~diy hand stamped valentines~

i've been making my own valentines since i can remember.

as a kid i would use whatever we had available at home...

which wasn't much some years. a few years back i came

across one i'd made way way way back and

i had used pink toilet paper! 

what the?

do you remember when they used to make colored t.p.?

do they still? 

 

my mom always made ours too.

i'm sure that's where the seeds were planted for me.

i still have some of them that my mom made me.

i treasure them. 

 

some years i've gone all out and made spectacular valentines.

this year, i decided to keep it simple...at least for 

the ones i'll send my parents and siblings.

i have bigger plans for my own lil family's valentines this year.

 

i saw this idea awhile ago (i can't remember where) and 

thought the kids would have fun doing it.

i like it because it was super easy and cheap.

 

 heart shaped stamps with empty toilet paper rolls.

it looks something like this:

 

 just take the toilet paper rolls and bend them to

the shape you want, dip them in your paint and stamp away!

 

 

we did a couple different projects with this.

my kids each stamped a 12 x 12 piece of paper

and

we stamped these onto some blank pink and red greeting cards.

(i got the blank cards at target for $1/package)

 

 

 

these are the valentines we'll send out to our family.

for an art project that will appeal to kids (and adults) of every age,

try this!

we all had a blast with this!

it was cheap, easy, and believe it or not...

easy to clean up. 

i highly recommend using the washable paints for easy clean-up.

hope you all have fun getting your valentines craft on!

muah!

 

~turquoise-pearl-tassel necklace~

i love mixing elements that don't necessarily

go together, yet somehow they do. 

the eclectic taste of it....delicious.

turquoise. pearls. tassels. gold.

sounds like a lot...

(throw in some lace and velvet and it smells like a brothel).

the result turned out to be a 

simple, bohemian'ish vibe.

i made two of these yesterday.

birthday gifts for a couple of friends.

i think i need to make one for me too :)

~Embellished Shepherds Hook for Houseplants~

last weekend i blew the dust off my jewelry making supplies 
and attempted to make some birthday gifts 
for a few important ladies in my life. 

normally i have ideas coming left and right and 

i have to reign things in to hone in on the project i have in mind. 

this time....nothing.

although i had a strong desire to create something,

i had no creative inspiration.

i tried to force it.

 the end result of the earrings i made....

not good. like REALLY not good.

(susie-you'll be glad i went and bought you a necklace instead) 

in the past couple years i've only dipped into

 the creative parts of my brain sporadically.

i'm creatively out of shape.

i decided to ditch the gawd-awful earrings and re-group.

i needed to make something that i didn't have to think too hard about.

last summer while at a local garden store i saw 
some beautiful embellished shepherds hooks for houseplants. 

i've been wanting to make one ever since. 

in the end, i made two of them but only gave one away.

 my little lady and i have decided to do "a craft" (as she calls it) every weekend.
a couple weeks ago we made our own dream catchers (i'll share pics soon).
i think today we'll work on some valentines day projects.

hope you all have a great weekend!
-paula