Stitched Paper & Felt Valentines

 

So I am gearing up for Cati's Class Valentine party and as the "Party Mom" (that title cracks me up) I have been busy working on a ton of crafty goodness to decorate.  Of course, no Valentine party would be complete without...well...valentines. :)

 

I wanted to make homemade ones and since I heart all textures like fabric, felt, and yarn... I wanted to incorporate some of it into a Valentine card where Cati could still sign her name and put her classmate's name since she is learning her letters.

If you want to try this yourself here is what I did:  

Materials: 

white card stock, red craft felt, embroidery floss various colors, colored pencils, and craft glue.

1. Cut your card stock (I used a craft mat and rotary cutter) to the size you want.  Mine is 6 x 3 inches.
2. Cut your red felt backing slightly larger.
3. Cut out little felt hearts

 

 Use running stitch to sew heart to the top of card stock.

I used colored pencils to write out the "To" and "From" with the same color as the embroidery floss. Then I sewed over it using the colored pencil letters as a guide.

Glue card stock to felt backing.

There is your simple and unique Valentine's with some homemade flair. 

 Just the way I like it. :)

Funny Things My Girls Said Today

Ella's Dinner time Prayer...

Thank you God for famwee, fwends, and ow food.
And, and, and God?
We not pick our noses or take papers off fridge.
Amen.

Ella's bedtime request...

"Mommy? Will you weave da light on in da chicken?"
"Yes, Ella.  I will leave the light on in the chicken."
Chicken aka Kitchen.

Cati's bedtime stalling tactics...

Cati: Mommy, I am really sick. I don't feel so good.
Me: Really?  Tell Mommy what hurts.
Cati: My belly. And my eyes.  This finger.  And right here on my side. 
Me: Cati, I am so sorry. I think you might feel better in the morning so try to fall asleep fast.
Cati: I don't ever want to drink juice again.  Only milk and water.  Juice makes my belly hurt.  But Ella likes juice. Lots of juice. Can you tell me about Jesus and Noah?  And the kids digging a hole?   Mommy?  There are monsters in my room.
Me: Cati, there are no such thing as monsters.
Cati: Mommy?  God will take care of me, right?
Me: You bet sweet girl.
Cati: I love you Mommy.  Good night.


A Funny Story I Forgot to Tell You

It happened over Christmas and I completely forgot to do a post about it.

We spent Christmas in North Carolina and my sister in law gave both hubby and I gift cards to stores not located here in Florida.  And the one for me was for Charming Charlie. That was my first experience in that cutie patootie accessories store and it was rocking with fun stuff. But I kind of got overwhelmed since in the midst of shopping my girls were in sensory overload in their need to handle all the merchandise with their exploring little fingers.

So I had $50 to burn in this place and they do not have a website you can buy from...which hurt my head. I am not one to make choices easily. But I finally pick up this cute necklace, ring, and handbag and head to the monster line that was not there 10 minutes before.

We wait in line for...I kid you not...45 minutes.  And Cati is with me being...awesome.  I am talking halo over the head, pride overflowing, check out my perfect kid and my awesome parenting skills type of awesome. I was even complimented on my "angel."

Oh, but wait.

So the poor girl in front of me is trying to do a return on a bag that apparently does not exist in their fancy computer.  I felt for the girl and was surprised that I was so accommodating.

Could it be that she was the one who called Cati an angel? Perhaps.

But finally my turn arrives, we do our little transaction where I once again give my email address like the mindless drone I am to a store that is not anywhere in proximity to me in Florida nor can be purchased from online.

As I grab my bag of goodies, I look down to see Cati pressing herself up against the counter with her back to me.  She is known to grab little treasures off the floor...much to my germaphobic chagrin.  I am the mom in the bathroom screeching..."Don't touch that...or that...NO...don't touch ANYTHING!" So I am wondering what kind of germ infested object she has but assume she found a bead from a necklace or something.

