Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's heart day, one of my favorite holidays!  Now, I don't need a special day to show my family how much I love them because I do that everyday already, but it is fun to make things extra special for them.  Here is what we did for the kids.

The night before Valentine's Day (honestly, we celebrated on Sunday since Monday is a school day), Casey and I set up all their goodies.  We put their cute little messanger bags that I made out and filled them up.  I set the table for a special breakfast.

Abby's goodies.  A Nerds rope; SweeTarts Hearts; Fun Dip; Fancy Nancy book; stickers.  Just a little something to make the day special!  (Note: I put all candy away and ration it out over a period of time!)

Wyatt's goodies.  Nerds rope; Fun Dip; M&Ms; Elmo book and Elmo stickers.

Daddy had to work today, so he brought home a couple of extra goodies after work: a Skip-It jump rope for Abby and a mitt and ball for Wyatt.

A close up of the table setting.  Notice how I used disposable plates for easy clean up!

I made a special breakfast (almost more like a dessert) of pancakes drizzled with chocolate syrup, fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and sprinkles.  A side of bacon rounds out this healthy (NOT) breakfast.  It was a big hit with the kids!

Wyatt is taking mini Fruit Roll-Ups for his party at daycare.  I just found out last night that you can actually order personalized Fruit Roll-Ups with any images or sayings you want.  I wish I would have known this before so that I could have had Wyatt's picture on them!

I hate that I have to miss Abby's class party but Casey is taking off work to be there with her.  I'm sure she will have lots of fun!  She is wearing her cute little Valentine shirt that we got from Gymboree last year and matching hair clips. 

Casey and I usually make a dinner reservation at one of our favorite restaurants for a kids-free evening, but he has a cold and isn't feeling well, so we are postponing it for a few weeks.  Something to look forward to in the coming weeks!

Happy Heart Day!!!

Valentine's Day Chair Backers

Are y'all already tired of me posting about Valentine's Day yet?  It's still a few weeks away, but I wanted to prepare ahead for it since I'm starting work (aka: student teaching) on Feb. 7.  I mentioned a while back how much I loved these chair backers from Pottery Barn Kids.

Aren't they precious?  I really wanted to order them but thought I could make them cheaper.  And then when I decided to just order them instead of spending the time to make them, they were sold out.  Story of my life!

Well, I did go ahead and make them.  Granted they aren't nearly as perfect as the PBK ones, but my kids love them all the same.  I found THIS wonderful tutorial that helped me achieve my goal. 

Here are the two I made for my kids.  They look wonky in this picture but actually look better in person.  I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination so there are definitely some imperfections!

This is the lining of Wyatt's bag.  I was originally going to use this one for Abby's but decided to go with something else.  I did the inset heart on the front in the same fabric.



Here is the lining of Abby's bag.  I knew I would regret using the soft minky fabric.  It's beautiful and soft but it is SO difficult to work with.  It is so slippery and I had the worst time trying to get the seams to stay lined up.  I just finished another project with it and had no idea what I was getting myself into!  If anyone has any tips for working with it, please let me know.

Instead of inseting the heart on Abby's bag, I appliqued it on and topstitched around it.  Then I used iron-on, flocked letters to personalize them.  Easy peasy!

I've already bought all the goodies to fill the bags with, so I can sit back and relax until Valentine's Day.  {Unless I come across something else that I just HAVE to make. ;) }

Linking up with:

Valentine's Day Decor

Yes, already!  I had originally planned on waiting until the first of February but I decided to just put it up.  Now, I'm not one of those people who needs a special day to express my love for my family, but I do love making things festive.  So, without further ado...

The mantle.  I found this heart garland at Michael's and made some wired ribbon bows to attach to the ends to dress it up a little.  The hurricane vases filled with coffee beans are leftover from Christmas.  I wrapped some of the wired ribbon around them to make them a little more festive.  I changed out the floral arrangement in the watering can with some (fake) pink carnations.  I found the adorable "Keep Calm and Love On" sign here.  I just printed it out and stuck it in a frame.

After I took the picture above, I decided to add some heart confetti to the mantle.  Just to jazz it up a little! ;)

The centerpiece on my dining room table.  I flanked this pretty teapot my neighbor gave me a while back with some mini tulip arrangments.  I placed everything on this hand-tatted, heirloom lace runner.  (Just kidding, I got it at Walmart years ago).  I can reuse the flower arrangments for Easter.

I added some pink tulle and some little felt hearts embellished with heart stickers to the chandelier above the table.

I made some tissue paper pom poms to hang above the hutch.  I messed up the big white one, so I just place it in a vase.  It's kinda weird, so I'll probably change it up.

More of the same wired ribbon from the mantle tied around some candleholders.  I just love this ribbon!



One of the wreaths I made.  I put this one on the front door. 

The other wreath I made.  My walls are a muted, brick red color so it didn't really photograph well.  It looks nice in person, though.

That's about it.  I do have a Valentine's Day garden flag, but I didn't get a picture.  Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine's Day Wreaths

I love decorating for holidays and Valentine's Day is no exception!  I have been finding some inspiration from some of my favorite craft blogs and decided to make a couple of wreaths.

The first wreath I made was adapted from an idea I saw here.  It was super simple to make, and I already had most of the supplies on hand.  I did buy some new scrapbook paper, but that was it so the cost was minimal.

 Here is the scrapbook paper I used.  Sorry, not the best lighting.

Here's a close-up of my favorite paper.  I just love the vintage, retro illustrations!

The finished product.  The main difference between the inspiration wreath and mine is that I used a floral wreath form and wrapped it in ribbon.  I also didn't cover the hearts with clear glass glitter, but it would look really cool if I did.  I still might!

Onto the second wreath.  This one is a rag wreath made entirely of fabrics I already had on hand.  And a wire hanger.  How easy is that?!  Here is the link for my inspiration wreath.

My finished wreath.  I really like this one!  It came together in less than an hour.  The most time consuming part is cutting and tying the fabric, but it was a good excuse to sit down and watch a favorite show!

How precious are these chairbackers from Pottery Barn Kids?  Love them.  I saw them a week or so ago on the website and thought I could probably make them for cheaper.  Then I decided that I didn't have time to make them and checked back on the website and they're sold out.  (Boo)  Anyway, I started searching around and found this awesome tutorial.  I went out and bought the materials and am almost finished with my first one, so I'll be sure and post when it's all done. 

Anyone else decorate for Valentine's Day or am I the only  lunatic that does one?