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Remember these from elementary school? How you fold a paper in half, cut out one half of a heart and then when you unfold it you magically have a whole heart? Well, I used the same technique with eco-fi felt to make these ornaments:
You may remember these from my previous Valentine post. I ended up with a lot of the first picture (outlines of hearts) and wanted to do something with them rather than throw them all away.

I've really been on a garland kick lately and so decided that that's what I would do with them. I folded the outlines in half again and cut out very narrow heart outlines. Combined with small white hearts, I laid out a pattern.


Then, I started to sew. You can either sew them horizontally like I did or vertically through the center of the hearts.





Our dog is always wondering what I am up to. Here she is, giving me a plaintive look while I lay out the finished garland.

Because the heart outlines are thin, they don't quite stand up when hung like a garland. See below:


They are still cute; however, I ended up sewing a ribbon on to one of the ends so that the garland can also hang vertically.

I have been working on some home decor items in celebration of Valentine's Day. As much as a part of me views it as a Hallmark Holiday (i.e. one that card companies make up to sell more product), the other part of me really enjoys taking the time to create some items of my own. The above photo includes a square chalkboard frame, a set of four Valentine hearts ornaments and part of a paper heart garland.






What are you making for the holiday?

2 chicks & a fancy owl

I've had a hard time letting go of the Christmas season this year. We finally took our tree down this weekend and I was tempted to leave it up another week. I saw these on Etsy and even though I knew they were gnomes, they still reminded me of Santa Claus and I favorited them right away.

bluemarblebeads

Red is one of my favorite colors and (thankfully) due to the Valentine season, it is quite prevalent. These beads look fabulous; I love the texture!

LindenAvenueDesigns

Another red bead...I can imagine making a necklace with these.

2 chicks & a fancy owl

Owls are one of my favorite animals. I like the simplicity of the white color with the more complex design.

*hangs head* Well, I haven't kept up with my New Year's goal for this week. However, it's been an extra busy week for me at the day job, plus some birthday celebrating for me. I'm back today with a few more favorites than usual.

NowVintage

I have a thing for the industrial. This fulfills that thing. When I have a house some day, I can just imagine setting up a little industrial room with these on a few choice lightbulbs.

Dellamorteco

These octopus candlesticks are also perfect for adding to the home if you want a touch of the sea or a bit of non-traditional decor. Personally I would put these in my bathroom to go with my sea theme.

odelae

Continuing with the sea theme, I happened upon this amazing notebook stitched through shells. What a great idea! I would have never thought of that.

Wander Sketch

I have been looking for some items to celebrate Valentine's Day and happened upon this mug. I'm a fan of mugs that have designs that run inside. They can even add a whole or broken heart to the design for whichever mood you're in.

Mud Puppy

I love all of the items made by Mud Puppy. I chose to show this one today because it is rather unique, with the crying baby face and the tangle of "hair" coming out the top.

TimberGreenWoods

Wooden heart confetti. Awesome.

That completes today's installment of Fave Finds. More to come later this week.

I was able to buy chalk tonight. Hooray!

As you can see from my last post, these are fairly easy to make. However, if you would like to purchase them, I have my first one listed on Etsy now (the one marked "Quinoa"). I will post more in the next few days.

This weekend, I used the rest of my Christmas money to purchase a can of chalkboard paint. I have had ideas for this for a long time but just hadn't had the chance to buy the paint. Unfortunately, a quick search of the Internet and Etsy shows that many people already have lots of products featuring this paint. Oh well, I'll still enjoy it! The above picture shows the final product. I decided to paint the lids because then you can still wash the jar in the dishwasher.



Above are the lids before painting. The picture below it shows the paint: Rustoleum Chalkboard.

I had to put three coats of the paint on, but it was well worth it.

I had the lids on paper towel but in hindsight I should have used a plastic bag. The lids stuck to the paper after I painted them. Oops.

The after. I am pleased with the results. Just a few more paint touchups and it will be all set.

The collection all together.

The next on my list to purchase is...chalk! I realized that once I got home from the store that I had forgotten to purchase the chalk to show off the newest "chalkboards". I'll have to post an update later once I have the chalk.

The latest in the line of NY scarves--I heart NYC. Enjoy it for Valentine's Day or if you just enjoy the color pink. 100 percent acrylic and vegan friendly.