February 2011 – Page 2

Time Saver Templates

So today like most people, we settled in around the tv with way too many bad snacks and the volume way up. It was my first ever Superbowl. Needless to say I don’t feel like I missed anything all those years. I really was only watching for the commercials. So in my mind it was the Doritos that won : )

Anyways because of this there was not much time for creative crafting. But have no fear! I have something for you anyways. It wouldn’t be 14 Days of Valentines if I missed a day! So tonight after all the celebrating (thank goodness the team we were cheering for won) I hit print and now I have something to share with you!

Again over at Martha I found some super cute and again easy templates for you. The first is a folding heart card. It was originally a “save the date” But I think the idea is too cute to only use once a lifetime. So why not use it as a card. Ignore how plain mine is, like I said not much time left over today. But you can spice yours up a million different ways. I will definitely be making another when I’m not pressed for time.

The second is a Valentine Message Wheel. Really anyone can do this. Do you have a printer, a brad and scissors? Good then your set. Just print the linked template and cut along the edge of the circles and the dotted line. Then overlap them and fill in the blanks ( I choose to fill in my own but they also include some pictures to use instead.) Push a brad through the center and voila your done. That simple, and what a cute little token of love to share with your someone special!

So Happy Superbowl Sunday to everyone! Keep watching us this week we have lots more very cute stuff for the 14 Days of Valentines! And with that I have to go work on some of the upcoming projects!

Your Special V-day Recipes.

Tonight I am sharing some of my favorite sweet treats to make for your big Valentines celebration. I am not a fan of the going out and having dinner at a crowded restaurant, with every other couple in the world on V-day. So instead we celebrate ours at home with a special meal in. Here are so really cute idea’s you can use to make your night in better than any out.

Lets start with Breakfast. My go to celebration breakfast is my danish crepes or aebleskiver (danish pancake balls) But on Feb 14 you have to go all out! Why not surprise you sweetie with Breakfast in bed. With a simple but cute heart recipe. Martha Stewart perfected this one. Take a thick piece of toast and cut the center out with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Melt a tablespoon and a half of butter in a small skillet. Cook the Bread on Medium until the underside is lightly browned. Add another tablespoon and a half and flip the bread to brown the other side. Then spray your metal cookie cutter with cooking spray and place inside the hole, and crack the egg inside the cookie cutter. Cover the skillet and cook about 2-3 minutes. Use tongs to remove the cookie cutter. Serve with the heart cutout to dip in the egg. Some OJ, fruit and this makes the perfect lazy Valentines Day morning.

So you’ve had your yummy breakfast and you finally drag yourself out of bed. You realize its still February! Its cold outside. So you want to make you and your sweetie a cute and warm pick me up! Martha also claims this one. Can you tell I am constantly on her site finding great recipes!) Grab your favorite hot chocolate mix, and giant marshmallows. This one is even easier! Grab a mini heart cookie cutter. (I found a set of mini to large ones at the dollar store the other day) and push it through the center of each marshmallow. MMM and Enjoy!

As you can guess we’re trying to keep these recipes as low key as possible. Because its all about spending time together, not about spending time with your kitchen. So for dinner were gonna do most of the work for you. Grab your favorite pasta sauce and swing over to your nearest cost plus/world market and pick up these awesome pre-made heart shaped pasta’s. Make as directed and add your preferred sauce, maybe some chicken or beef to spice it up. And Tada dinner for 2! (or as many as you want to feed)

And for dessert! So of course Im going to be eating a million cupcakes, but for those of you who dont live next door to me who I will be sharing with, you can make this sweet treat! This one came from my second favorite recipe site. Kraft sends me a new bunch to my inbox every week. And each new one I try I love more than the previous! Anyways the key to my hubby’s heart is with chocolate pudding! If I add peanut butter he thinks he’s died and gone to heaven! So make some instant chocolate pudding as directed. Divide into 4 microwaveable dishes and top with a spoon full of peanut butter. Microwave for 30 second or until peanut butter starts to melt and pudding is heated through. Top with cool whip and dive in!

So enjoy your night in! Cuddle up, turn on a romantic movie or pull out those board games that have been collecting dust. Valentines Day is about celebrating your love for each other, so spend it together, not with the other million people waiting for a table at your favorite restaurant.

Make your Own Valentines

Edit: We had slight technical problems last night so this post is a day behind but I still had to share it or it wouldnt be 14 days of Valentines! And by technical I mean the craft itself wasnt working. But after 24 hours I got it!

February 3rd 2011 post

So maybe you don’t have a boy buying you something special for Valentines day, or you already know he’s not getting jewelry. Maybe your even looking for something to make for a friend. Well here is the simple craft for you! I keep seeing these pop up everywhere online. The ones to buy are usually 20$ plus shipping. But some smart girls out there outsmarted the retail world. And because I don’t like to share a craft without also trying it, I searched my closet for a shirt that was lets say a few chip bags back 🙂

Your going to need a jersey feeling shirt or you can buy the fabric too. But I like to try to keep the craft spending down or else you could really go nuts. And here’s how easy this one was. Cut the shirt into 1 inch strips. Stretch until each ring is formed into tubes.(This was where I ran into trouble, I stretched mine overnight but the strips didn’t stay in the tube look, So I cut the seams off mine, tied them in a knot and re-stretched them by hand.) Then use another strip to gather them all together. I tied mine off with a knot, but you can sew or glue yours together as well. I’ve also seen them with jewels added and other embellishments. I added a white flower to mine to keep it in Valentines themed colors. I didn’t love the way mine turned out but I feel like giving it another shot with better material next time. But the idea is yours now so see what you can come up with!

