love is in the air

And I'm not talking about the fact that my hubby comes home from out of town today ;) Nope, I have some Valentine's Day decor to share with you! I never used to decorate for any other holiday except for Christmas really. It's amazing what having kids does to you. You feel the need (and get super excited about) celebrating everything!

First here's some frames made from inspiration from tater tots and jello (again!)

paper ~ Martha Stewarts, marbles ~ Hobby Lobby, adhesive ~ E6000
 

Super inexpensive decoration to make. My fave! You can click here to see how she did it...

I would like to add that if you use that E6000 glue (which I did) then be sure to either put it on top of a napkin as you're doing your project or replace the cap every time you squeeze some out. My kept oozing out.

Check it out, look what they look like when the sun hits them in the afternoon...

Cool, huh?! I also made a heart one for my mantle

It's really hard to get good pics on my kitchen...lots of indirect light. But oh how I love red decorations against my sage green walls. (technically, the paint is called Crocodile Tears by Olympic, bought at Lowes. I am in love with this color). In. Love. Ever have a paint color like that?? Like, every time you walk in the room it makes you happy?? Yeah, that's how I feel when I walk in my kitchen.

Back to decorating... Here's another pic from my mantle

Notice I have another burlap wreath up there. I'm finding myself running around the house, looking for things to wrap in burlap. It's a sickness really...


What I would really like is a big rectangular mirror over my mantle. Then I could hang the wreath in front of it. But, don't have one of those. So, you make do right? At first I was going to hang it up

I certainly didn't want to put it on the front door cause then I'd have to take this one down! And I would like to string the word "love" in the middle but I didn't have time to do that. Maybe that'll get done, maybe it won't.

I have 2 more decor project to finish, then on to class treats this weekend (after finishing my son's Star Wars cake...I really didn't plan my children very well, so close to too many holidays!)

burlap wreaths ~ take one

Apparently burlap wreaths are all the rage right now. Do some blog surfing and you're sure to find a bunch. I first found some ideas over on tater tots and jello blog. She has a tutorial here if you want to go check it out. She has also shared several reader creations and their take on the burlap wreath. (I'll show a couple of my faves at the end)

So here goes. As always, click on the picture for more detail. I bought a 16" Styrofoam wreath (used a 40% off coupon of course!). I bought one that was straight on the front and back (not rounded). You wrap it with 4" wide strips of burlap & secure with a hot glue gun.

Excuse my snowflake tablecloth. It was the only plastic covered one I had handy. I wasn't about to ruin a good tablecloth!

After it's wrapped you take some material & burlap & cut 2" and 3" circles. I used 3 types of fabric and cut approx. 25 of each size in each fabric. (I did have some leftover)

Using your hot glue gun, secure layers of circles together. I used buttons on top but you could also use brads or whatever else you have. Since I have a *ton* of buttons that was the logical choice for me.

There was no rhyme or reason for my placement of the circles. You could take a more methodical approach but I'm just not that kind of gal. And what you end up with is a super cute wreath for your front door (or wherever else you want to put it!)

Hopefully by this point you haven't scalded too much skin off your fingers with the hot glue. I have 2 Scooby Doo band-aids on my fingers as I type this...

I used some matching ribbon along with twine & a strip of burlap tied in a knot to hold it on the door. I didn't want to put my last name in the middle like some of the others did but I'm thinking of putting a "W" on there somewhere. Haven't figured that out yet.

 

And my front door is dark grey so color options are pretty endless when it comes to wreaths. But I thought these bright colors were so fun and would get me through the summer season! 

Here's the details on the fabric I bought: 3 different patterns of Home Decor fabric at Joann's (the thicker stuff), on sale for $7/yd, 1/2 yd each. (probably could've gotten away with 1/3 yd but didn't want to risk it). 1 yard burlap at 2.99/yd. Wreath was $5 or $7 and I used a 40% off coupon. And both kinds of ribbon cost about $5 total. Pretty inexpensive for a custom wreath! And I have some supplies leftover to make another project :)

Oh, by the way, my friend Carol came over to make a wreath, too. She did a St. Patrick's Day wreath. Check it out:

Cute, huh?! Here's a few more that I found blog surfing that I though were super cute...

tater tots and jello 

 

Relatively Ririe

Sweet Pea 

See what I mean?? Lots of inspiration out there!! I also bought some more fabric to make a smaller wreath for Valentine's Day. I'll put that one inside somewhere. Can't wait to get started on that one!