Made With Love....Simple Ideas for Valentine's Day Gifts and Decorating

When my girls were younger,

we had barely put Christmas decorations away

before we started decorating for Valentine's Day.  

Hearts were everywhere, and we were already thinking of

what Valentines to make and what would be on our 

Pink and Red Menu for Valentine's Day.

The past few years we've kinda let it go.

Life just got more busy, you know?

Until a few days ago, when my 12 year old niece Macy

wrote to show us pictures of how she had decorated her room.

I think she did an AMAZING job!

She finished by asking how we were decorating this year.

Ummmmm..........well,  I wasn't sure if we were.

UNTIL that email from her.

Until I was inspired by a young girl's festive spirit.

So I went online and I walked around the house,

 looking for ideas.

I found a few things I had made and tweaked them a bit

to make them work for Valentine's Day, either as a

decoration or as a small gift.

See what you think........

1.  Candy hearts look adorable in a Mason Jar pedestal.  At least I think so.......
but then, I love these candies so I would think they look great in ANYTHING!
And these are really easy to make, using a mason jar, candlestick and E6000 glue.

2.  Painted Mason Jars and Milk Bottles hold anything you can think of,

and would be a beautiful way to hold flowers, candy or special messages.

3.  Bejeweled Mini Mason Jars.......Strips of lace or burlap glued around a jar, embellished with a jewel and/or flower.  These look cute gathered on a table top and make

AWESOME gift containers!  No wrapping necessary:)

4.  Heart Garland.......dollar store craft!  

5.  Heart Pencil Toppers........Again, the wire and pencils were bought at the dollar store.

Simply twist a piece of the wire into a heart shape and wrap on the pencil tops.

 

These heart toppers are also fabulous on a longer stick and used as bubble blowers!  

Thank you Macy!

Without the inspiration from you, we might've been lazy and let this Holiday slip by:)

A few other decorations I found were these:

A heart wreath.......paper hearts glued on a wreath or any round form.

 Pom Pom Monsters!

How cute are these?  Pretty dang cute if you ask me:)

Heart Rag Wreath!  Super cute and EASY!

Yarn wrapped letters or hearts.  This is such a simple project that

will be a real eye catcher!

Well, why NOT a heart tree?  

You could write little messages on them or leave as is.........

cute either way!

  Remember the heart garland I mentioned above?

You could tie them on branches outside.  Awesome!

Alrighty then, I think that's about it.

Check back soon.......I have other ideas to pass on but didn't want

 to bombard anyone:)

XOXO

Suzanne

Cute Wreaths and Last Minute Christmas Gifts and Treats.............

it comes as no surprise that i like things simple.

as in super easy, anyone can do it kinda simple:)

it also comes as no surprise that i am one of the original 

Queens of the Last Minute!

which is why i am writing this post.

i know what i'm talking about.

heehee!

okay, so you have a few friends coming over,

and YIKES.........where is that wreath for the front door?

well, you COULD go buy one.

i guess.

but that's boring.

if you MAKE one, they will oooh and ahhhh all night long.

and maybe they'll not notice you're feeding them those little

hot dogs things in a crescent roll.

hahaha

(i happen to love those appetizers;)

but back to oohing and aahing, which they will do.

ESPECIALLY if you make one of these.............

Pretty awesome, don't ya think?

okay.......the "how to's";

1.  the top wreath (letter "P") is tiny ornaments hot glued 

to an over sized letter from Michael's.

now personally, i think i would spread various size pearls in a flat pan, 

apply glue to the letter and lay it in the pearls. 

 instant wreath:)

2.  oh. my. gosh.  don't you love the greenery letters?

just buy over sized cardboard letters from the craft store,

along with some thin-ish, cheap garland.  

Staple it to the letter and start winding, then staple when at the end.

BEAUTIFUL!

(catty moment........please hang them straight. haha:)

3.  Again, head to the dollar store.  buy plastic ornaments.

glue the cap to the ornament. thread them onto a wire or hanger and

shape to your letter. very COOL!

