My Simple Valentine's Day Decor

I finished putting up my Valentine's decorations this week-I used a lot of simple whites and tans with just a hint of pinks and purples and my favorite aquas and yellows too. I admit I never used to decorate for Valentine's Day, rebelling against the whole marketing scheme to get us all to overspend, but it has become special to our whole family ever since we adopted our middle son almost two years ago on Feb. 14th! So, from now on it is "happy gotcha day" here at our house and I plan on overdoing it for my sweeties with chocolate and treats and sweets (oh, my!)  

I made the XOXO pennant as a photo prop for a wedding my husband photographed this summer thought it would be nice for love day too, so I draped it over my chicken wire frame. I painted the backing of an old frame with chalkboard paint and wrote the "be mine" message to hang next to my pennant. 

I still love these felt and lace heart dangles hanging in my windows. I made last year using starch and Mod Podge-it was an experiment that turned out nicely.

The paper hearts that hang on my key hooks were made from watercolor art my kids made, and then I cut out the shapes and used a hole punch to hang them. The chalkboard "LOVE" message was made by painting the backs of the frames with chalkboard paint, so I can change out the messages whenever I want to=the interchangeable chalkboard frame. 

The subtle "LOVE" garland that hangs on my fireplace was made from cut out circles from the translucent plastic from milk jugs. I then drew my design with a permanent white marker.

Looking forward to our big love day celebration and wishing you a happy Valentine's Day too! Next, I'll be sharing some reveal pictures of my kitchen and bathroom projects. Hope you stop by again to see what I'm up to and check out the rest of my tutorials! 

I link up with these parties. 

Paper Hearts and Burlap Valentine's Wreath

 

Love day is right around the corner...time to pack away Christmas decorations and put up some pretty hearts. You might have seen this same wreath last month when I posted about my  Christmas Burlap and Pom Pom Wreath: I had cut long strips of a burlap coffee bag and followed this tutorial:

I liked the ruffled burlap base of this wreath so much I wanted to keep it up all year, removing and adding embellishments with the different seasons and holidays. So, in the spirit of repurposing, that's just what I did.

Here's how I transformed this Christmas Wreath into a Valentine's Wreath:

First, I removed the yarn and pom poms, and stored them away for another crafty day.

Then, I cut out simple white paper hearts out of watercolor paper, folding down the middle.

I used a hole punch to make a hole at the top of each heart.
Then, I wrapped craft wire through the hole and around the base of the wreath.This will make it easier to remove the hearts when I'm ready to decorate for spring.

My V day wreath was done-simple and pretty white, five hearts for the five people in our family.

The rest of my Valentines decorating is a lot like this wreath-simple, natural, lots of whites and tans. I will be posting a few pictures soon along with more kitchen progress...

 I hope you'll come by again to take a peek!

Linking up with these parties.

Watercolor Hearts {From Kid's Art}

Good afternoon, lovely readers! 

I have another Valentine's Day craft to show you!  This one is fun because it involved letting my kids go a little crazy with watercolor paint--yes, I got brave and let them at ages almost 2 and 3. Good thing floors, walls, and purple-painted beards are washable. (sigh)

In the end, I loved how freely they used the colors and had fun creating these 

pretty works of art!

So, wondering what I did with these paintings after they were dry? 

First, I brought out my heart-shaped cookie cutters and traced hearts on 

them with my white opaque marker.  

Then, I cut them out, leaving the white edge around the border. 

Finally, I took some mini cloths pins and connected them to my...chicken wire frame!

Have you seen these all over the web? I loved them so much that I made one myself the same night I discovered them. (It was really easy to just cut my chicken wire to fit the frame then staple gun it to the inside of the frame that I had painted and distressed--of course! )

I love how I can easily switch out my decorations throughout the year with so many possibilities. So, this is my first display using my chicken wire frame! What do you think?
I love being able to show off what my kids make as well as what I make! And I think I'm loving this chicken wire craze too.

Thanks for visiting today and please make sure to stop by tomorrow--there will be a HUGE and EXCITING giveaway starting!

Linking up with these parties and this party.

5 DIY Whimsy Heart Dangles

Hi again everyone! Are you getting in the Valentine's Day spirit? I love that there is an excuse during the long winter to decorate again and celebrate love. I have a confession: I used to think of it as a "Hallmark Holiday" with too much pink everywhere, and I didn't really get into it.

