Posts Tagged ‘Valentines’

Crafty: Handmade Valentines

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My friend hosts a yearly Valentine’s exchange that’s amazing. I did leather bobby pins last year, so I had to do something at least as cool this year. And in true Melissa fashion, I wait until the night before to construct all 12 of them.

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Since I did everything at the last minute, I didn’t have enough supplies to do the same thing 12 times, so I had to get creative. I had originally planned on painting 12 paintings, but that obviously didn’t happen, so I opted for earrings. Then I realized I didn’t have enough earring posts to make 12 pairs of earrings. Thankfully I had enough rings and pins to make up for my lack of planning.

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Here’s what I did, I busted out my letterpress machine (for the second time), used two plates I had on hand and the paper I had on hand. It worked out perfectly. I had tiny envelopes and fold over cards that I ended up cutting in half. I printed the little details in no time (clean up was another story, but lessons learned). I hand-lettered Be Mine on the envelopes; again for lack of any other clever phrase.

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I had a lot of this grey stretchy elastic, so I made 12 elastic hair ties. These things are cute and effortless to make (tutorials: 1, 2, 3 or purchase: 1, 2, 3, 4)

I also have a TON of pretty grey patent leather (like 1/3 of a cow’s worth), so I made a few accessories with it. Above, I made a little bow tie or pin.

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I made a set of “jewel” earrings.

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And I made a couple of rings.

They were really easy. I just cut out jagged shapes , then connected the corners with black sharpie marker. Ghetto, maybe. Adorable, definitely. I made sure I had extras so I could keep them for myself. Felix will look dapper with his bow tie on Sunday.

In other news, a couple of days ago, my sister texted me asking what my Valentine’s plans were. Then she offered to come to my house and watch my kids so Chris and I could go out and have a special night. Of course I promptly texted Chris: “Emily is watching the kids for Valentine’s day. You better plan a hot date, expectations will be high.” So they’re really not that high, but I sure hope he gets me a flower or two and makes me a Valentine. I love his Valentines: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Valentine’s Treats from Penelope

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Penelope is getting more and more excited and interactive with holidays these days. I can honestly say that she’s had far more enthusiasm over Valentine’s Day than she did over Christmas. It’s so cute. Last night we put together the little Valentine’s treats for Penelope’s preschool class. We had a lot of fun doing it.

I was trying to think of something clever to go along with the orange taffy, but I couldn’t think of anything I liked. Oh well. It’s not like any of her classmates can read anyway. Instead of doing something whitty to coordinate with the candy, I mimicked the polka dot of the taffy on the little card (very much inspired by Joke‘s polka dot cups). Penelope loves playing with stamps, so I thought it’d be a great way for us to work on these together. The above is the prototype of what I had envisioned for her little treat.

I also thought about printing out something for the “be mine” part, but with only 12 kids in her class, I think it was almost faster to write it out. So I did. The ink was supposed to be orange, but it turned out more like burnt sienna. A real disappointment, because that color does NOT read valentine’s at all. It’s not one of those battles I wanted to fight.

Above are Penelope’s versions of her little treat. She started doing really well with stamping the dots, but she got sick of re-inking with each stamp that she just started stamping the card with the ink pad. Pretty adorable.

I also had her hand-write out her name on each of the cards. It was a fun practice for her. She’s getting pretty good at writing out her name, and this exercise was good for her concentration. The girl goes a million miles a minute all day, so sitting down and writing out her name 12 times was a change of pace.

Happy Valentine’s day to you all!! What are your plans for tonight? I might surprise Chris with a home-cooked meal. It’ll be sure to be a surprise as I haven’t cooked much in the last few weeks.

P.S. Can you tell that I took the first photo with my DSLR and the second with my iphone? I had to quickly snap a shot of Penelope’s treats before she went off to preschool and my camera battery was dead.

Galentines Presents

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Last Saturday I went to a sweet Galentine’s party with a bunch of girlfriends, put on by my new friend Stephanie. She knows how to throw an amazing party. The highlights from the party were: chatting with old friends, making new friends, being without the kiddos, exchanging and receiving fun Valentine’s gifts, and devilishly good chocolate cookies.

I spent all Saturday morning working on my exchange. I sort of knew what I was going to do, but I did wing it a bit. I quickly sewed 12 bags from my stash of vintage fabric, made leather-covered hair pins and stuffed the bag. I put candies, hairpins and a “love you” sticker in each bag.

I couldn’t think of anything clever to put on my bag, so I hand-wrote “Be mine” on little slips of paper and used a safety pin to attach the tag and close the bag. I felt like it was nothing too terribly clever, but I did have a great time putting them all together. Are you passing out little Valentines this year? I’d love to see what you’ve done.

Penelope and I will be working on her class Valentines together tonight. I love that she’s getting old enough to enjoy and work on projects with me.

Redesigned: Stinky Guts Printable

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We’ve not gotten in the mood for Valentine’s yet. Is anyone else in the same boat? I’ve got to get going on some Valentine treats, but I’m still at a loss for something clever to do. I’m sure I’ll pull something out at the last minute, in typical Melissa fashion.

Last year around this time I made a little love note for Chris’s bathroom, but I’ve never been that happy with the lettering. It’s fine, but every time I sit at the toilet I think of all of the little mistakes I made.  This morning I buckled down and redid the thing. I may as well with Valentine’s day around the corner. So here it is.

I’ve digitized it, played around with some colors and I’m offering it as a free printable. I do hope you enjoy and surprise your loved one with this funny quote above the toilet. Click the button below to download.

• Terms of Use •

This freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed without my consent. I love getting shout outs from around the web, so please link with love. Do not copy this text, publish more than 1-2 photos or outright steal this idea for commercial publications. If you would like to use this freebie for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

Heart Stamp Pillow

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Again, I’m getting great use out of my gigantic heart stamp! The mess up was perfect timing, if you ask me. What would I have done for Valentine’s day decorations & gifts had I not had this stamp?

Penelope loves sleeping & cuddling with her pillows, so I thought I’d make her a little heart pillow for her collection! Happy Valentine’s my dove! Thankfully she doesn’t read this blog so I can share this with you before I give it to her. I’m pretty pleased with how the pillow turned out, although the printing of the heart turned out a little messier than I had hoped. I ended up having to paint in where the ink was too light, but I still like the effect of it all.

To allow for easy cleaning of her new pillow, I made a muslin pillow form and then I made the cover. I added a visible zipper to the cover for easy removal & just because I thought it’d look cool. Do you see the velvet scalloped ribbon? OH MY GOODNESS. When I taught calligraphy to the lovely folks at American Crafts a few months ago, they gave me that ribbon (along with some other goodies). I LOVE this ribbon. Even though their ribbon is packaged & sold at craft/scrapbooking stores, it makes for wonderful embellishments with sewing projects. And really, I’m just sharing this with you because I love their ribbon. Not because they asked me to. Again, did I mention how much I love their ribbon?!?

Are you making anything fun for Valentine’s? ALSO, do you have multiple kiddies? I’m trying to think of something special to do/give to Penelope when Felix comes as a “big sister” prize. Any ideas?

For today’s pre-labor non-maternity outfit, click here.

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