Countdown to Valentines!

It's that time! Time for all of us crafters to get busy on some new Valentines crafts! There are countdown calendars for Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween, but I have not seen too many for Valentines Day. So, tonight I put one together...

  I used a fun silver 5x7 frame for the base of the countdown

 As you flip each page, there is a new little Valentine

 I used some non-traditional colors for this countdown calendar, and I really like it!

 It is hard to tell in the pictures, but each white heart is embossed with different pattern

 This is the final page, which represents Valentines Day

The heart is popped and there is a fun tag

 On February 1st, all the pages lay nicely on the front of the frame

 As you progress through the days, the pages lay nicely on the back side of the frame

 Well, I can cross one more craft off the list for Valentines Day!

Happy Wednesday!

Linking to:
Sewwoodsy
Sew-Much-Ado

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome 2012!! I am so ready for the ceremonial re-start that we all take at the beginning of a new year. I have one big plan for 2012.....

SIMPLIFY

Hahahahahaha! I know, right. But, I mean it, I am gonna do it! The last month has been a very blessed, crazy, stressful month and a month where I was on my knees, a lot. The only thing I learned from this past month is that there is only one answer for me...and you guessed it, to simplify.

Now, on to fun stuff! I must have been a good girl last year because Santa Clause brought me this....

A brand new, stinking beautiful sewing machine! This sewing machine also has an embroidery attachment that I am super anxious to learn!

I am on "rest" mode for the next week or so, so instead of laying in bed, I thought sitting on my sewing chair was just as good! I wanted to sew something fun and simple to try out my new machine.... 

So, I made up this cute Valentine's pillow. Yes, I said Valentines. All of you crafters out there know that you are making up your crafts now too!

But, what I really wanted to show you was a "cheap" trick to pillows. We all know that pillow inserts cost a pretty penny. So, Here is a trick that I do to save money on pillow inserts.  

Take a $2.50 bed pillow from WalMart. I made my pillow the same width as the height of the bed pillow. I determined my height of my pillow and measured up on the bed pillow and cut. 

Cutting through all the stuffing can be a bit tricky.

I then pinned the open edge closed and stitched.

I used a zig-zag stitch to sew up the edge of the pillow. Slip your new pillow form into your pillow... 

And there you have it, a $1.25 pillow form! Easy. There is enough of the pillow left to make a second pillow. 

I made cute little ribbon ties on the back of the pillow to close it off. 

The pillow looks cute on my chair in my office...but, this little gem is going to my Mom. She has been a lot of help this past week, and I think this makes a cute thank you gift.

Linking pillow here:

Northerncottage

A Valentine Gift for the Mister

After years of marriage, sometimes trying to think of something special to get the Mister is tough. Yes, you could get the latest and greatest gadget, but in reality, that is like the Mister getting us a blender! NO! You want to do something "special".  The Mister can buy his own gadget, just as easy as we can buy our own blender! A few years ago, I made something for my Mister for Valentine's day that he says is his favorite Valentine gift of all time. I wanted to share the idea with you. It is super easy, and super fast and best of all, super economical!

I took an 8x8 shadow frame, along with supplies that I had in my stash. Let's face it, all of us Crafty Girls have a stash! Everything in the frame are leftovers from other projects.  I started the project on an 8x8 piece of cream card stock.

The swirl at the top is a stamp with a little button glued on with a glue dot. The "I" is nothing more than a rub on letter on a square cut out, with inked edges. The word "will" is also done using rub on letters. The circle of dots is an ink stamp. 

The tag is hand cut, with an eyelet put in the top of it, running a ribbon through it. The word "Love" are rub on letters. The skeleton key was just in my stash.

The "U" is from Making Memories alphabet from years ago. The word "until" are rub on letters, with a metal frame around it, probably from Making Memories. The second tag is is made the same way as the first tag with the words "the end of" rubbed on. The plastic clock face is from Heidi Swapp from years ago. "Time" are rub on letters. The swirl is a stamp, with a button glued on with a glue dot. 

The picture and two tags are elevated using pop dots.  

So check out your stash and make something special for your Mister!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the Be My Valentine blocks!

Click HERE to enter the giveaway!

Specimen Art with Hearts!

I know, I know, specimen art is all over blog-land. Even still, I wanted to try one out. I have so much "stuff" in my studio (doesn't it crack you up that people call their craft rooms, studios these days!) that I knew that this could be a craft that I could make without having to run to Micheals! A while back I had bought three of these frames when they were 50% off at Micheals. They have been sitting in the garage, and to be honest, I have felt guilty for buying these frames and not using them yet.

I knew that I wanted to make the specimen art with hearts. So, I pulled out the trusty Cricut and one of my favorite fonts, Simply Sweet.

I chose three different patterned papers to make the art with. I then cut 12, 2 inch hearts out of each patterned paper.

After cutting the hearts out, I stacked the three patterned hearts together and I pulled out the trusty sewing machine...

and I sewed straight down the center of each set of hearts.

I stitched the hearts without cutting the thread, to end up with a heart garland. I cut the strings to separate the hearts.

I then, "fluffed" the hearts to give them dimension and to show off the patterned paper on the hearts. 

I then lined up the hearts on the white paper that I covered the front of the glass in the frame with. Oh, before I covered the glass, I took red thread and made a border on the paper by sewing the border on the sewing machine. I eye-balled the hearts onto the paper and attched them with glue dots. 

I think it turned out pretty cute! 

This was a really fast, really simple and really cheap craft project! I love the way the single mint green heart looks with the red hearts! :) 

I do love the dimension of the hearts on the frame.  

Instead of the "12th" heart, I cut the word love out of the same cartridge and put it in place of the last heart.

Have a great Wednesday!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the "Be My Valentine" blocks! Click HERE to enter the giveaway! Good Luck!

Valentine Card Tree

Oh love is in the air...or at least all over blog-land! I have put a few decorations out for the upcoming Valentines day and wanted to share them with you! Look how stinking cute this felted heart swag is!

My mother surprised me with this swag and I absolutely love it! Mom takes 100% wool sweaters and felts the wool. Then, she cuts out the heart shape, added buttons and then did a blanket stitch around two hearts. Super cute!

The little buttons and the homespun look of the hearts is adorable! I wish you could feel and see how cute this swag is! 

I have the swag going across the top of our kitchen hutch...I know it is hard to see, but it is there - and it is stinking cute! 

I wanted to show you how easy it is to create a little Valentine display. I combined a couple of "heart" decorations and then, I took a candle that was left over from Christmas and added the Valentine paper and vintage clip art, and viola~ a Valentines candle!

But, by far, my favorite Valentine decoration this year is this great card tree!  

My father made this great card tree for me. It is done in a deep wine red and stands about 34 inches tall.  

Look at the cute vintage cards on the tree...I smile every time I walk by the tree.  

I know that you will all want a tree of your own...so, I asked my dad to make a few extra trees! If you would like a card tree...check out my Etsy shop on the sidebar! Just think how cute this card tree will look at Christmas time with Christmas cards on it! I can't wait for Christmas to do this! Thanks Dad!

Oh ya, one more thing! Don't forget to enter to win the Be My Valentine blocks!

Click HERE to enter!