paint cut paste

this is yet another installment of things-i’ve-made-from-pinterest: the valentine edition. yes, maps are all over the place in the world of upcycled-crafts, trending much like tp rolls, paint chips, and pallets. with my sagittarian wanderlust and zig-zagging moves across the country and back, this project seemed like a fun way to say “happy valentine’s day” to my sweetie, who has stuck it out with me through all of the bubble wrap and mail forwarding involved.

i’ve seen it done with a “where met met, where we married, where we live or honeymooned” sort of theme (or some rendition of that, like this one from minimoz.) but i went with the four (so far) cities where we’ve lived together: new york city, boulder, richmond va, and the sf bay area. (in that order.)

i had an old atlas that i didn’t mind cutting up. i mean, we have google maps and GPSs for that these days, right? i cut out a folded heart on construction paper first. then i traced it over the maps where the cities where we lived were included within the heart. (that way the actual map wouldn’t have a fold, and the hearts would be identical in size and shape.)

then i used elmer’s glue dots to affix the heart maps to a piece of large card, gray cardstock from michaels.

i put it in an unused frame we’ve been storing in our garage, and presented it to my valentine along with a teeeeny giftwrapped compass from the world’s smallest postal service (have you seen this cuteness yet? check it out, if not. i met the artist, lea, at an art fair over the holidays, and she’s as lovely as her mini-art!) the note inside her prepackaged compass reads, “where would i be without you?”

cutesy, sure. but i’m finding it to be a fun walk down memory lane to look at our old roads and landmarks in this way. knowing us, this piece is likely to expand. we’ll probably need a larger frame at some point in the next few years. that is, if the past is the greatest predictor of the future. let’s hope not – i’m not a huge fan of cross country moves.

i decided to title the piece: “wait, they don’t love you like i love you.” because it’s pretty much the only lyric in the yeah yeah yeahs song that’s strangely titled maps.

just wanted to check in to wish all of you a happy valentine’s day!

yep, we made heARTful crayons again this year… per N’s request, we brought them back from this post two years ago. (last year N gave out homemade smoochie lipbalm to her friends - yum!)

this time around, when upcycling crayons, we incorporated a few valuable tips from my beloved blog readers and from our own trial and error.

here are a few ways to make your life easier when making molded upcycled crayons:

1. soak the crayons in water for about 10 minutes before attempting to peel the labels off. it’s CAKE compared to the last time we did it and i had rainbow wax under my fingernails for days! (my fingernails thank you, wendy!)
2. spray the mold with non-stick cooking spray (nut free, please!)
3. put the mold onto a cookie sheet that is lined with foil (to catch drips)
4. “bake” for 15 minutes at 250 degrees. (you may need to add on a couple more minutes to be sure they’re all melted.
5. note: stubs from your kid’s crayola twistables do not melt at this time and temperature like the regular ol’ crayola crayons do.
6. transfer crayons directly from the oven to the freezer
7. pop ‘em right outta the mold, package, and share the love!

hope it’s a lovely day! hug your loved ones close; reach out to loved ones far.

happy heART day!

with valentine’s day approaching, my daughter has been interested in creating sweet cards for family and friends. she is of the age where she wants some of the creations to remain a secret. (shhh, i’ve found a few strategically hidden in her basket of play silks – one for MOM – but i didn’t peek at it further!) i decided that since she’s taking the reigns on all things valentine, i’d create a DIY valentine supply collection to support her endeavors.

i repurposed a melissa & doug toy box (aren’t they great for drawer organization and tiny toy storage?) into a valentine creation station! (when i read to N what i wrote on the sign on the side of the box, she asked me skeptically, several times, if i made that rhyme up myself. there are these fleeting little moments when they’re so easy to please, huh? hee hee )

i stocked the box with blank cards and envelopes that were in various shades of red, pink, and purple. there are also small pieces of decorative papers, some pre-punched paper hearts (some leftover from our garland,) the paper heart craft punch (because she can do this herself at this age, too! yay!), fuzzy balls, stickers, sparkly gems, paper flowers, markers, colored pencils, crayons, glue sticks, scissors, and glue.

