Valentine Banners and More!

I have to say I like Valentine's Day and, it's not because of the flowers and chocolate, although those would be good reasons in and of themselves.  I like it because it is a "fun" holiday and any holiday that celebrates love has to be pretty good, don't you think?  I also like it because it comes at a fairly dreary time of the year and celebrating Valentines Day can be a bright spot in the middle of winter, if you allow it to be  :).

Part of my excitement for Valentine's Day involves the crafts and the decorations that go along with it.

I have been stenciling muslin bags for my Etsy shop for many years now. So, it was an easy transistion for me to stencil these bags with the letters L-O-V-E.  I attached the bags to a piece of ribbon and made them into a banner.  The banner can then be given to someone special with each bag full of some Valentine goodies.

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This year I was inspired by an old magazine article I discovered in my stash of magazines.  I don't think this particular magazine is being published anymore, which is a shame because I used to like receiving it.  Anyway, I decided to try to replicate these felt hearts from the picture in the magazine.  I cut the hearts out of felt using my own pattern and started embroidering away.

Each heart is embroidered in a unique, somewhat primitive pattern with embroidery floss and tiny beads.

I sewed rick rack ribbon to each heart to enable them to be hung together or individually from a door knob or on a hutch or shelving unit.  I suppose you could hang them anywhere you find a cute spot.

These king-of-hearts and sheet music "tags" were inspired from the magazine article, as well.  I was able to make them using the clipart from my computer.  It was pretty easy to do but takes a little time to size them correctly.

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The banner (below) was VERY easy to make. You simply cut four triangles from a piece of burlap and stencil the letters L-O-V-E onto each triangle, then string a red ribbon through the burlap and voila! You have a banner that can be used almost anywhere in your home.

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I am afraid I am quite obsessed with these whimsical mini Valentine wreaths I made.  They are embellished with buttons, fake flowers, clipart and ribbon.  Originally, they were going to be used as place card holders for the dining table. The little clothespins can hold the name of each guest at the party.  However, I changed their use this year and now they have been made into yet another LOVE banner.  

Each tiny wreath has its own personality and design.

  This banner is supposed to be reminiscent of the conversational heart candy you often see around Valentine's Day.

As far as the "More" part of this post goes, I find it fun to play around with flowers this time of year; actually  any time of year, now that I think of it.  The arrangement below is different from what you usually think of for Valentine's Day but I liked the ruffling of the pink garden roses and went with it anyway!

I told you I am obsessed with these guys :).

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One of the things I had been wanting to do for years was to make a heart-shape floral centerpiece.  I finally found the right container and filled it with pink and red carnations and red daisy-like flowers.  It ended up being a very fun project.

 Another Valentine Centerpiece

I am sharing my mini Valentine wreaths one more time and that's it.  I promise!

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One year I stole this idea from Martha Stewart but, hey, it's Martha Stewart.  She has great ideas!!

I expanded on the idea with this arrangement.  Sorry about the quality of the photos.  I'm not sure what happened there ;).

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Every now and then I like to make sugar cookies and decorate them for whatever holiday is being celebrated at the time.  I never seem to have time around Christmas to make them like most people do but, I sometimes manage to find other times of the year to experiment.  This was one such time.  

They look so yummy that I think it might be time to make them again!

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I recently remembered how much fun it was giving out Valentine cards in elementary school.  Do you remember?  Everyone in the class made a Valentine folder and on Valentine's Day you were supposed to put a valentine in the folder of each student in your homeroom class.  So much fun! I'm glad the tradition seems to be continuing.  I found these Valentine cards at CVS.  So cute!  I'm pretty sure I'll be giving these out to my very special people in a few weeks.

Well, here's to hoping you are having fun doing a Valentine craft right about now or thinking about giving out Valentine cards soon.  As I said, Valentine's Day can brighten the winter...if you let it :).

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