DIY Valentines Cards

One week today is Valentines Day! I have plenty of Vday crafts and recipes if you’re in need of any ideas for your special someone. You can find all my Valentines blog posts right here, VALENTINES.

Anyways, I’ve made some Valentines Cards for my west coast pals. The cards that I created are made out of all recycled paper that was lying around the house! I used red & pink construction paper, brown scotch wrapping paper, pink wrapping paper and newspaper. I also used old birthday cards for the background of my cards to prevent them from bending. I then cut out all shapes of hearts, glued them to the old birthday cards, and then I used scissors to cut a nice border around each heart card. Once each card was complete, I used black and gold sharpies to write Valentine messages on them. Super cute, super easy!

Enjoy my loves! 

Valentines Framed Candy Heart

As you guys have noticed, I am extremely into Valentines Day this year! I find that the crafts are so cute and not to mention so fun and easy to make. Sunday morning I headed to my moms studio still in my pj’s determined to make the Valentines Framed Candy Heart project. A few hot glue gun burns later I was admiring my finished project.  This crafts looks more expensive than cheap, which is inspiring! Together this craft cost me $7.

The Valentines Framed Candy Hearts look excellent placed against the back splash in the kitchen, hung, or placed on a side table along with some pretty flowers or some more Vday décor.

Items you will need:

Brown Wrapping Paper

White Picture Frame

Candy Hearts

Glue Gun

Cardboard

Step 1: Make a sturdy back page for your hearts. Meaning, where the photo would usually sit in the picture frame place a piece of cardboard there so that the hearts will have something strong to sit on because the hearts end up getting heavy. Once you have the cardboard piece ready, I used brown wrapping paper as a background for the hearts. Just glue a sheet of brown paper to the cardboard.

Step 2: With the background ready, trace a large heart in pencil onto the background. The heart outline allows you to fill the heart in with the candies perfectly.

Step 3: Time to start gluing! Now you can glue the hearts on in any pattern to fill-in the larger heart. Once the hearts are glued on make sure you rip off all the excess glue strings from the hearts. Once that’s finished, put the finished product into the frame and voila!

 

DIY Succulent Crown Jars

Hey Lovelies!

 This week’s craft was one of my favorites so far. I’ve been looking for succulents and tillandsias everywhere and I finally found them at the Bradford Green House Garden Gallery for a decent price. Before planting, make sure to do a little research on how to look after your succulent. These plants need to be watered regularly and they need a certain amount of sunlight. This blog, A pair & a spare explains exactly how to look after you’re succulent. Succulents look excellent anywhere in the house/office, they also work great as gifts for friends and family.  

Items you’ll need:

Jars

Succulents

Planting Soil

Sand

Charcoal

Stones

Step 1: Put stones in the bottom of your jars. The stones create a filtering system so your succulent doesn’t drown. Make sure to put 1-2 inches of stones in the bottom.

Step 2: Now place some soil on the rocks, use your hands to pack down the soil. Now you can put charcoal and sand down. I didn’t use charcoal or sand because I couldn’t find them anywhere!

Step 3: With the dirt or sand down, place the succulent on top of the dirt. Make sure to pack more dirt around the edges of the succulent so that the succulent is snug. The soil is usually moist so just add a little water to your succulent once its planted. I wanted my succulents to sit deeper into my jars but the leaves wouldn’t fit in. However, I liked the way my succulents turned out!

**These succulents would also work great for wedding centerpieces! 

Holiday Gift Wrapping

This year I have noticed that a lot of people have stayed away from the traditional Christmas gift-wrap, and instead have used a simple wrapping paper and then attached a handmade bow and gift tags. This year I have done the same. I used brown Scotch paper and some pretty Christmas ribbon that I purchased from the dollar store. I then used q-cards to cut out the gift tags and a Christmas stamp to decorate the gift tags. I used numerous ribbons to decorate my Christmas presents and they turned out great! Here are some photos of my 2013 Christmas Gift Wrapping.

Holiday Signage

Over the past few weeks my mom and I have been making numerous festive signs. They look great over fire mantels; hung on the wall, placed on your counter top against your backsplash or they make excellent Christmas presents.

These signs are really easy to do but can be a little time consuming.

Items you’ll need to make these Holiday Signs:

Piece of wood

Paintbrushes

Acrylic Paint

Carbon Paper

Print Shop OR Microsoft Word

Palm Sander

Picture Hanging Set

Pencil

**All these items can be purchased at a lumberyard and a dollar store.

Step 1: Sand down your piece of wood to a nice smooth surface. Now take your paintbrush and paint the entire sign your background color. Let the wood sit to dry for about 30 minutes.

Step 2: Use Microsoft Word or Print Shop to print your quote. Print shop allows you to put your board’s measurements in allowing you to print a perfect printout of your quote. 

Step 3: Now place your printed out quote onto your board and tape the top edges onto the wood. Place the carbon paper underneath the quote pattern. Take a pencil and trace over the quote. The carbon paper will allow the quote to transfer onto the piece of wood.

Step 4: With the outline quote now on your board its time to fill it in! Use a paintbrush and paint in your Christmas quote. Depending on the your fill color do 2-3 coats of paint until the quote looks bold. Use a clear varnish once your sign is completely finished and paint the entire sign with the varnish. The varnish seals the paint in and makes the sign look shiny.

Step 5: Use your picture hanging set to nail a hook and some nails into the back of your board allowing your quote to hang on the wall. Once the hook is attached to the board your sign is finished!

Happy Holidays Guys! 

Costume Time!

My costume was pretty last minute this year…. Although, it turned out great! I was a blonde Mary Poppins. If you’re in need of any last minute costumes, my coworkers and myself, whipped up some pretty good ones that were almost effortless to make but ended up looking point on. 

Items you will need to become Mary Poppins:

Black Skirt

White Blouse

Thigh High Socks or Nylons

Red Bow Tie

Top Hat (add red flowers)

Umbrella

Black Purse

Black Heels or Combat Booties

Red Lips and Nail Polish 

Pumpkin Carving

My pumpkin went for a different look this year. After carving my pumpkin I painted it black with acrylic paint. It turned out great, even better when it's lit up! You can use any type of black paint to do this craft along with your amazing carving skills of course! However, you can even print a face out and use transfer paper to trace on your pumpkins face so that it’s easier to carve. To do this, use the same technique as used for my signage tutorials. 

Enjoy Guys! 

P.S Don't forget to try my Pumpkin Seed Recipe! Under Homemade Treats . 

Halloween Sign

Hey guys, I just wanted to share some of the crafts I have been doing over the Halloween Season. I am also going to share some of the festive crafts that my mom has done recently.

My mom created this sign. She adores Halloween and all the little monsters along with it. (Meaning her 4 dogs… yes 4!)The tutorial for this lovely, witchy, sign can be found under my tabs as SIGNAGE. It’s the same tutorial used for any of my signs. Also this piece of wood is an old cupboard door. Cupboard doors are great for signs; they give the sign a more vintage or even elegant look.