Valentine's Day Decorating 2013

I had a couple of extra moments in between projects so I thought I would go ahead and decorate the house a little for Valentine's day. I mean, it had been back to normal now for a good three weeks! ;-) I ended up putting together a couple of projects this year to fill some space. I like the way that they turned out!

Now, I will be honest, sometimes I don't feel like decorating for every holiday or season. But I will tell you, when my kids and other family members mention how they love how it makes them feel to be in my house with the changing seasons/holidays, I kind of want to keep the tradition going!

 I had seen this idea on Pinterest, to add some decorative paper cut out hearts to skewers (which I just happened to have left over from another recent project,) and put them in a simple jar or vase. I just fiddled with hand drawing a heart in various sizes and cut them out then hot glued them on to the sticks. Simple as that.

This Valentine's day holiday is, shall we say... doesn't seem so lovely to me. I have been in a little bit of a funk. Life is stressful. Lots of bills to pay and not enough money to pay them. Isn't that the case with a lot of us?? But something inside of me doesn't want to disappoint.

So, off I went to scavenge as much stuff as possible from my arsenal to decorate my usual spots: the mantel, the baker's rack, and the mirror above my cookbook shelves. Best thing is that I did it without spending a dime. Just went "shopping" in my house and pulled stuff together.

I found another project to display that I had made a couple of years ago with my kids. All you do is cut a bunch of hearts out of red printed fabric and stuff them with polyfill and I taught my 3 youngest kids to whip stitch the edges closed. A great sewing skills project for them and a great way to use up scraps! Here is the original post from 2011. 

I also cut a heart shape out of red vinyl and added it to my decorative bowl that I display often. It just gave it a little color that I was looking for on my shelf. Next to the bowl is a couple of projects that I made last year that I just happened to find in my box of goodies. You can see my original post on them here.

I am really happy with the way it turned out and am especially happy about the cost. Hooray! I may be in love with the holiday once again. Maybe...

Valentine's Day Candy Kebobs

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought I would give it a shot. Super cute, I think. I was also thinking I could cheaply whip up a bunch for Valentine's exchange gifts for my kiddos. I was wrong, unfortunately.

Making 36 of them for my child's class would have been too pricey. The kind of candy you need is heavy, so even buying in bulk at WinCo was an investment. So... I am settling with making 8 for my MOPS ladies.

I can give you a tip for when you decide to make some. Keep a damp towel nearby to wipe your fingers. This gets REALLY sticky (understatement.)

Another tip is to make sure to get the shorter skewers, otherwise you will have too much overhang. I found the shorter ones at Party City, of all places, along with the pretzel rod bags (in the baking supply section.)

The ribbon I chose was 80% off at Hobby Lobby. It was left over from all the Christmas stuff. LOVE those kinds of bargains. I got a couple other rolls of red ribbon to keep in my ever growing stash. I mean, for 60 cents each?! Can't beat that!

I may end up making some cute tags to go along with these. Not sure yet. My group meets next week...
I guess it all depends on if the magical extra-free-time fairy stops by my house. ;-)

Flameless Candle Snowman Pins

I wanted to give my MOPS table another little treat and I had seen a cute project made out of a flameless votive candle. I found a package of 3 for $1 at Dollar Tree. Super cheap! I found the trinity poem on the internet and the idea on Pinterest. I put 9 of them together in about 2 hours from start to finish. Just used an orange Sharpie marker to color in the "carrot" nose and a black one for the eyes and "coal" mouth. I hot glued on a pin back in case they wanted to wear them ever (probably not, but it sure made it easier to attach them to the poem cardstock!) So, if nothing else, the pin made my job as assembler much easier.

I think if I had more time to plan this one, I would have purchased some cute polar fleece material for the scarf but since I didn't... I just used up some snowman fabric that I had on hand.
In any case, it added a little cuteness to my MOPS lady friend's days. Or at least I think they did.
Here is the poem, in case you would like to use the idea for a project of your own.

Snowman Trinity Poem
by anonymous

When you see a snowman, three snowballs round, it reminds you that with God, three in one can be found. The bottom reminds us of God, the Father, our strong Rock and Foundation, Creator of all living things. The middle shows us God, the Son, with arms spread open wide, who died on the cross for our salvation. The head reminds us of God, the Holy Spirit, who is our Counselor and Friend. He speaks to our hearts and minds, transforming us into the likeness of Him. So when you are in the midst of your wintertime fun and a snowman you do see, remember the blessings given you through the Holy Trinity.