Random Valentine

I earlier wrote about my lack of Valentine decor. Here is a quick look at the things I now have...

The beautiful ribbon wreath...actually hung on the front door. Please ignore the holes in the door. The previous owners had a door knocker that they took on their way out...I can't find one to fit the holes!!




I also made a small heart shaped ribbon wreath for the back door. There was suppose to be 2 of them but procrastination got the better of me! And of course, the $1 window clings. How chic!




In my post about buttons, I hinted about a Valentine project with all the pink buttons left over. Here it is... I'm not sure it even looks like a heart anymore! I covered a styrofoam heart with ribbons then hot glued buttons. I like the other heart more with just the ribbons. Maybe I should stick to copying ideas of others instead of making up my own!! {Notice the cookbook stand has remained unchanged! Still thinking about it.}




I made the banner in its original size from Skip to My Lou and put it on each kid's bedroom door. They loved it!




Then the girls did some decorating of their own. They made these at Daisies and shared one with a friend. This one was made for O by her friend Sophia.

I have bragged in the past about controlling refrigerator clutter by using clipboards. Apparently the girls had other ideas. Many of these little treasures were made in preschool. However, some were made by me. I've come a long way from sad foam hearts decorated with markers and weird things glued on!!



There was a plan for one more project using my CD of Vintage Valentines...again...procrastination. So here is the picture from William Sonoma and a link to the Shabby Nest because she did not procrastinate!

Finally {I'm exhausted}, these are the gifts for my girls. I purchased them from the buzybunny etsy shop. They are so cute...so cute in fact that I gave them to the girls last night so they could wear them to school today! And they are a bargain at $7 each! They are handmade by the lovely Julia who actually lives close to me! Funny what you can discover on etsy!

For the wild man...a car. Boring to me but he will love the store bought, mass produced gift.

For the hubby...don't know yet! We are not really exchanging due to the kitchen redo but he always buys me something just to make me look bad!

So much for "a quick look" at my Valentine decor! I need a nap!

No Store Bought Valentines!

Every year (well, just the 2 years my kids have been in school) we go to Target to browse the Valentine isle for the typical, mass produced Valentine cards. Now that I am a "crafty mom" (L's words, NOT mine), I knew that I could do something better.

I just told you about the great banner I made from Skip To My Lou. Well...you should see her Valentine card ideas! This is what O will be taking to school...


A flower for each of her friends. Just print out the templates on card stock and cut! O signed her name to each leaf and helped assemble. So cute!

Of course, we had to do something different for L. I have been following The Graphics Fairy for some time now and really love her daily post of clip art. I showed L some of them and she loved them too. Off to ebay I went and found a CD of vintage Valentines. Over 1000 vintage Valentines! We picked out her favorite ones and printed them of card stock.

The CD is great with cards from different eras and different shapes. There were lots of little kids, birds and cherubs for the choosing. However, we steered aways from the cherubs due to their lack of clothing...not appropriate for a kindergartner to give to her friends! I know I will find many uses for it!

She signed her name and drew a picture on the back of each one! We'll also be taping on a sucker for each kid as a treat.

Try not to get "suckered" into the generic, try to create (or copy) something of your own!

M.I.A. Valentine Decor

I sent the hubby to the basement to retrieve the Valentine decor and...there was Nothing!
OK...not quite nothing. But only a table cloth and some homemade stuff from the girls in years past. So now all I have is my pretty door wreath that I made! How could this be? Don't I have an assortment of cute pink and red hearts or a wreath for the door? Where are all the candles for the holiday dedicated to romance? Still nothing! ZIP! ZERO! ZILCH! NOPE! NADA!

Off to the computer I went and found a fabulous site...Skip to My Lou! Where has this site been hiding in my pursuit of craftiness?! I found this great Valentine banner that was so easy! She has great, simple ideas with FREE templates for her designs! You'll be seeing more "borrowed" ideas to come!

It was set up to make smaller banners but I enlarged each letter to be the size of a full sheet of paper. The smaller version would be great on the kiddos' bedroom doors!

I add glitter to them and strung them on some ribbon....DONE!

Perfect by the photos of the kids. I hope they'll be my Valentines!

Tie It Up

In my bloggy travels this week, I found this great wreath for Valentine's Day!

You can find this and other treasures by Lissa at Lissalaneous on Etsy or visit her gallery. She also has clipboards like the ones I created here and a ribbon topiary that is in my future. She has really creative things...go visit her!

I decided to try to make it myself. Off to Hobby Lobby I went...just as the sleet started on Monday night. What a girl won't do for a cute craft project!

This is how my turned out...

Not too shabby for a first attempt! I was too tired to take pictures while I was creating my masterpiece but I will share with you the supplies I used.

12 inch foam wreath

3 yards (should have bought 4) white, wide grosgrain ribbon to cover the wreath

hot glue to secure to ribbon

ribbons of multiple colors and widths (I cut them 10 inches for the thinner ribbons and 11+ inches for wide widths)

I wrapped the wreath with the grosgrain ribbon and secured it with hot glue. I just wanted to cover the foam. This step may not be necessary because the other ribbons covered it well. I cut the small ribbons and started tying...that's it! Easy peasy!!!!

How would I do it differently? I wish I had used a solid pink ribbon. Aside from that, I L.O.V.E. it!

I also bought small heart shaped wreaths to do for each of the kids' bedroom doors. I think I'll let the kids pick out the ribbons and the girls can help with the cutting. What a great snow day project!!