"Cati...what do you have?" Guilty eyes peer back at me.

"Cati, what is in your hand?"
And then she pulls her hand out of her pocket with used gum in her hand.

I begin hyperventilating.  

"CATI! Throw that in a trash can right now!  That is icky already chewed gum!"

She then takes her other hand, smooshes the gum between both hands and pulls her hands apart with strings of gum all over her hands!

Oh, the horror!

"CATI!" I am now fully panicked because I imagine evil germs that belong only in a petri dish leaping upon my daughter to infect her with who knows what. And I usher her out of the store...quickly.
 She has this defiant look on her face and as we pass mirror covered pillars, I look into one as a millisecond mommy instinct kicks in just in time to see Cati POP THE GUM INTO HER MOUTH!


Now I am debating dumping the contents of my bag to begin breathing in and out of it.  I am literally freaking out that my child is CHEWING SOMEONE ELSE"S GUM. We get out to the car where I make her spit it out and she throws a temper tantrum because...ready?


"MOM!  It still has flavor in it!"


Oh, how entertaining my children truly are.

Pretty Paper Cones: Good Living Magazine Project 3

I know paper cones are not necessarily something new but I love making them. 
Maybe they are new to some of you?
For me personally...I always like to find out how to make things that seem simple but I can not quite figure them out until I see it step by step.
And there is something so endearing to me about pretty paper becoming a functional object or container.  And I love containers. Madly.

Once, I was in a group of people and we were all introducing ourselves and part of the intro was to say one thing about ourselves. My one thing?  Hi, I am Jessica and I like containers. 

Yes, I did. 

Fortunately, people laughed but I totally revealed the geek I am.  

Okidokes. Let's find out how to make these cones...

 You need 3 sheets of 12x12 scrapbook paper, glue gun and ribbon (optional)

 Turn the paper so it is in a diamond shape and begin rolling the corner facing you into a tube.

 As you roll, keep the end to the left tighter while allowing the paper to open a bit on the right on the tube.

 Keep the left as tight as you can but don't allow the top of the cone on the right to get too loose.  Then it will lose its shape.

 When you are finished play with it until you like the shape.

 Use glue to seal it off and glue another open seams.

 Wait until it is dry.

 There you have some pretty cones to dress up a flower arrangement.

 You could even wrap a ribbon around it to give it a nice finish.
I just love how the red roses look with the ivory and black stripes.

 These cones are great for cotton candy, Valentine treats, favors, or whatever else your creative mind can come up with.

Here is another fun idea...bless someone with a flower arrangement on their door and leave it anonymously! Here, I hung the flowers by putting them through a heart cookie cutter and tied off a ribbon on the cookie cutter. You could even use napkin rings or even soup cans and mason jars tied off with twine or wire. 

A fun Secret Valentine gift or even one for a neighbor.

The end. :)

So the heart garland, the secret cookie messages and these paper cones are my 3 projects for the latest Good Living Magazine issue.  Hope you like the projects and when I get the online version of the magazine, I will post it on my sidebar.   
Actually, I have not even seen it yet so I am excited to know how it will turn out. 

Now I am off to get to read a book and get over this flu that has turned into me walking a fine line between bronchitis and pneumonia.
That will keep for another post.

HUGS!

Giveaway Winner!!!

 I am excited to announce the WINNER for the Read and Share Bible!  

Know that I have been praying for you and the child(ren) who will receive this precious gift. 

The winner left this comment...
"This bible would be for my two sons who are 3 and 1 right now. This would make reading the bible to them a lot easier! :) Love it and love this giveaway."

And was selected through True Random Number Generator...

 Congratulations Callie!

Email me so I can give you the details!

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

Cookie Messages: Good Living Magazine Project 2

This has been an idea in my head that I just had to see it through.  

How fun would it be to get a box of cookies that were shaped like letters and have a secret message to spell out?  

 I KNOW!  

