Smooch Valentine Party

Smooch. Smoochie. Smooches. I took this Valentine party up to a personal level. Because if you don't send your love grossly affectionate words of endearment, do you even have a Valentine?

This party was planned with my dear crafty friend, Craft E Magee, and it is the starter project of a big idea we have to continue to put together parties that we love. We're just getting started on some serious baby baby steps, but you can find more of our parties in the future over on Party in Lou. We'd love to have you stop by and follow our instagram, too. You know, if parties are your kind of thing.

Craft E Magee worked her magic on the seriously adorable pompom banner and I designed the Smooch cake topper and lip kisses in Silhouette. The cake was from Kroger and I can't get over its cuteness with the Valentine sprinkles and tri-colored cake layers. It's simple to add your own flair to cakes with personalized cake toppers and decor. Parties should be fun and not stressful, so take a look around your grocers' bakery to see what they're offering and don't be afraid to cut corners with store-bought cakes and pastries.

Here's to lots of love and smooches this Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, DIY'ers!

julee

Tweet

Hello Friday

Hello week filled with lovely Valentine loveliness. Hello paper roses and craft night with my favorite crafty ladies. Hello morning kisses and surprise flowers from my love on Valentine's day. Hello filling my home with heartfelt quotes from our favorite books that make my heart swell. Hello Galentine brunch and silly laughs with my gal-squad.

Hello you. I hope your Valentine week has been filled to overflowing with love.

~julee~

Tweet

Valentine Red Velvet Donuts

Valentine red velvet donuts with cream cheese glaze.  And sprinkles.  You.Guys.  These will rock your socks off, no lie.  And if you serve these to your sweetheart for breakfast on Valentine’s Day morning, they’re sure to thank you with a giant smooch.  Or at the very least you’ll give them a sugar high that’ll have them buzzing sweet nothings to you for a good hour.



These donuts were a collaboration with my friend Amy of Belle of Beechmont, who is always willing to teach me how easy baking can be.  To prove it, she used a box of red velvet cake mix to whip up these yummies.  She altered the wet ingredients slightly from the directions on the box to give these a denser, more donut-y consistency.  The result?  Delicious red velvet awesomeness in a mini heart-shaped form.



Red Velvet Donut Ingredients
1 Box of Red Velvet Cake Mix
1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Whole Milk
2 Eggs
Also, Donut Pan (round or heart shape) and Nonstick Spray

Mix the cake mix with the wet ingredients.  Spray the donut pan with nonstick spray (very important!).  Fill the donut pan with the batter and cook at 350-degrees for 15 minutes.

Cream Cheese Glaze Ingredients (from Martha Stewart)
4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Milk

Martha’s directions are all fancy, but I just whisked the ingredients together by hand and it turned out fine.  Why must you be complicated, Martha? 

Dip the donuts into the glaze and sprinkle with fun festive sprinkles if that’s your thing.
 


Once the glaze had hardened, I packaged these babies into these cute cellophane bags from Wholeport.  They are the perfect size for these treats and you can still see the yummy donuts inside. 



How about it?  Have I convinced you to make these for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day?

Happy Valentine baking, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Check out the Love Banner DIY here.
Check out Easy Crème Brulee by Amy here.

Tweet

DIY Valentine Bunting

Creating a sweet Valentine bunting is easy and you’ll only need a few supplies to create your own lovely pennant.  Doilies are the perfect accessory to add romance to your Valentine’s Day décor, but instead of using them directly on the bunting, I’m using the pattern in the doily to create a stencil effect on the paper.  So much more fun to use paint!

Supply list: Cardstock, craft paint, brush/sponge, doily, hole punch, string, embellishments, and glue (optional). 

To make: Cut the cardstock to your preferred size.  Use the doily as a stencil and dab the paint on to the cardstock.  To get clean lines, make sure to dab up and down instead of painting in strokes.  Once the paint dries, affix your embellishments.  My letters had an adhesive backing and were easy to attach.  Make holes in the corners of each flag, and thread your string through.  Next, hang and enjoy!

Happy Valentine crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee

Tweet

Washi Tape Tealight Candles

Here’s a cute little thing to do with those zillion rolls of washi tape you have lying around: use it to decorate inexpensive tealight candles.  Most washi tape is the perfect size to wrap about the tealight (although some rolls are too wide, just so you know).  Wouldn’t the heart candles be perfect for a Valentine’s Day dinner?

Happy washi crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Tweet

Video: Matchbox Valentine

This week on WDRB in the Morning, I showed viewers how easy it is to turn a matchbox into an adorable personalized Valentine.  And then Sterling ate the chocolate.  Good times.  Watch and see.

~julee~

PS – You can see all of my WDRB in the Morning segments on my YouTube channel.

