3-D Valentines

It's been awhile! I've been preoccupied with repainting the entire upstairs trim and cabinetry a brighter white {it used to be a very, very creamy off white - that's a whole 'nother post!} and helping plan my children's upcoming hockey tournament. It's been chaotic around here, to say the least! But with Valentine's Day only days away, I simply had to make some time to work with my kiddos on some special Valentines for their friends and classmates.

It's deemed by many as "Just another Hallmark holiday," but in this house, we ♥ Valentine's Day! When it came time to start thinking about making our Valentines, I knew I wanted them to be personalized, special, and fun, and the kids wanted to share a sweet treat with their best buddies. {Best buddies/future spouses?? Greta has narrowed her husband down to two boys in her kindergarten class - yikes!} I remembered seeing a special 3-D card idea once upon a time, so I ran it by the kids and got their approval.

I started with hanging a large piece of lovey dovey Valentine's Day fabric, and snapped a few pictures of each kid. Here's the key: I had Greta and Charlie pose extending an arm as though they were reaching it out and handing me something. Actually, to make it easier, I had them hold a pencil in the hand they extended to make it easier for a later step in the card making process. Here's what we started with:

For the second step, I uploaded the pics to Walmart's handy dandy photo center and ordered enough Valentine's Day photo greeting cards for each kid's class. You could easily make your own cards if you're feeling extra crafty, but I already told you about life being consumed with painting and hockey; I opted for Walmart's version to make it easier on myself. And don't worry - there's plenty more craftiness in the next steps! The kids knew they wanted to give their friends suckers along with their special cards, so I picked up 50 Valentine's Tootsie Pops at Walmart along with the greeting cards. This is what our Walmart Valentines looked like:

Next, Greta and Charlie set to work writing their friends' names on some simple tags that we made from card stock, and I gathered my paper punch, the suckers, and ribbon.

Remember the pencil I had each kid hold for their pictures? I punched the pencil away with the paper punch {one punch above their fists and one below} and slid the sucker right through.

Ta-Da! It looks like Greta is handing you a sucker!

When the kids were done with writing on their tags, I punched a single hole through each tag and tied them to the suckers with ribbon.

After a finishing touch of some raffia ribbon around each sucker, the Valentines were complete.



The kids had a blast making their cards and can't wait to hand them out on Valentine's Day. And if you're not so keen on loading your kids' friends up with extra sugar, pencils would be perfect for the cards, too. All in all, we were a bunch of happy crafters!

A Corny Project? I Don't Think So.

The gurus at Pottery Barn did it again. They sent their Fall Catalog to my home, sucking me right into their perfectly decorated world. I've thumbed through the pages of each and every one of my Pottery Barn catalogs more times than I can count, admiring furniture, room arrangements, paint colors and accessories every time. One particular page that struck me was one that featured a table set for a Thanksgiving feast {or maybe just Tuesday night's dinner} and showcased a beautiful centerpiece with Indian corn and a candle aglow.



Image Via

 I knew this had to sit on our dining room table. It's on, Pottery Barn.

I wasted no time picking up some Indian Corn at a little Farmer's Market {about a dozen ears} and gathered some raffia ribbon and brown ribbon, a large glass candleholder that sits on our patio table all summer, rubber bands, and tape.

With my supplies at hand and my Pottery Barn catalog nearby for a cheat sheet, I placed a rubber band around the candleholder and started adding in ears of corn.

When the entire candleholder had been surrounded with corn, I placed a second rubber band around it for added security.

Next I cut a piece of brown ribbon to fit around the rubber bands and taped it in place. I tied a few pieces of the raffia ribbon over the brown one and called it complete.



Pretty easy! Who's bringing the turkey?

Pretty Fancy Pumpkins

Saw some fabulous ideas the other day. They were a couple of Better Homes and Gardens pumpkins gone glam crafty crafts that I fell in love with. You can find the instructions here and here.



See how fabulous?

I got myself to Michaels ASAP and picked up a few fake pumpkins, spray paint {both black and silver sparkly glitter spray}, sequins, and a fancy {yet spooky} black crow.

I took my pumpkins and my spray paint and last week's newspaper and headed outside to transform some pumpkins. My neighbors have seen me outside with spray paint so often that they probably think we own stock in Krylon.

Here are the pumpkins before, plain and nice, nothing fancy.

And here they are after their makeover.

The crow is my favorite part! A sparkly harbinger of Halloween.

Snazzy! The orange pumpkins each got a couple coats of black spray paint, and all of them received a coat of silver glitter spray. I individually adhered each rhinestone with my hot glue gun; next time I do the project, I'll definitely use some self adhesive jewels, like these.

Pretty fancy pumpkins! I love how fall just keeps creeping into my home.