N was so excited when she saw the festive box on the coffee table, and she set to work right away on making the first valentine for, of course, HERSELF. you’ve gotta be your own valentine first, right? (that’s some healthy self-esteem right there! you go girl!)

then she moved on to creating a bunch of love notes for family members.

here’s a collection of her lovely custom valentines, ready to address and mail – right under our LOVE sign!

i hearted tinkerlab’s recent post about how she made a valentine buffet for her children, too! do you and your children create valentines in your home? how do you invite them into this process?

now that the birthday cards have been cleared from our mantel, we gave our hearth a fresh (and heartful) face for valentine’s day!

just a simple one, really. i created these LOVE letters like some i saw on this super-awesome crafty malaysian blog i found (via pinterest) called bloesem kids. it’s so easy… just twist together pipe cleaners and bend them into cursive letters in a word of your choice.

they looked pretty cute even like this, yet kinda crude where the pipe cleaners twist together. i’m not a huge fan of the cadmium red color of the pipe cleaners, so…

the next step is to yarn bomb them! i wrapped them with a lovely nubby alizarin crimson red yarn i’ve had for ages. (seriously, i knit my first scarf ever with the rest of this yarn in autumn 2002.)

then i strung the LOVE sign up on my trusty salvage yard window pane using white thread.

just adding a touch of red glass votive candles and some red berries from the tree outside gave it all the valentiney punch it needed.

i was tempted to bring in the paint chip heart garland and these candy jars…

but less is more, and 2012 is all about simplicity for me.

N is making “mini-mantels” in her bedroom for each season or holiday, as well. here’s her valentine one so far…

for more valentine mantel inspiration, check out my friend, beth’s, awesome valentine linky round-up on her blog. do you and your kids create a valentine mantel? if so, i’d love to hear about it!

we’ve yet to really begin valentine creation over here. generally, we wait for N’s birthday party to be over before we go on to prepare for valentine’s day. but there is one little heart craft i’ve indulged in, because, as my pinboard says, i’m a sucker for garland. and paint chips. and hearts. and easy things to sew.

i pinned this about 6 months ago, originally from ohcrafts.net. so i’ve been psyched to do it for a while, and tiz the season now. i grabbed my trusty heart hole punch and some paint chips from my stash (yes, all of us crafty mom bloggers have paint chip stashes. we’re a weird breed.)

i punched away until there were hearts of many rainbowy colors.

even just this heart confetti is splendid to look at and to play with!

the little one had fun using the punched out paint chips as stencils.

cute as they were on their own, i still took it to the sewing machine and fed each one through while keeping a fairly steady, slow pace with the needle. it was easier than i thought, and the machine was forgiving if i had a few stitches in between each heart. for me, that was an experiment, as i am still learning how to sew.

stitched together

i heart this!

then i got heart-happy and stitched a few more hearts to some colorful paper. i think i’ll add these to some valentine’s day cards soon!

this garland looks festive in our kitchen right now, but notice that hearts are top heavy… expect some twists and turns, or maybe opt for sewing them up double-sided.

this also might make a cute addition to our february mantel, which i’ll share when the time comes (after birthday season!)

strung along

oh my, this was a risky gift for me to create in my attempt to go handmade for the holidays. i am a verrry beginning seamstress, as you know, but i must say that i’m trusting that my friends are kind and forgiving, or at the very least – polite. i sewed up these cute little heart-shaped handwarmers to warm their hearts (and hands) for the holidays.

such a simple idea – saw it on pinterest, of course. all you need is:

• flannel (or another soft, natural fiber. synthetics can burn when microwaved!)
• thread
• rice
• a funnel would make life easier
• gift tag & ribbon

first, fold your fabric in half, and then in half again. cut some heart shapes on the edge — two at a time (so you have a pair that is the same size.)

match them up, and sew them together. (um, it is not that easy to sew curves, if you’re green like me, but i am patting myself on the back for giving it a go.) i left about a 1/4″ edge around them, and left a tiny pocket open so i could fill them.

i used a little funnel (that came with my spice rack) to pour white rice inside. then i sewed that little part up with the machine.

voila – super cute! (and visibly handmade… hey, it adds charm, right?)

then just find a pretty ribbon to attach a note with instructions that say to microwave them for 2 minutes (or under, if tiny) and put one in each pocket. i gifted these to some of my girlfriends who live in pretty cold climates.

also a fun gift for your sweetie or friends on valentine’s day!

this is a crazy-simple post. we love our watercolors around here like nothing else, and we may rival hallmark in the quantity of cards that are created under this roof. so here’s sweet little idea for some greeting cards for any occasion.

before N set out to create her abstract watercolor painting, we placed heart stickers on watercolor paper. (you can use any shape of sticker, of course.) then she enjoyed some time watching the colors ooze and blend together on the page. so relaxing.

we let the page dry completely.

after that, i tore the large sheet of watercolor paper into smaller sections against a metal edged ruler. i prefer this to cutting watercolor paper because it makes beautiful naturally rustic edges.

we peeled away the heart stickers (which came off easily) to reveal a white heart in the midst of rainbowy paint.

N chose colorful blank cards to glue the paintings to (i buy packs of them at michael’s when they offer discounts,) and she sent them out for father’s day and the end of the school year teacher cards in june.

easy and heARTful