Tweet

DIY Matchbox Valentine

I am so very in love with these little matchbox Valentine boxes.  With so many ways to embellish them, I think I could sit and make them all day.  Addicting little guys, and so easy to put together.  Perfect for a sweet treat or tiny love note to your sweetheart. 

To make your own, you’ll need a box of strike anywhere matches, and paper to cover the top of the box.  Then, gather some lovely embellishments.  For these, I used Valentine ribbon and heart decals. 

Cut a strip of decorative paper the same size as the top of your box.  Mine was 2x4.  You don’t have to take the top of the box apart to adhere your decorative paper, but I found that doing so gave a tighter and cleaner fit.  Use a glue stick to adhere your paper to the box top and use the folds in the original box to refold and reglue the box together.  If kids are making these, you can definitely let them make these the easy way and just wrap the paper around the box and glue.  Once that’s done, go crazy with the embellishments.

And I prefer my Valentine’s to come with chocolate.  Who’s with me?

So this is my version of matchbox Valentine’s.  How would you decorate your matchboxes?  If you’re in the Louisville area, you can join the D.I.Y. Louisville group on Sunday, February 2nd where we’ll be decorating these little cuties.  See our Facebook event for more details, pricing, and to RSVP.

Happy Valentine making, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Tweet

Eat It: Valentine’s Breakfast

What’s more perfect for a Valentine’s morning than a plate of mini pancakes, a dusting of powdered sugar, and heart-shaped strawberries?  A mimosa on the side, no doubt.  Next time.

Use a small heart shaped cookie cutter to get perfect strawberry hearts.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

~julee~

Tweet

Make It: Last Minute Valentine’s Card

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  Do your kids have their class cards all ready to go?  Just in case you’re scrambling today to make a batch of last minute cards, I’ve come to your rescue.

Lynn of Good Garbage showed us how to easily turn paper rolls into a heart-shaped stamper at our meet up last week.  This works well with a stamp pad, but I found it worked even better with craft paint.  Besides, paint is always more fun to play with.  Use washable paints and this is a perfect kids craft.

You’ll need:  One paper roll (of the toilet paper sort or paper towel sort), craft paint, cardstock or paper.  Crease the bottom of the paper roll, and then fold in the top to get a heart shape.  Dip in paint and stamp on your paper.  That’s all you need for a cute and simple card in an instant.  Here’s a picture tutorial:

I finished my hearts by adding some sweet nothings with my letter stamps.

Happy last minute Valentine making, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Tweet

Recycled Valentine’s with Good Garbage

D.I.Y. Louisville February meet-up was sponsored by  Good Garbage: Center for Creative Reuse.  Lynn, co-founder of Good Garbage and long time D.I.Y. Louisville member, brought out an assortment of collected recycled objects for our group to use to make Valentine’s cards.

Lynn showed us a few ways to recycle everyday objects like wine corks and paper rolls into Valentine’s stamps, and then everyone used their own creativity to make cards for their someone special.  I love how unique they all are.  My favorite cards came from the kids in attendance, as they all seemed to be drawn to these plastic white disks that were a cast-off from a printing company.

A great big thanks to Lynn and Good Garbage: Center for Creative Reuse for spending the evening with our group!  Be sure to visit Good Garbage on Facebook for more information about this exciting art, craft, and educational resource opening soon in Louisville.

~julee~

 

P.S. – You can find more information about D.I.Y. Louisville Craft Cooperative HERE.  If you or your company would like to donate supplies or sponsor an evening with our group, email me at diylouisville @ gmail dot com.

Tweet

Make It: Felt Valentine Card Holder

This Valentine tote is perfect for carrying little love notes and sweet treats on Valentine’s Day.  You can make one too with just a few simple supplies.

 

Felt Valentine Card Holder Tutorial

1) You’ll need one sheet of 8.5x11 felt, plus an optional small piece of felt for embellishment.  Ribbon (~40-inches), scissors, ruler, and hole puncher.  Cut two identical heart shapes from your felt plus two strips for the handles.  From one sheet of felt I was able to cut 2 hearts approximately 5.5 inches across, and 2 strips sized 1.5x11.  2)  Mark the center point of your heart, and then mark 1-inch up both sides, stopping near the top.  3) So that your holes will line up evenly, flip your hearts so that right sides are facing, and use a hole punch to cut circles at each 1-inch mark.  Do the same for the strips, making sure the number of holes are even.  4)  This is what your pieces should look like cut with holes, ready to assemble.

5)  Starting at the bottom center, line your side strip up with your heart.  Use your ribbon to stitch the pieces together with a whip stitch (a basic over-and-over stitch).    Leave a tail of ribbon so you can tie off when you’re finished.  6)  When you reach the top, cross the ribbon over and whip stitch back down the other side.  Using the same piece of ribbon, attach the second side strip the same way.  You will start at the same bottom center hole as the first strip.  7)  Once both sides are completed, tie off your end at the bottom with either a bow or knot.  8)  Stitch or use a fabric glue to attach your handle at the top.  Add your embellishment.