4.  maybe the cutest, most festive and FUN wreath is this SANTA wreath.

this looks to me like a red rag tied wreath,

 but you could make it with a red feather boa and styrofoam wreath form, too.

fancy white letters from the craft store and a black belt complete the santa wreath.

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

moving on to last minute gifts.

okay........some people love gift cards and some people hate them.

but sometimes, you have no choice, either because of time

or because you don't know what they like.

so for these case, i say give a gift card.

and this year i have two favorites..............

1.  Amazon.  have you ever really looked at their site?

if there is something they don't sell, i have no idea what it is.

from books to phones to blenders to diamonds to underwear,

you can get it ALL.  sometimes for the best price, too:)

2.  an ETSY gift card.  i'm serious! 

 the number one place for cool, unique, creative items.  

i could spend days hours on this site:)

3.  we are off to the dollar store again.

this time, to buy plain white coffe mugs and sharpie pens.

then  it's home to customize them.........

with names, doodles, favorite quotes.......

whatever you like.

then pop them in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes,

and you have some GREAT gifts!

see for yourself...........

4.  this one is a silly little gift......but cute.

if your daughters are like mine, 

they want to give something to everyone.

so go to the store and buy some cool/pretty nailpolish.

attach a tag like this and you have a sweet, simple little gift!

oh gosh, you worked late and have NO treats for

your little neighborhood party.

you're pressed for time........and money.

what to do, what to do!

grab some strawberries, whipped cream, ritz crackers and Rolo candies.

make these little santa men for the kiddies,

 and then make these treats.

they aren't fancy, but they ARE yummy!

AND.........they aren't PALEO or whatever the heck the latest things is.

(sorry.....wait.  no i'm not!  it's the Holidays already:)

Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers

Simply place ritz crackers on a cookie sheet, and top each one with a Rolo candy. Place in an oven at 350º. Remove when Rolos are melted and top with a second Ritz. Let cool to harden, and eat them by the handfuls. That's right........handfuls.  ho,ho,ho!:)

i told you they weren't pretty.  so put them on a pretty plate:)

see you tomorrow.......

Suzanne

P.S.  Hannah's mom will be having her surgery on Wed, 

due to some equipment issues.

longer for everyone to pray!

20 days till Christmas......

does that make you smile or scream?  haha

here is how i look at it this year.......

i'd rather enjoy the moments more and worry less about details and things

we "always" do or "used" to do.

every year and every Christmas is special for 2 reasons......

we are celebrating Christ's birth and we are able to do special things for

those we love.

right?

i realized last night i haven't "decorated" my blog for the Holidays,

so when i have time today, that's what i'll be doing.

please check it out tomorrow:)

for today, a quick peek at a few of my favorite things.......

and goodness knows i have a lot of those!

first of all, we all know i love ballerinas!!!!!

so imagine how excited i was to find these snowflake ballerinas.

to make, you simply cut out paper snowflakes and insert 

a ballerina into the center.

if you need to learn how to make the snowflakes,

the simplest thing is to google that.  

MANY templates will come up and you can pick the style you like.

click HERE to go to the site where you can get a template for the ballerina.

a few wreaths i love this season........

this wreath (boxwood?) with an oversize initial.

LOVE IT!

i might make one of these ornament wreaths........they are so easy,

and i really like it in all whites/champagne tones.

i am CRAZY about my new RED slipcover!

i have an IKEA sectional and can't recommend it enough,

 mainly because the slip covers are so cheap and you can change things up for a new look!

I will always love my WHITE slipcover,

 but living in Florida, this red makes it all a bit more festive.  

i'll probably keep it on through February:)

bucket list, bucket list.....

forget about making one for your life.......

maybe just make one for your Holiday season:)

are you a CRAZY mom?

well, don't sweat it.......

take the "crazy mom" challenge from iMom 

(one of my favorite sites ever!)

do you tend to panic and forget what you have to do on Christmas Eve,

besides get ready for Jesus' birthday?:)

well here you go........

well, enough for now.

need to do a blog makeover and...........

surf's up!

xoxoxo

Suzanne