Valentines Day

I spent the past week getting all my Valentines crafting done.

I made wreaths for my front door with rolled felt flowers and a big felt bow on each one.

Kennady got a new V-Day shirt.

Since I don’t have a mantle, I decorated the top of the piano.

This frame is one of the easiest things I have ever done, but I am in love with it’s simplicity.

I saw this fabulous idea for mason jars on Pinterest and had to “borrow” it.

The garland is made out of old book pages. My kids were astonished that I would do such a thing to a book (the school librarian has obviously been effective when teaching about how we should treat books), but it was really old and falling apart anyway. I have to admit that I cringed a little bit when I started cutting out the first page.

Finally, I made a felt “Be My Valentine” pillow. The hearts are machine appliqued on and the wording and string for the hearts to hang on are embroidered. I have never done much work in embroidery before and this project made me realize that I could really use some practice.

I think we are all ready to show some love around here, that is if my kids would ever stop fighting.

I'm linking up:

Nutty Wreath

After seeing a few really cute acorn wreaths out in blog land, I decided I wanted to make one. All the tutorials tell you to go gather some acorns from your yard or a nearby park. Unfortunately I live in the desert and acorns are nowhere to be found. “No big deal,” I thought, “I will just buy some online. You can get anything online, I’m sure I can find some acorns for sale.” I was right, you can find acorns for sale online…FOR $20 BUCKS A POUND!!! No thanks, I needed a cheaper alternative.
The very next day, I got my daily craft email from Martha Stewart and she had a great wreath made from hard shelled nuts so I decided I would do this instead. The grocery store had assorted hard shelled nuts for $4 a pound. I bought approx. 4 pounds and  I got a flat wooden wreath form from Michaels and started hot gluing the walnuts to it.

After covering the whole thing with walnuts I just filled in the spaces randomly with the other nuts.
When I was all done, I just tied on a bow and it was done. I am not loving the bow. I think I might look for some wider ribbon and do a regular bow instead. But here it is for now:

I like it because it reminds me of my grandma’s house during the holidays. She always had a big bowl of these nuts sitting on the hearth. I would sit there by the fire cracking and eating nuts for what seemed like hours.

I'm linking up at:

Halloween Wreath



I've been so busy making cakes lately, I haven't had much time for anything else. I've had this idea in my head for a while now and finally got around to finishing it. It was super simple. I just bought a styrofoam wreath form and spray painted it black. Then I bought the letters from the craft store and painted them orange. Then I mod podged some Halloween scrapbook paper on them and sealed it with a clear coat of spray paint. I hot glued the letters on and tied the hanging ribbon where I wanted it to be. Then I tied small ribbons around a whole bunch of Tootsie Pops and inserted them randomly into the styrofoam. I had to cut the sticks shorter on a bunch of them so they didn't poke through the back. After I got them where I wanted them, I went back and hot glued them in so my kids don't walk off with them everytime we leave the house they stay put.

I'm linking up at: