Valentine Lollipop Bouquet!

Isn't it the cutest?! Forget roses that die. I want my flowers made out of sugary sweetness!


Want to make your own bouquet for your Valentine? Here's what you need:

Lollipops (you can get boxes of Tootsie Pops or Blow Pops at Wal-Mart in the Valentine section)

Floral foam (mine came in a pack of 4 from Dollar Tree. These were the perfect size)

Cupcake liners (mine came from Hobby Lobby)

Flower Pot (from the garden section at Wal-Mart)

Paper shreds (Dollar Tree)

Green Duck Tape (Hobby Lobby)

Wire (I used 24 gage beading wire from Wal-Mart)

Hole punch

You need 1 lollipop and 6 cupcake liners per flower. First, take your cupcake liners and fold them all in half.

On two cupcake liners, you're going to use your hole punch and punch a hole on the fold.

On the remaining 4 liners, punch a hole slightly above the fold (approx. 1/4 inch):

Keeping these 4 cupcake liners folded in half, insert the lollipop stick into the hole. Offset each liner from the one before to create a circle around the candy portion of the lollipop.

Open the 2 remaining cupcake liners and insert them onto the lollipop stick. I like to put the wrong (non-printed) sides together. If you do this then you see the pretty printed side on the top and the bottom.

Now, we're ready for the leaves. Take a length of the duct tape (approx. 6-8") and lay it sticky side up on the table. Place a length of wire on top of the duct tape.

With another piece of tape, place the sticky sides together, sandwiching the wire between the two pieces of tape. Using scissors, cut the tape into an hourglass shape with pointed ends.

Once the leaf is cut out, you can wrap it around the lollipop stick and give it a twist to hold it tight.

Once I had a pile of 5 flowers, I was ready to move on to the flower pot.

I took some of my craft paint and painted the rim of my flowerpot. In hindsight, I should have painted the whole pot. Once I put the flowers in, you couldn't really see the rim.
Once the paint dried, I used a black Sharpie to write "Be Mine" and draw some hearts.

My floral foam bricks were pretty small, so I stuck some crumpled newspaper in the bottom of my pot first to take up some space.

Then I put in my floral foam. My brick was exactly the right size, except that it was square instead of round. No worries - the edges got shaved off as I shoved the brick in. I just brushed off the floral foam dust and was ready to continue!

To cover the ugly green floral foam I used a handful of paper shreds. I put a couple of spots of hot glue on the foam first to hold the paper shreds in place. Next came the flowers. The first one I put smack in the center. The next two went to the left and the right; the final two went in front and back.

I love the way it turned out! I'm going to have to make a couple more. Wouldn't this be a cute teacher gift?!

Valentine "XO" Letters

I'm sorely lacking in Valentine's Day decorations. After making my initial letter magnets, I thought it would be fun to make large "XOXO" letters to place on my mantle. So, off to Hobby Lobby I went.

I was initially going to buy some large chipboard letters, until I found these white letters in the "wall decor" section. They were already white, so no painting needed (bonus!) and were 50% off (double bonus!). Their regular price was $2.99

I wanted two "X" and two "O" letters. The problem was, they only had one letter "X". How is that possible? Who buys the letter "X"? (same with the chipboard letters, only one "X"). So, my "XOXO" became "XO". No extra hug and kiss for you!

Here's what you need:

letters
Modge Podge (the nectar of crafting Gods)
paintbrush
scrapbook paper
scissors
pencil

First, lay your letter on the back side of your paper, wrong side up.

Trace around the letter with your pencil.

Once you've traced your letters, cut them out with your scissors.

Put a layer of Modge Podge on the front side of your letter and then place the patterned paper on the top, smoothing out any bubbles as you go.

Once you've got the patterned paper stuck to the front of the letter, let it dry for a couple of minutes and then give the top a coat of Modge Podge.

Once the Modge Podge had dried, I took a piece of sandpaper and roughed up the edges a bit. I did this for two different reasons - it helped get rid of any paper that was hanging over the edge of the letter and it gives it a bit of character.

After I'd wiped off the dust from the sandpaper, I distressed the edges of the letter with some chalk from my scrapbook stash. You could easily do this with a bit of brown craft paint, too. (You could also have fun dressing up the letters with things like rhinestones and ribbon.)

Once that had dried, up on my mantle they went! The "O" kept wanting to roll off, so I got a bit of HandiTak to stick it on. (HandiTack is made by the same people who make Super Glue. It's a yellow putty that you can use to hang stuff up with and it removes easily leaving no residue behind. My favorite use for this stuff is to put it on the backside of pictures on the wall to keep them level)

Now, I've got a little bit of Valentine cuteness in my house!

Initial Magnets

When we bought this house, it came with white appliances. While they worked fine, they really don't do anything for my kitchen. So, we're slowly replacing them with stainless steel. When Black Friday rolled around this year, we discovered that Lowe's had a smoking deal on our "dream" fridge - a stainless steel beauty with french doors and a water and ice dispenser in door. *Swoon* (yes, I am that easily excited!). So, my dear, brave husband made his first foray in the world of Black Friday to purchase our new refrigerator. (I was busy braving the likes of Wal-Mart, Kohl's and Target!).

It's so pretty that I didn't want it to get junked up with the endless magnets advertising real estate agents, fast food joints and fix-it guys that seem to multiply like rabbits and whose sole purpose is holding the glorious artwork the girls make on the front of the fridge. My solution? New fridge, new rule: only cute magnets can be placed on the front of my fridge.


Problem is, this new rule required me to actually make the cute magnets! I limited it to two per girl and made them in their initials, so there will be no squabbling over who has more magnets. I'm hoping the limit of two will keep the front of the fridge cute and organized. That's the plan, anyway. I'll let you know how it goes.

I headed to Hobby Lobby and picked up super cute chipboard letters (at a whopping $0.99 each!) and some cute scrapbook paper that matches my decor. The spray paint came from Lowe's, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend this type. I was unimpressed with the quality. The self adhesive magnet sheets came from Wal-Mart. I also used my Modge Podge.

The first thing I did was spray paint the chipboard. You won't really see the front because the paper will cover it, but I wanted to make sure the sides looked nice.

Once the spray paint had dried, I took them inside and put them right side down on the back of my paper. I used a pencil to trace around the letter.

Then, I cut them out and used Modge Podge to stick them to the front of the letter. I also applied Modge Podge to the front to seal them.

I did the same thing with the magnet sheets. I traced the shape on the self-adhesive magnet sheet and cut it out. Then, I peeled off the paper backing and placed the magnet on the back of the letter.

Now, I have cute magnets to display fun artwork on the front of my fridge!

Need help with Christmas? Try Shutterfly!

I’m a scrapbooker. I love the craft and have even been published. I have a dedicated scrapbook space in my house. Yet, I find I rarely have the time to scrapbook anymore. I’ve got mounds and mounds of photos that were neglected and weren’t enjoyed. Until, that is, I discovered Shutterfly photo books! The quality is incredible and their background choices are plentiful enough to make any scrapbooker happy! The upside is that I can get my photos in a book that my family can enjoy immediately and scrapbook at my leisure, without guilt. Plus, what a fantastic gift idea!

I’ve recently fallen in love with the cards that Shutterfly offers, too. I just placed an order for these cards: Portrait Cards . I put my favorite picture of my two girls on the front and I’m going to use them as my thank you cards for all the wonderful Christmas gifts my family receives this year. How fun is that?

Every year I struggle with what to get my grandparents for Christmas. They have all they need and say they don’t want anything, but I feel horrible showing up empty handed on Christmas. I usually give them an updated photo of my girls for Christmas, but that gets old. This year, I’m making them a wall calendar. That way, they get the updated photos of the girls and can enjoy them year round. Want to make one for someone you love? Check them out here.





