Looking for some Inspiration?

Head over to Somewhat Simple and check out all of the {amazing} Valentines Day decorating ideas folks are sharing! You're sure to find something you just can't wait to try!

Library Tote Bags

I love our library. I love taking the tiny people there, and letting them play with the puppet theater and puzzles, and listening to them chatter as they pick out new books. What I {don't} love is searching high and low for all of their books when it's time to return them. In their beds, behind the couch, between the mattress and the wall, in the laundry chute...you name it.

In an attempt to help the tiny people keep their library books in one place, I decided to give them each their very own library tote bag ~ so they can choose their own books, bring them home in their totes, and return them to their totes when they're finished reading them. It might work...it might not....either way, I think these are cute!

To start, I used my handy new Silhouette machine to cut out each of their first initials.

Next, I traced the letter, backwards, onto a sheet of Heat n Bond.

Following the direction on the HnB, I ironed it onto the wrong side of my fabric of choice.

When it was cooled, I cut out the letter. This is a good time to bust out your bottle of FrayCheck & apply it to the edges of the fabric so your letter won't get all funky & frayed.

Next, I peeled off the backing....ooooh....aaaahhhh...

and ironed it onto the tote bag.

This is the final result ~ pretty {cute} isn't it? The tiny people have already found their books and put them in the totes, so I feel like this might just work! And, I like theirs so much, I just made one for myself. :)

On a totally unrelated note ~ my entire family, myself included, has been infected with the most {horrendous} cold imaginable. We're all sick. Even the hubband, and that never happens. The tiny people have been home from school, and we're living in our pajamas. Here's hoping all of you are feeling well!

Love Songs, etc.

I have a few Valentine's Day printables to share with you lovely people today. All of these are 5x7s ~ {enjoy}!

Download 1

Download 2

Download 3

In other news, the hubband got me a fantastic gift for my birthday ~ a Silhouette SD! {squeal!} I'm beyond excited to get going on some craft projects and break her in! Unfortunately, I'm currently single-parenting while the hubband is off on an ice-fishing adventure for a week (you can say it....I think he's crazy, too) and I'm also trying to fend off a really inconvenient and unwelcome cold. It's a good time around here. So all the plans I have swimming in my head are currently on hold while I sleep as much as I possibly can and try to get through the day without taking too much cold medicine. Such will be the case until I feel like I'm human enough to go out in public. It could be a while! ;)

That's all I've got. Have a fantastic weekend & don't forget to swing by Tatertots&Jello to check out the weekend wrap-up!

Imagine...

I love song lyrics. Really, a song is just a poem set to music, and I think that so many songs put things into words in a far better way than I could ever manage on my own. I started working on a few printables this afternoon ~ using lyrics from love songs, and aiming for Valentine's Day. But my mind keeps turning back to what happened in Tucson last weekend, and what our President spoke about last night. I do hope we can change the tone of our speech & take the hatred and vitriol out of politics....and that we can begin to look at our nation & our democracy in the same way that I believe we should look at our environment ~ not as something we have inherited from our ancestors, but rather as something we have borrowed from our children.

The more I thought about the lives that were lost in Tucson & the legacies they leave behind, the more John Lennon squeezed his way into my brain. So, while more lovey-dovey printables will be coming your way soon...for now, I'm going to share this. Enjoy.

Click here to download ~ the file is an 8x8.

Hearts & Hot Glue

I've never been big on Valentine's Day decor, but this year I'm warming up to the idea. I started with a wreath...

This was super easy to do, might be a little harder to explain, but I think the pictures are going to be a big help. I started w/ a flat wreath, b/c they fit so nicely between the door and the storm door, and they're so inexpensive! To get going, I busted out the hot glue gun and started glueing down the ribbon. I left a loop-ish sort of thing about every inch or so.... See?

Once I'd gone all the way around the wreath, I went back and glued down the loops...like this...

So this is what it looked like when I had finished messing with the ribbon.

Then I did the handy-dandy "in-half and in-half again" fold with the cupcake liners, and folded again at the bottom to give me a flat surface to glue to the wreath. (You've seen cupcake liner wreaths before, right? You know the drill.)