SO FUN, right????

First get cute packaging.

I got these cute candy boxes (3/pack)at Joann's.

Figure out your message and bake your cookies.

I used alphabet cookie cutters but you can also do circle cookies and ice them with letters.  I was on a deadline for these, so I rushed and they came out puffier then I would like.  

Icing them made them unreadable and I have to say the simplicity of just a sugar cookie appealed to me.  

I should have dusted them with coarse sugar so they sparkled with edible bling or something.

Be simple or creative with your message.

Now you need some pretty ribbon or twine.

And make a fun label with hints to figure out the message.

I made this simple label in MS Word and printed it out on cardstock, and punched a hole in the top.  

Easy peasy.

Did you figure these out from my cookie messages above?

The one on the left is "I'm Pregnant" and the one on the right is "Marry Me."

Other message ideas...

Forgive me?

Happy Anniversary

It's a Boy! (or girl)

I really don't like your cooking but I really love you.

I spent last night in the pokey.

I dented the car but eat these cookies before you look at it.

Really.  I could go on forever.

Heart Specimen Art

 

 I wish I could take credit for this simple and completely beautiful heart specimen art frame but my BFF made it for me as a house warming gift when we moved into our new house.  I just love it!

I was excited to bring it out of my book shelf (where curious hands can not get to it) to decorate for Valentine's day. And I love the simplicity that anyone can do it. 
Just cut or punch out several different kinds of scrapbook paper into tiny hearts, glue them to simple or decorative paper, and put it in a frame!  So easy!

 And I love that she used the initials for everyone in my family placed randomly on the hearts. 

And I especially love how it matches my decor.  

And how funny is it that I did not want my reflection in the frame so instead you can see my arm as I stretched it out to the side to take the photo. Typical. :)

A fun and easy project for you this weekend!

Valentine Heart Garland: Good Living Magazine Project 1

Bam...and then...Smack!

Yep...that was me falling out of my chair because not only am I posting twice in one week but I actually have a crafty one for ya.  Just shocking. But Valentines Day is approaching and in the last few years this has become one of my absolute favorite crafty holidays.  It may just be because I have 2 girls and maybe a smidge of a romantic heart.

But I can get wordy (as you know) and I got a LOT of photos here so I am going to stop being chatty and tell you about this fun garland which is one of the projects I did for the January/February issue of Good Living Magazine. It has been so fun being the Craft Writer for a local magazine I really love and support.

This garland is an upcycled wonder of goodness made from cereal boxes, old sweaters, scrap fabric, and even a pair of snuggly socks. It is pretty easy to do and you can get crazy resourceful with different materials.  As a lot of you know, I like to use what I have on hand and not lose coin on all my crafty endeavors.

Here's how I did it...

I used a cookie cutter as my template and cut out about 15 hearts from a cereal box.

I roughly cut out another heart slightly larger than my template with the plain cardboard side facing down.

I then pulled the fabric (in this case an old sweater) taught and hot glued it around as I went. Now I have to tell you I use hot glue for everything because it is fast... but I burn myself constantly.  

Fabric glue like Fabritac works great but it dries FAST so you gotta work quickly.

This is what they look like done.  Here I used burlap, an old sweater, and some red ticking.

Sooo pretty and I love the different textures!

I glued a length of twine that I pre-measured beforehand to the length of all my hearts leaving excess on either end for hanging.

If I was thinking, I would have glued these higher across the widest part of the heart so that they would not flip when you hung them.  I plan on hanging them against a door or wall so I am not too worried about it.

I then cut our several hearts from felt using the same cookie cutter as a template but cutting them out slightly smaller.

I glued them to the backs to cover up all the ugly stuff. :)

And there you have a pretty garland.

There you have it!
I will post about the other 2 projects that are simple and appropriate for your sweetie, a family member or a good friend.

L.O.V.E. and Hugs to you all!
XOXOXOXOXO!

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