couldn't seem to stop cleaning the house. Which is good, I guess. Clean houses are always nice. (Oh, and I found a magic way to clean solid surface kitchen sinks that I'll tell you all about later this week...I know you're just frantic to hear about it, aren't you?)


So even though I didn't get quite as much Valentine's fun out as I hoped I would, I decided I'd share a little bit of it with you today.


First up, my cute Vintage Valentine wreath. I was inspired to make this after seeing one on the Williams Sonoma website. If you'd like to learn more, I talk about how I created this little darlin' here.



Next, my Valentine tree. I used the same spray-painted-white branches that I had as my dining table centerpiece for Christmas. I just switched out the birds and book page ornaments for these pretty glittered chipboard hearts. I heart them. Yes, the pun was intended.

I filled one of my apothecary jars with some funny pink vase filler and a sweet little cupid pixie I made from a baby photo of the Princess. You can read about how to make my famous pixies here.

The other apothecary jar contains a sweet pair of glittered chipboard X and O letters.

And just so you know, I've determined that it is absolutely impossible to get a decent photo of this corner in my kitchen....so I'm apologizing for these less-than-stellar images.

Last year, we started a tradition in our little family of writing love notes to one another during the month of February...then reading them on Valentine's Day. I made this sweet little Valentine pouch for us to stuff the notes in. You can read more about it here.

Finally, I'm afraid this is as far as I've gotten with my mantle decor so far. One little heart (although it's a pretty little heart.) But I'll tell you a little secret as to why I haven't done more. I finally got so sick of the ugly fireplace stone, that I was brave enough to approach our landlords about painting it... and they said "yes"! Can I hear a "woot woot!"? So the hubby and I will be tackling that project this week. I'll post about it, of course! And then I'll finish blinging up the mantle with some Valentines-y goodness!

Even though I didn't get much up on my mantle (for very good reason!)...I'm linking to Beth's Valentine's Mantle party...hop over and enjoy all the Valentine's goodness.



Have a great day~

Happy Valentine's Day~

Happy Valentine's Day, my dear readers!!

Last Minute Valentine's Project~

With everything going on this week, I just realized that TOMORROW is Valentine's Day and I have yet to post my one and only Valentine's project I did this year. (Like I said, a lot going on right now.)

A couple of weeks back, I saw this darling PB Kids Valentine's pocket on this fabulous blog.

Photo from Blonde Design Blog

I decided that would be my Valentine's project for this year. But when I sat down to sew them up I discovered that my sewing machine needle was broken...and get this...I didn't have a spare. Nope. Nada. Sigh. What's a crafty mom in a time crunch to do? Enter big blue. My glue gun, that is.

I just hot glued them together. They didn't have any of the decorative stitching I had planned on, but they turned out cute just the same. And they literally took me 10 minutes each...including all the prep work. So even though I'm posting them the day before Valentine's day, you can still finish them in time. Really.

What do I plan to do with these? Well, I plan on having the family write love notes to one another and we'll stuff them in the envelope, and then read them at dinner on Valentine's day.

My sister and her family are here from California, so I made an one for them as well.

I sense the start of a nice Valentine's day tradition.

Happy Valentine's Day~

Hello February~

Can anybody tell me where January disappeared to? I blinked my eyes and it was gone. Seriously. Of course it may have something to do with the fact that I moved across the country, the hubby started a new job, the kids started a new school, etc. etc.

But honestly, it's okay with me that January is over already because I love February. Must be the romantic in me, but February always makes me nostalgic and a little giddy. So in the spirit of Valentine's day...I thought I'd share a few fun projects with you...


First up, this fun Valentine's wreath. Vintage Valentine's cards and glitter. What more could you ask for? You can learn more about how I made it here.

Next up, cupid...or close enough. This is the Valentine's version of my famous pixies...you can find the tutorial here.

And finally, a great craft to do with your little ones. Valentine's votives. Learn how to make them here.

Only 14 days before Valentine's day...

Have a great Monday~