Valentine's Day

Over the past few weeks I've started collecting white pitchers. I don't want them new, finding them in thrifts stores is the best for me. Now that Valentine's Day is coming up I'm filling them with flowers.
I only have 4 so far and those 4 I've had on the mantle above the fireplace and they were on my buffet in the dining room. This was during Christmas. I've been moving them around a bit and now I've split them up and they're on the mantle and on a little table by the front door as a happy welcome when you come in.


My daughter might have a bigger love for flowers than me so as soon as these die I'll have to buy some new ones. I hope I can find some peonies.

I found a little heart shape in a thrift store that just needed a little work.
Picture 1 is old school country.
Picture 2 is modern country.
Picture 1.  Picture 2.

And I found the best spot for it in the house!

But then I changed my mind again... But that's the fun of decorating, it's never done.

The driftwood wreaths I made got a little Valentine make over too. I just put some pink ribbon on it and the sheep got a little bow. Check out the link on how to make the wreaths.
http://dutchanddiy.blogspot.com/2013/12/driftwood-wreaths.html



The frame holds a free printable and it's so cute.
Find some inspiration on: http://www.craftionary.net/2012/01/75-valentines-day-free-printables.html
And the one I used you can find here: http://libby-bonjour.blogspot.com/2011/01/photobucket_26.html



2 Pitchers found their place by the front door. For now...

Find out here on how to make the wreath in the back.
http://dutchanddiy.blogspot.com/2014/01/paper-valentine-hearts.html

Hope to see you back in a few.

Paper Valentine hearts

We're getting ready for Valentine's Day around here!
After celebrating and decorating for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's now it's time for Valentine's Day. I've never celebrated this (small) holiday before but now that I have young kids I kind of feel it goes with the territory.

And of course my mantle screams for new decorations!

I got the kids involved in a little craft and other than that we'll just decorate it around the house a little bit.

I'll tell you how to make fun little paper hearts. You'll probably have all the materials laying around your house already.
You'll need coffee filters, washable markers, scissors and water.

Cut out your heart shape and start coloring. I folded the coffee filter in half before cutting. But of course you can free style it too :)
I put the colored hearts on a sheet of white paper and sprinkled drips of water on the hearts. With my fingers I mixed the colors a bit more. After that I put them on a cookie sheet to dry. 45 Minutes should do it.
I used ribbon to attach the cute little hearts to a wreath. And voila; the first Valentine decoration this year is made.

I used the wreath on a display near the front door. It gives a nice accent to the old wooden crate. See how I used my doilie bowl too there! http://dutchanddiy.blogspot.com/2014/01/got-doilie-chrochet-bowls.html

(My excuses for the screw holes in the wall. I just arranged a bunch of shelves)

I also made some blue and green hearts. Why not, it's my favorite 2 colors. For these hearts I had a garland planned but I put the holes too close together. Now the hearts just kind of fold. Don't do that! I'm gonna cut out new hearts and make new holes using the hole puncher. That should fix it!

Have fun making these. Kids will love to help.

Got doilie? Chrochet bowls

 

This project is so fun, easy and rewarding. Making these bowls is just a matter of minutes, it's the waiting for it to dry that takes a long time! I would recommend letting it dry overnight. Once done you will get so many uses out of it and you will really have something unique to show for. How about collecting jewelry on your bathroom vanity, showing off found pine cones on your coffee table. Or put it on a little table by the front door and put your keys in it. How about filling up a bowl with wooden letters or old spools. Let me know what you'll use it for.
                                              
Start with round doilies. Thrift stores are great for finding them if you yourself don't know how to make them. Use equal parts school glue and luke warm water and mix together in a bowl.
Turn plastic or ceramic bowls up side down. You can use different sizes so your new doily bowls are different too. I had to elevate some by using a tall glass so I could drape the doily over it without it touching the counter. I also put plastic wrap over the bowl so it would be easy to take the doily off once it was dry.                                 
Dip the doily in the glue mix. Make sure everything is soaked and then drape it over the bowl. Now you just wait, wait, wait and wait a little more.
The next day your bowls are ready to use!       
                                    
Don't forget to let me know what you plan on doing with them!