I used a combination of happy red liners w/ white polka-dots, and plain old white liners ~ about 2-3 red for every 1 white. It added a little dimension to the wreath that I thought was missing otherwise. This is what it looks like from the side.

A pic (again....b/c I only took one) of the finished product hanging on the front door.

See? Cute, right? And totally worth burning the dickens out of my fingers with the glue gun.

You Look Familiar...

If you've spent any time at all rambling around blog land (and let's face it, if you're here...you've rambled) then you've probably seen family wall art items like this one before...

The first one I stumbled on was made by Amy at My 3 Monsters. (You can find hers under her "Favorite Projects" tab.) I immediately {loved} the fresh, funky and modern take on the traditional family name theme. Since then, I've seen several different versions of the same on at least 5 different craft blogs. Of course, I had to make one of my own.

Add me to the list of people singing the praises of Leo Reynolds' Flickr Photo Stream. He's been kind enough to allow us all access to his photos, free of charge! Please, PLEASE, don't be the person to ruin this for the rest of us by taking advantage of his kindness and using his photographs to make art for profit...b/c then you would really suck. Just sayin'.

The first thing I did was go through the photos and choose the ones I wanted to use. Just to warn you ~ this part of the process could take {forever} if you're not the type who can make a quick decision. There are just so many photos to choose from! I downloaded the "large" sized files for the photos I wanted to use and saved them to my computer. I did a little thinking and decided that I wanted to print this out as an 12x18, so I opened a new file in that size in photoshop. Then I did the good ole' drag & drop onto the canvas, adjusting the size of each photo and realligning everything until all of the letters & numbers were equally-sized and evenly placed. That took a little time, but once you've got the first row down it does get quicker & easier. If you're using a program that allows you to show a grid on your project as you're working, USE IT. That was a {huge} help in keeping things straight and even.

Once I was finished lining everything up, I combined all of the layers except the background, then I resized that layer to 85%, which left a nice white border all the way around the letters. This is what I ended up with.

Being that I like to change out our art on a regular basis, I chose not to frame this project. It's just easier for me to take things down and move them around, or set them aside for a while, if I can stack them neatly and not have to deal with finding a place to store them in their frames. All I did was mount the photo to a piece of foam core board using spray adhesive. Super quick & easy!

I'm thinking they'd make great {gifts} for weddings, house warmings, etc. ~ and I can't wait to make more of them!

It's the Weekend!

Hey, all! Just a reminder to head over to Tatertots & Jello and check out all the Wrap-Up Party goodness that's going on over there! :) It's worth it...trust me!

Also, I'm working on an {amazing} new project right now that I can't wait to share with you all ~ so make sure you check back soon!

Got 5 Minutes?

Sometimes I forget that a project doesn't have to be difficult, complicated, or time-consuming for it to make an impact in a room. Today, I did 2 small projects. Each of them took less than {5} minutes. Yes, really!

I had a 12x12 print of the tiny people, and I picked up a 12x12 canvas from Hobby Lobby to use as a mount.

I applied a coat of ModPodge on the canvas, and another coat on top of the picture. Make sure, if you try this, that you've had your photo printed on Lustre or Matte photo paper ~ not glossy.

I just waited for it to dry & hung it. Honestly, waiting for it to dry was the most time-consuming part of the whole she-bang.

Well....the ModPodge was already out, sooooo... I had picked up some {Chipboard} letters (they're on sale for 99cents at Hobby Lobby right now!) and I had almost a full page of pretty scrapbooking paper that coordinates with my craftroom. First, I traced the outside of the letter, angling my pencil so that the line was far enough outside the letter to allow the paper to fold over the sides.

Since the letter I was using is bendy, I cut into the excess paper all the way around the letter so that I could fold it over the edge bit by bit as I went around & avoid it bunching up & getting funky.

Next, of course, is the ModPodge. Again, I did a coat on the letter, and another coat on top of the paper.

I used some putty to attach it to the wall next to my desk ~ heck, it's chipboard...it's lightweight and it's not going to hurt anything if it does fall...which I don't think it will.

Two projects. {10} minutes (well...unless you count the drying time...which I don't b/c I used that time to do other things...like take a nap). And it adds a little extra color & fun to the room. I'm happy with that!