Valentine's Day Hearts

I have been noticing pretty fabric hearts everywhere...on blogs, on Etsy, and of course, on Pinterest. 

Once again, I,  better known as the girl who can't sew,  decided to throw all caution to the wind and make some fabric hearts.

--I used fleece because that's what I had on hand.
--I watched a couple of You Tube tutorials that taught me how to sew a whip stitch & blanket stitch by hand.
--With my own two hands, the girl who can't sew, came up with fleece hearts that I'm pretty happy with.

Wanna see them?

 I sewed each little pearl & bugle bead on by hand.  I may have gone cross-eyed in the process, but I did it.  lol

 

Not necessarily perfect,  but I love them anyway. 

Have you made any fun crafts in honor of Valentine's Day?

Thanks for visiting me today. I do appreciate all of your visits & kind comments.

Linking to:
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
Valentines Party at Cheap Crafty Mama
Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime
Tip Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles
Your Cozy Home Party at Cozy Home Scenes
Winter Blues Wednesday at DIY by Design
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Show it Off Thursdays at The Ornament Place

Winter Snow Tablescape

Considering the fact that we now have snow on the ground, I thought it would be nice to put together a Winter Snow tablescape.  Come on in for a mug of hot cocoa and a cupcake.

Dessert plates & mugs from the Oneida Factory Outlet.  Silverware from Christmas Tree Shop.  Dinner plates (or chargers as I'm using them here) are my everyday Corelle dishes.

I love the colors in this plate.

Ivory and silver berry picks along with some glittery snowflake picks from The Dollar Tree make a pretty centerpiece.

I snatched the silver snowflake candleholders off of my Winter mantel.

Mmmm....cupcakes.

So come on and join me.  It'll help take the chill off, I promise. 

My daughter & I are going to the theater tonight (we're seeing Mamma Mia), so I'll link up later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Sharing with:

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

My Style Report

I just have to give my 2 cents on the Golden Globes, as if my opinion matters.  lol

I love, I mean really love, award shows.  The little girl who played with "Fashion Plates" as a kid (remember those?), has never stopped loving fashion.  

I have to say, this year, I wasn't wowed by a whole lot of gowns.   Most celebs looked pretty, but few really stood out.  Here are some of my favorites:

Jessica Alba

The ladies of The Help, Viola Davis

and Octavia Spencer

Pretty and age appropriate, Ariel Winter



Claire Dannes (although I did love this more from behind than front)



Charlize Theron

   

  

Emma Stone (at first I thought maybe a tad too old looking for her, but it's soooo gorgeous nonetheless)  

So there you have it, my 2 cents worth.   I can't wait to hear what they'll have to say on the Fashion Police tonight.  They can be vicious, for sure, but I like to watch it anyway.

Ciao friends....

The Tale of the Tablecloth

Sometimes, things just don't work out how I planned them.

You see, we have a round end table in our living room that belonged
to my in-laws.

It has taken a beating over the years. However, since the table was from Ethan Allen, I just couldn't bring myself to paint it.  And truthfully, the table is sort of ugly anyway and paint might not have improved it that much.

Instead, I found a pretty burlap tablecloth on Etsy. Before Christmas, I decided to treat myself & order it. (I also sent my husband to the glass place to have a round glass made for the tabletop.)

It arrived late last week and upon opening the box, I got a little worried. It seemed alot bigger than I thought it would be. It was, in fact, a little too big. It was also, in fact, bulky with a capital B.

My husband scoffed at it  and asked, "You like that ugly burlap thing?" I, of course, declared my love for all things burlap.

I think the bulkiness of the cloth along with the fact that our two couches pretty much blocked the whole table anyway, made this tablecloth business seem foolish. (This is the corner where the table usually sits.)

With my husband's comment echoing in my head, along with the price tag of the cloth & glass top on my mind, I was determined not to panic.

I decided to move the table into the other room. It fit perfectly and I feel like it really belonged in here all along.

Don't you agree?

So, you see, despite my long drawn out story....Sometimes things don't work out how I planned. Sometimes, they surprise me & work out even better.

Happy weekend!

Linking to:  Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Winter Blues Wednesday at DIY by Design
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Paper Snowflake Tutorial

When I posted my Winter mantel a few days ago, several of you requested a tutorial of how to make the paper snowflakes that I used in my banner.   I'm no tutorial expert, but I'll give it a try.

Do you remember making paper snowflakes that looked like this when you were a kid?  (From notebook paper no less!)

I remember seeing pretty snowflakes, ones that were round or star-shaped, but could never figure out how to make them.  Remember we didn't have the internet back then!

Just before Christmas, one of my students gave me a snowflake that looked like the one above.  Grateful though I was, it stirred up my old childhood wish to make pretty snowflakes.   

Needless to say, I finally learned how to make them (some 30 years later) and once I got started, I couldn't stop!

Ok, tutorial time, get ready for lots of pictures.  It's very dark here, so I apologize for the quality.

Step 1.  You need to start out with a square piece of paper.  I made all sizes, but this one is 8" x 8".

Step 2.  Fold this square into a triangle.

Step 3.  Fold the triangle over again into another smaller triangle.

Step 4.  Make sure the point of the triangle faces down, like so.

Things might get a little tricky for the next few steps, but hopefully the pictures will help you.

Step 5.  Take one side of the triangle and fold it over one-third of the way.

Step 6.  Take the other side of the triangle and fold it over again.

Step 7.  Turn the piece over to the back side and cut off the pointed ends.

Step 8.  Now take your shape and just start cutting rounded shapes, triangles, deep V's, whatever you like.  Just be careful not to cut away all the edges. 

This is what mine looked like when I was done cutting.



Step 9.  Gently open your shape and see your pretty snowflake creation!  This is the fun part because you never know what you're going to get.

You can make all different sizes and styles just by altering all the little cuts you make.  Like they say, no two snowflakes are alike. 

Have fun and see you soon!



Winter Mantel 2012

Our weather has been absolutely all over the place lately.

Last Monday, we had a few inches of snow.
By Tuesday night, we had temps in the negative numbers.
Wednesday, showed us a high of 5 degrees.
Saturday, we had a high of 47 degrees. 47 degrees. In January. In Central New York.

This Winter is becoming one of the craziest ever!

All that weather talk aside, it is indeed Winter and time for me to share my Winter mantel with you.

I tried to keep it fairly simple, although simple is not always best for this large mantel.

I was so excited to have recently learned how to make paper snowflakes that weren't rectangular in shape, I had to play around and make that banner.

No matter what the weather, I hope you have a warm (& cozy) day!

Linking to:
A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday
Homemaker on a Dime for Creative Bloggers Party & Hop
DIY by Design for Winter Blues Wednesday
Potentially Beautiful for Winter Mantel Party
52 Mantels for Thursdays are YOUR Days

Lightening Up

As a child, my Mom always left our Christmas decorations up until Little Christmas.  Little Christmas is what we called it, but I have seen many of you refer to it as Three Kings Day.  It is also known as The Epiphany.  It takes place on January 6 and celebrates the visit of the Three Kings to Baby Jesus.

As an adult, I hesitate to say, I have never left my decorations up until Little Christmas.   I just prefer to have everything packed safely away while I've got the extra time off between Christmas and New Year's.  

As much as I love having my home decorated for the holidays, something about lightening things up afterwards is really appealing to me.   

 

Lightening up makes me happy!  

I hope this first week of the New Year is a wonderful one for each of you.   Thanks for stopping by. 

Linking to:

Marty's Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life