Faux Wood Heart

While out and about shopping for Valentine's Day decor, I've been really disappointed in what I've seen.  I guess I'm just not a bright red/pink heart with lace/glitter fan. As I was driving home after another disappointing shopping trip, I decided I should just make myself a decoration. I began thinking about what I already had in the house and devised a cheap, non-glittery idea for my mantel.
One thing I had on hand was cardboard and plenty of it. I also had some sheets of scrapbooking paper.

In a predictable move for me, I didn't even remove the packing material, I just started cutting into a box that was being used by the kids, then I just threw the box back in the pile ready to be used in more fort building. This was a very confusing development for Jellybean who couldn't figure out why one of her boxes suddenly developed a heart-shaped hole.

I glued my scrapbook paper heart and my cardboard heart together. Then I grabbed some twine (left over from the pine cone bird-feeder project) and some red felt circles (left over from my felt circle belt project).

I stitched the felt circles into some flowers and glued them on top. Okay, it's obviously not real wood, but there is something about a blue Valentine's heart that makes me smile. I don't know why. Plus, it still looks cute on my mantel. At least it was basically free and there wasn't any lace or glitter involved...

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Ridiculously Easy Fall Wreath

I realize that most people in the blog world have already completely skipped over Thanksgiving and are moving onto Christmas. But you know what? It's still a few days before Thanksgiving and I'm not ready to move on just yet.

Well, it's a good thing that I'm not ready to move on. It makes me feel justified in pulling out a Fall wreath idea from last year and posting it in lieu of anything more exciting.

Last year, I needed some quick mantel decor, so I purchased a bag of pine cones and whatever those pumpkin things are, cut out a cardboard form and then hot glued the whole thing together. How's that for a lazy wreath?  The best part is that I purchased the pinecones so close to Thanksgiving that they were 50% off. So the wreath cost me less than $5. Not bad for DIY decor that will be pulled out every year.

On another note, I fear that my blogging will not be as consistent over the next little while. My ultra favorite pregnancy symptom has reared its ugly head: Restless Leg Syndrome.  While my morning sickness seems to be diminishing, my restless legs are making my nights pretty difficult. I wake up in the mornings feeling like I've been running all night long. If only I were getting some health benefit... Here's to hoping that it will pass quickly and not last for the rest of the pregnancy.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Simple Craft: Halloween Silhouettes

With 7 days left before the holiday, I'm still making some additions to my Halloween decor. I've been wanting to add a little more decoration to our mantel, so I thought I'd create some Halloween silhouettes.  It turned out to be a really simple and fun craft. It was also a great project to do during nap time.

Materials:
Glass frames (I found mine for $5 a piece at Michael's)
Textured fabric like burlap or cross stitching material.
Hot glue gun
Sharpie
Printed image to copy for the silhouette.

 I found a couple of images online that I liked and printed them off.  There are tons of Halloween silhouettes available online.
I took the glass out of my frames, positioned it over the silhouette and then just copied the image straight to the glass using my sharpie.

When I was done copying the image, I hot glued the fabric to the backing in the frame, then laid the glass on top of the fabric. At that point, I could see if there were any spots I had missed and I filled them in.
I actually left the sharpied image facing out. It gives the impression of it floating away from the background a bit.

I really like the way they turned out. They are super simple, but give a fun Halloween flair to the mantel.

It will be fun to bring them out again year after year.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