Today (February 4th 2011) Post

Today’s craft is A paper topiary. Easy but time consuming. But once its done you forget that and think “I just have to make another of these cute things!” All you will need is 3-4 different pattern papers, scissors, ribbon, paint, miniature pots, and pvc pipe.

You need to cut out 20 circles and make a pattern for a triangle to fit inside. See picture (Mine wasnt perfect but it was close enough and worked great) Next your going to want to fold each flap up.

Glue 5 circles together to form top, repeat for bottom. Glue all left overs side by side. Now take your three parts and glue them all together. I left one of my bottom flaps unglued and pushed the pipe up through that. Wrap the pipe in ribbon. Paint the pot. Use something to keep your topiary upright, foam, rocks, or your other imaginative solids. And Voila! You have a paper topiary. You can make them is so many colors that you can make a new one for each season/holiday!

Ignore my unfinished project. I have all the materials but I have been chasing kids around all week. I will post it finished but you get the how to of the part I was showing off. So hope you guys enjoy your weekend! I am going to be going crazy making crafts the whole time. Just for you!

Love of Framed Love

Today’s Valentines are 3 frames of Love. I just adore the way they turned out. I ran to the dollar store yesterday and within an hour I had 3 pieces of Valentines art displayed. And best part the whole project including the three frames cost me only 4$ That’s right, so how can you say no? Your just gonna have to run out and make your own!

To start I rounded up all my scrap paper in my color theme, everything pink and silver. I started my first frame with a solid background and started cutting out hearts in as many patterns as I could find. Make sure they are all the same size, I used my cricut and George and basic shapes cartridge. I put the solid cardstock underneath the glass and I popped the hearts up with pop ups on the outside of the glass. I like the idea of 3-d elements in frames.

The second frame is easy as well. I choose a subtle pattern for the background. Used some left over strips to make my tic tac toe grid. Cut out some X’s and O’s and made the game into a hugs and kisses display. Again I wanted to do the 3-d effect so the pattern and grid is underneath the frame and the X’s & O’s are popped up on the outside.

The last frame is my favorite and the easiest. It is also the inspiration for the whole set. I was in Target’s scrapbooking isle and they always have a section of 99 cent items. The word love is part of that, how can you turn down such a cute item at 99 cents! So I found another cute subtle pattern paper. (music sheets are always my favorite) I put the pattern behind the glass like always and positioned the letters on the outside again. These ones even had pop dots on them. The great part of this one is they always have different four letter words through out the year. So you can make this frame for any season. I even saw the word baby, you could make one for a new baby room or even as a gift at a baby shower!

I just love the way they all turned out. And how fast and cheap they were to make. There is endless possibilities with these as you can fill them with anything in your imagination!

Kick Off to 14 Days of Valentines!

So if you’ve been following me lately, Ive been tempting you with the promise of 14 fun days of crafts, projects, recipes and cute Valentines! Well welcome to the kick off!

Today we are starting it nice and easy. This idea came from Martha the queen of crafts, but I put my own little twist on it. Its so easy anyone can do this! Seriously!

Start by drawing your own heart on your choice of paper, I liked mine to be longer because it fits better. Next trace your first heart on to a second paper of your choice but make it slightly bigger. Remember it doesn’t have to be perfect. Now you glue ONLY the top part together. Making sure the bottom doesn’t stick. Next you can embellish any way you want. I wanted to keep mine simple, so I only used a ribbon with a couple staples. And voila! Your own handmade hearts bookmark!

And because its the first day why not do another tutorial!

Our second one today is a candy holder. Again its going to be super easy to do. And looks very cute it you make a bunch of them in different sizes for different candy and hang them. I was impressed by how fast and easy it went together. Start with one piece of pattern paper I used a 12×12, I also suggest using two sided pattern paper, mine was a tad bland on the inside.

1. Take your paper and fold it in half diagonally and again on the opposite side.

2. Now fold it in half horizontally and again on the opposite side. And to make the next step easier, now fold one of your diagonal folds back the other way.

3. Now bring those last diagonal folds together to make a small square as shown in photo 3

4. Cut a heart into your square with the open side up. (or else there will be nothing to hold your candy!) Now take the two inside sheets and cross them together, glue all the sides flat.

Now all thats left is to add a ribbon in the middle to hang it, and of course fill it with Candy! I cant wait to make more in fun and bright Valentines colors!

And because its February 1st I have to give my little sister a shout out. Happy Birthday Kimmy! Lots of happy wishes for your 22nd year, and of course I wish I could be there to celebrate with you!