Next on my list are my family Christmas cards. Last year, the season got away from me and I didn’t send any cards out. This year, I want my cards to be fabulous to make up for it. Thanks to Shutterfly, I’m getting 50 cards to mail to family and friends. With so many designs to pick from, my dilemma is picking out the card I like best! See all the great designs here! Already got your Christmas cards in the mail? What about Mother's Day Cards? I’m loving this idea!




Hooray for Shutterfly for making gift giving easy!

Well, that was quite the hiatus!

OK, so it's been more than a year. In that time, we celebrated a couple of birthdays in my family (4 to be exact), went on a vacation and I went back to school. It got crazy for me for a bit, and I needed a break. The break was good while I was adjusting to my new schedule, but I'm ready to get back in the swing of things!

I've got a couple of tutorials that I promised you all that I haven't forgotten about. Plus, we had a couple of fantastic birthday parties this year and another great one in the works that I'm planning on sharing with you!

Giveaway time!

I know, I know. I haven't been here in awhile. I've been in a bit of a funk. I haven't been crafting much and haven't had much to say (hubby is stunned with that last one, I must say!). But, I'm back and have super fantastic news! I've teamed up with The Creative Junkie for a giveaway! If you haven't visited her blog before, you're in for a treat! You'll love her blog, I promise! Best of all, you can ENTER for a chance to win $25 worth of goodies from the Etsy store of yours truly!

Pumpkin Pillows!

Last year at one of my favorite home decor boutiques I bought the most adorable pumpkin pillow. I loved it! This year, I wanted more than the one, but the $25 price tag (for the small one) stopped me short! Mine turned out just as cute, and I did the whole bunch for about $15.

What you need:

• Fabric for the body of the pumpkin - I used home decor fabric remnants that I got for super cheap at the fabric and craft store. I used a half yard cut for the largest pumpkin, the smallest was about a quarter yard.
• Fabric for the pumpkin stem - small scraps work great for this
• Fiber-fill
• Fabric scraps for bean bag - color doesn't matter
• Rice or beans - for the bean bag
• Coordinating fabric or ribbon for the bows around the stem

Here's what you do:

• Cut two squares out of your body fabric roughly the size you'll want your finished pillow to be. The sides don't have to be straight, so just make a rough square shape.
• To create the pleat, find the center of your square by folding it in half and marking it with a straight pin. Now, make an accordion fold on the left side, making sure the folded edge hits your center. Pin in place.

• Do the same on the right side. You'll end up with something that looks like this:
  

• Stitch over the pleat to hold it in place. Repeat the process on the second square of body fabric. Set aside.

• Out of a coordinating fabric, create your stem. I cut my stems approximately 3" wide by 4" long. With the right sides together, sew around three sides of the stem, leaving the bottom open.

• Turn the stem right side out and stuff with fiber-fill.
• Take one square of your body fabric and place it on your work area, right side up. Pin your stem to the body fabric and then place the second body piece and place it on top (right sides together). Pin in place.

• Leaving an opening at the bottom, sew the 3 pieces together. Stitch in a rough pumpkin (oval or circular shape). You'll have something that looks like this:

• Trim the excess fabric:
  

• Turn your pumpkin right side out. Stuff with fiber-fill and set aside.
  
• To help the pumpkins stand, you'll need to create a bean bag. Taking your fabric scraps, cut a rectangle or a square that is slightly smaller than the length of your finished pumpkin. Leaving an opening to fill it, sew around the edges.

• Fill with rice or beans and then sew the opening shut.
• Place bean bag inside the pumpkin and hand stitch the opening shut.
• For the bows around the stems I took a length of fabric about 3" wide and sewed down the long end. Once sewn, I turned it inside out and then sewed the two ends closed, making a long ribbon out of the fabric. Of course, a cute ribbon would work just as well!

Enjoy creating your very own pumpkin patch!