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! 

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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!

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Hello Yellow: Pie Safe Revamp

Ok, here's the big furniture project I've been working on for the past week:

Changing my pie safe from reddish-orange (the color it was when I bought

it from the antique market about 5 years ago) in the picture below...

To a vibrant yellow! Enjoy a short video of the reveal below!

Here I am doing some finishing touches with my new Dremel (in my 

classy safety goggles) lightly sanding the edges and using

the brush attachment to remove paint that had gotten onto the metal latch.

I used Martha Stewart paint in Yellow Magnolia and I love how this

not- too- bright yellow pops out cheerfully against my pale gray walls.

(It's important to let you know I used two coats of primer before
adding the yellow to let the true color stand out and last longer).

Yes, I am in love with yellow and gray.

Previously I had put metal screen inside the doors for decoration and

to keep little hands out, but I thought switching it to

 chicken wire would be a nice change. 

I cut it with wire cutters and attached it with 

a staple gun. Pretty simple. 

And a decorative way to kid-proof your home.

I will be working on changing my side tables in my living room soon, because as much as

I love color, it is even becoming a little to rainbow-like for me. 

They will still have color, but more complimentary to my new love for yellow. 

Next, I'm excited to be showing you what I've done to create a gallery wall display

in my dining room. Transforming traditional into modern and eclectic.

Stay tuned...



Linking up with these parties.