I have a tendency to overstate and complicate when writing directions, so if anything doesn’t seem clear, leave a comment or drop me an email.  Also, ignore the fact that my heart looks like it was cut out by a second grader.  Imperfections add interest, right?

Happy Valentine crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Tweet

Make It: Popcorn Valentine

I am so excited to have Kim on the blog today to show us these adorable Popcorn Valentine treats she made for her kids’ classes this year.  Read how she put these together, plus she’s sharing her free printables full of “corny” sayings.  (C’mon, you saw that coming.  Am I the only one who loves wacky Valentine puns??)

This year my goal in creating school valentines, was simply to not use candy or sweets. My kids get so much candy from their school parties every year. I thought about what I could do in the way of a treat and finally settled on popcorn, since it’s my kid’s favorite treat. I shopped around and found these mini bags of microwave popcorn at Aldi’s, they come 10 in a pack for 1.99. I then grabbed some scrapbook paper from the dollar spot at Target and threw in some of my own ribbon. Oh, the best part, I designed these free printable tags to be used with the popcorn valentines. There is a more traditional Valentine’s Day colored set with sayings that all involve “pop”, and a more “boy” set that has non-traditional colors. I printed the tags on cardstock.

The first step is to gather your supplies. You’ll need popcorn, scrapbook paper, cutting tool, glue stick or double sided tape, embellishments and your free printable found here and here.

Measure your scrapbook paper to cover the white part of the popcorn bag. You can get about two bags from each piece of 12x12 paper. Trim off about 5 inches from one end of the paper strip.  Wrap the paper tightly around the popcorn and glue the ends or secure with tape.

Next,  add any embellishments you like. On the pink one I added some zebra ribbon and the green one got a strip of orange paper and some polka dot ribbon. Trim your printable tags down to size and glue or secure with tape to the front. I’ll have my kids add their names to the bottom of the tags before they give them to their classmates. I think these would also make great gifts for friends or coworkers too!

You can download the free printable files here and here.

 

Thanks to Kim for sharing this cute idea!  I love the idea of giving something other than candy to classmates.

Happy Valentine making, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Tweet

Eat It: Valentine Sundae

Easy Valentine Sundae Dessert

Use a cookie cutter to cut heart shapes out of tortillas.  Brush the hearts with butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Bake at 350-degrees for a few minutes.  Scoop ice cream into an adorable heart-shaped bowl from Target dollar spot, top with cinnamon sugar heart, drizzle with honey and – BAM! – beautiful Valentine sundae.




Or you could omit the ice cream and just eat a dozen or so of  these yummy cinnamon hearts.



Enjoy!

~julee~

Tweet

D.I.Y. Kids: Shrinky Dink Necklace

I’m a child of the 80’s, so whenever my daughter wants to pull out the Shrinky Dinks, I probably get a little too excited.  Surely I’m not the only one?

There are so many cute things you can make with Shrinky Dinks, but I pulled out a few supplies I had on hand and we settled on these cute and easy heart and butterfly necklaces.

Paper punches cut right through the Shrinky Dink plastic and give you a perfect shape, which is perfectly awesome.  Color your plastic with colored pencils or sharpies, and then if you want to hang your shapes, cut a hole with a hole punch *before* you put in the oven.  Follow the directions on the package for baking.

Ta-da!  An easy kids DIY craft for a cold weekend afternoon!

Have you ever made Shrinky Dink crafts?  I’ve seen more “grown up” jewelry on Pinterest I’d like to try my hand at making.

Happy DIY’ing!

~julee~

Tweet

Make It: Stenciled Heart Shirt Tutorial

I used freezer paper to turn one of my daughter’s heart drawings into wearable art.  I’m a sucker for a child’s imperfections when it comes to arts and crafts.  You can easily turn any drawing or image into a stencil with freezer paper.  Here are the steps:



1) Gather your supplies.  You’ll need:  Freezer Paper, exacto knife, paint, sponge brush, image you want to cut, and iron (not shown).  2) Place the freezer paper on top of your image shiny side down.  You may need to secure the edges with tape.  Using your exacto knife, carefully cut out the image.  Now you have a stencil of your image.   3)  Iron the freezer paper/stencil on your fabric shiny side down.  This adheres the stencil to your fabric.  Make sure you get a nice seal along all of the edges.  4)  Sponge on your paint.  5)  Allow to dry for 20-30 minutes and remove the freezer paper stencil.  The freezer paper pulls away from the image easiest if the paint is still slightly damp.  However, some paint coverage calls for two coats in which case you’ll want to pull the paper off very carefully.



Ta-da!  You now have a 100% personalized heart shirt for Valentine’s day!

Happy Valentine crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

Tweet