Valetine's Decor

I've still got some tweaking to do, but William pulled down my decorations from storage the other day which gave our house a more festive face. Nothing much, just little things here and there. Most of them were from my teaching days so it was fun pulling them out and remembering. I bought most of my decorations my second year...when I could finally breathe past curriculum and into the fluffy fun stuff. Annnnnnd then I was laid off. Heh. Still, our home has been a great new place for them.

Our mantle:

I have a slight obsession with my mom's cricut machine right now. I used it for this banner and another one for a baby shower recently and am in love! It's so easy and has endless possibilities for using it. I hung them on some jute string with some clothes pins.

 Then I pulled out this old Pespi tray that I found while antiquing {that's a verb now, right?!} almost a year ago. It was sitting in our garage. I still have other plans for it, but I brought it in a few days ago, determined to use it now.

Then I just started to fill it with random stuff we had around the house. Boxes from the packaging of earrings I just bought, a ceramic bowl with twine, a bird house that was already on the mantle before {$1 section of Micheal's}, a bird, and a vase {$1 section from Target} from my vday stash.

To the left...

I had some straws left over from E's party and put them in a mason jar style glass, wrapped a vase with some red rick-rack type ribbon, and put some red flowers in. I spray painted the two frames on the mantle and on this side, put this free print in it.

On the right...

An "S", empty jar awaiting to be filled with...? and

one of my favorite maternity pictures. Ezra's bright eyes match our headboard. And our shared pose that was completely unscripted just kills me!

Our chalkboard area got some red highlights.

I got these red Chinese lanterns in China town in the city. Does that make them authentic? Either way, I love them. In fact, they may stay post-love month. My little nook with my heart bunting is still lacking. I ordered some prints in 5x7 {???} instead of my normal 8x10. Frame Fail. I just reorder them in the correct size. Sheesh.

And lastly, our little nook by the stairs.

Another lantern, paper hearts hung by floss, and a pitcher full of flowers.

{Hi!} So I basically just used what we already owned. I'd love to score some new items on clearance afterward or try to do another craft {maybe a wreath?}, but if not, no sweat. I still have a few more lanterns that I'd love to find homes for. Maybe somewhere upstairs?

Hope you are enjoying your LOVE month!

Recently Purchased Pretties

So, I must confess...I'm not above retail therapy. I've been a very good girl up until recently on that front. We've already declared as a family that this year will be a fallow year as we re-build our savings, W focuses on his first year at the firm, and I caring for two little ones which includes a very dependent baby. That trip to Hawaii will have to wait until next year. So these were very small purchases, but fun ones nonetheless. I needed a little bit of fun...fun pretties in the mail will do the trick.

I'm looking forward to some packages on our doorstep these next few days...

 

I bought this fabulous card for W for love day. When I saw this, it just screamed perfect! The pipe, the hat, and the saying...fits W to a tee. :)

Theo told me he'd rock this hat if I bought it for him. So did I hesitate to press purchase? Heck no!

We're cooking up something memorable for Mama Judy's 70th birthday so these vintage style envelopes will come in handy. I'll have some extras so I'm excited to mail to friends! How fun to send something in one of these in place of a boring ol' white one.

This delightful little pair proves that sponsorships really do work. Ha. It's my first purchase off someone's blog--there was a 10% discount so I thought "why not?"

What's brightening up your winter?!

Made My Day

I saw this in my Instagram news feed yesterday and was so delighted!

It's so fun to inspire others, especially when they share that with you. And of course, her display is SO much cuter than mine!

Happy Friday, folks!

DIY Heart Bunting

I got the stomach flu last week! The worst kind..2 am to 8 am. Isn't being sick so much yuckier in the middle of the night? Man, it was so gnarly and almost took me the rest of week to recover from. Bleh.

Anywho, I knew my recovery was almost complete when I felt up to making this sweet little number.

Heart Bunting!

I have some sticks that we as a family gathered one walk during the summer. I was looking for the perfect two sticks for another project {not quite completed...it was right before Theo worked his way out into the world, and I haven't picked it up again...yet}. During our hunt, some other sticks made their way into our stroller. So I put them into a glass vase and onto our cabinet. There they are in the bottom left of this winter decor picture...

When decided how to decorate them for next month, I immediately thought "bunting!" I've been wanting to try making one and welp, we have no parties in the near future for me. So it'll have to be for Valentine's Day then!

Supplies:

mini heart templates 

{I used some of my mom's scrapbook paper that had tiny hearts and cut two out. you could just free hand it}

pencil

scissors

red cardstock paper

baker's twine in red/white {I get mine here}

glue dots or some other adhesive {double sided tape, glue stick, rolled tape, etc}

Figure out the distance you want your bunting and tie off the twine on both sticks

Trace your hearts with the tops touching and cut them out. Then fold along the top.

Put hearts on twine to get spacing.

Add glue dots to one side and press together. Voila! You've got yourself a pretty little garland.

Totally doable, right?!