Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, I haven't blogged in a loooooooooooooooooooong time. But Valentine's Day is one of my favorites, so it's definitely worth getting off my behind and blogging about.

Here's what my kids will be giving their teachers this year:

 

I just love those little mailboxes from the Target $ Spot! Kiki helped with the pink one on the end.

And inside:

Rolos as dynamite, anyone?



Last year, Finn had robot valentines, to I was glad to keep the theme going:

That's a mini candy bar in the middle. And yes, I started cutting out the pieces for these right after Christmas. There was a lot of assembling for all 20 valentines.



Kiki is still cat-crazy, so I made these cute Lion valentines for her:

And it's all attached to a sucker!

I'm not overly romantic, but I really do like Valentine's Day. I think it's just a combo of pinks and reds everywhere. After last year, I was really hoping we could do DisneyWorld every V-Day, but that clearly isn't happening this year.

And, of course, I've got my wreath hanging:





**I got ALL the Valentine ideas of Pinterest (of course) and I'm pretty sure both the robots and the lions were from Fiskars website**

Birthday Month: {Birthday Balloon Wreath}

Both of my kids were born in August.

The. Hottest. Month. Of. The. Year. 

And we're not really sure when the cat's birthday is, so we just made it in August too.

Therefore, I have renamed August as "Birthday Month." I kinda like the idea of making a new wreath for each month (it keeps me on my toes), so I made a unisex balloon wreath for our month-long fiesta.

Close-up. Fabric & paint. Yes, I smudged it a bit:

I'll be linking up here.

Americana Porch Makeover

I've been busy lately, but I really wanted to take a little time to Americanize my porch for the 4th.

Star box makeover (inspired by Craft-O-Maniac). It's supposed to be distressed, but I'm not so sure it shows on camera:

Tin Can Windsock (inspired by Under the Table and Dreaming):

And finally, my new wreath, inspired by no one. Just me! I really like using this same wreath form for all seasons, just dressing it up in new ribbon and embellishments. I like the rustic look it has. For this wreath, I just used wired ribbon and a bunch of red, white and blue yo-yos that I made last year. And flags of course!:

Happy 4th of July!

I'll be linking up here.

Welcome Spring!

Glad to have you back.

I'll be linking up here.

Valentine Wreath

Inspired by Tatertots & Jello.

Felt flower tutorial by A Girl and A Glue Gun.

I will be linking up to these great parties and Mix Tape Monday!

$ Christmas Card Wreath

 We recieved our first Christmas card of the season on Saturday (from our Jewish friends no less) and I realized I had no where to really display it. I've seen these "wreaths" floating around the blogosphere, so I thought I would try it out. I used an embroidery hoop from Michaels that was less than $1 with my 40% off coupon (sign up at Michael's website), some white spraypaint that I had around the house to paint it, and some clothespins that I had already Mod-Podged with some Christmas paper. That's it! Super cheap and minimal (although you could certainly dress it up a bit if you wanted to). Now I just need a few more cards to fill it!

I am linking up with:

Under the Table & Dreaming

Tea Rose Home

Embellishing Life

Craft-o-Maniac

Yesterday On Tuesday

Sew Chatty

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Vintage Wanna Bee

Not Just A Housewife

Poinsettia Wreath Tutorial

There was a great tutorial for felt poinsettias (complete with template) over at Infarrantly Creative on Wednesday. It was one of those things that I just knew I HAD to make because they were so cute. Click on over and print off the template to make some yourself!

On Infarrantly Creative, they used button covers for the center (and they look fantastic), but I had neither the time or money to get some (they really are pretty cheap), so I just cut a little circle of felt and stitched that on instead:

Voila!:

Hot glue some hair clips on the back of your pretty poinsettias and set them aside.

Next step: wrap your wreath with yarn. This is pretty self-explanatory, however, I have 2 tips that will make this simpler.

1. Lock up your cat. The temptation will just be too strong for her.

2. Just cut long strings of yarn and tie them together as you go along. If you have children, you probaby don't want to spend hours unknotting your (undoubtedly) tangled yarn.

 Clip your poinsettias on:

 Add a little ribbon, and your done! A beautiful Christmas accessory!

I am linking up with (links to the left):


Under the Table & Dreaming
Tea Rose Home
Embellishing Life
Craft-o-Maniac
Yesterday On Tuesday
Sew Chatty
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Vintage Wanna Bee
Not Just a Housewife

One Wreath, Two Ways

My friend Kristal made this cutie a few weeks ago with beans, and I've seen a bunch of tutorials on similar topics, so today I made my own out of acorns. I got a foam wreath frame and ribbon from the dollar store and I put my kids to work gathering acorns on Sunday morning. Finn had the great idea to collect the fat little gold balls that were falling from the trees as well, so I put them around the edge. I should go back for more of them though. I think a wreath made entirely of the balls would be really pretty.
I hot-glued on my "found" objects, spray-painted it all white, added some ribbon and viola! a spooky black and white wreath for Halloween. I hung it over my home-made mod-podged "BOO"sign:

Or, with a change of ribbon, a festive fall wreath (paired with my fabric wreath from a few posts ago):

I like both looks, but I suppose I'll keep the spookier version up for Halloween!

I'll be linking up on Wednesday with Tea Rose Home's Wednesday link party!

Welcome

Another tutorial from Moda. I just love their stuff!