But on a personal note, it is a special time for our family, because Feb.14th was the day last year that we adopted our youngest son! A significant reason to celebrate and remember our own "Love Day" every year from now on!

Ok, now onto the craft I want to show you:

You might remember seeing my "Whimsy Heartfelt Ornaments" from Christmastime.
 I had a lot of fun coming up with these and I decided to repost because they are so pretty to
display in my windows and on doorknobs for this season, too.

And, I made a few new ones in cream with vintage lace and different rolled felt designs, with yellow ribbon, for a twist on the traditional reds, pinks, and purples you usually see this time of year.

 So, are you curious? Want to see how I made them? Click Here

5 Free Facebook Timeline Headers!

Hi everyone! Who has the new Facebook timeline? Have you thought about how fun it would be to add a unique header to it?  I'm  excited to start offering you free Facebook timeline headers!
Here are a few I came up with in honor of Valentine's Day coming up! (but they might be fun to keep afterwards, too! )
TO VIEW MORE DESIGNS CLICK HERE

Make Your Own Scratch-Off Valentine's Day Cards!

Hi everyone! Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and today I wanted to 

share with you a really cute homemade card idea I saw in my new issue of 

Better Homes and Gardens. It's the little things that amaze me and I was 

fascinated to find out you can make your own scratch-off paint with acrylic 

paint and dish soap! 

Now I haven't tried it yet, but finding this out raises the 

bar for creative card and thrifty gift ideas.  I can't wait to try making the paint 

myself along with some fun cards for all occasions.

Here are the instructions with a link to BHG and free templates:

Make this fun Valentine's Day card with our template and type in your date-night choices. To finish the card, follow the easy steps below.

1. Print the card onto cardstock and trim. Print the heart template and cut out, then cut a strip of clear Con-Tact paper long enough to make four hearts. Trace around the heart template on the paper side of the Con-Tact paper.

2. To make the scratch-off solution, mix 2 parts metallic acrylic paint with 1 part dishwashing liquid. Using a small, flat paintbrush, apply a thin coat of the scratch-off solution onto the front side of the Con-Tact paper and let dry for an hour. Repeat with a second coat, and add a third coat if your paint looks streaky.

3. Cut out the hearts (following the traced outline), peel off the backing, and place over the heart spaces on the card. Package the card with a new penny.

Get the card template.  >>

Hope you enjoyed this and thanks for visiting ReMadeSimple! 

Source: bhg.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Milk Jug Vellum

So, my last post showed you how I repurposed milk jug plastic into pretty garland.

 And I promised, the milk jug fun wasn't over-it has only just begun!

Here's another use for all that translucent plastic-introducing "milk jug vellum". 

That's right. Vellum-the pretty see-through paper you see on wedding

 invitations and cards that you can now make yourself. 

And feel good about being a little more "green".

Check out this short video to see how I did it! 

So, if you watched my video, you'll have an idea of what to do:

Here are the materials I used:

card stock or index cards

blank paper card

scissors

small paper cutter

yarn

rectangles of milk jug plastic

Dremel or hole punch

opaque marker

yarn needle

glue gun

First, I cut out rectangles out of my washed and dried milk jug.

(I wasn't worried about them being perfect at this point because I knew

my paper cutter would do the trick with smoothly cutting the edges).

Here I am cutting the straight lines to form a plastic rectangle.

Then, I cut a heart out of a pink index card.

In the video above, you will see the that I used my 

Dremel to drill small holes along the edge of the plastic.
(but you could also use a sharp hole punch). 

Then, I threaded my yarn needle and wove the yarn

through each hole to create a pretty border.

After glueing my heart to the center of the card, 

I hot glued my vellum with a dot on the back of each corner and
placed over the top. I finished my card by writing my message in 

opaque marker. "Be Mine".Pretty sweet! 

So, what do you think? Inspired or at least amused? 

I know vellum isn't expensive to buy at the store, but why not "reduce, reuse, and recycle" whenever you can? And make something beautiful.

(That's what I'm all about here at ReMadeSimple)

 Thanks for visiting and come back again soon. I have many more ideas to share! 

Linking up with these and this party.