Busy Busy!

Is it really almost February?  I swear I think time this year is in fast forward! 

This year right after we got home from D.C. (like...yesterday?), I took all the Christmas decorations down.  I was glad to have my house and some space back, but it felt really sad and boring.  All the lights, color and greenery went to nothing but plain walls and an empty mantle.  So, I decided to bask in all the loveliness I could take and began decorating for Valentines Day.  Nothing like pink hearts to happy-up your house!  I am using two little crafts I've spent some time on lately as the basis. 

I'm really into wreaths right now.  And I LOVE the thought of using them for things other than Christmas!  So I decided to try to make a few that can work for Valentines.  My first attempt was a coffee filter wreath I saw on a blog I follow (Nesting Place).  LOVE IT.

Start with a cheapo straw wreath and some (note: A LOT) standard coffee filters.

Get your glue gun and get ready to not be able to feel with your finger tips for a few days.  Fold filters into fourths or eighths and start gluing.  (if you have kids this will be a 3 day project.  If you don't, probably a couple hours).

This is where you get tired and want to give up...don't.  Its totally worth it.  Pick up that phone and tweet about it or send a picture to some friends...accountability for what it looks like in the end, ya know?

 And after all your work....viola!  A beautiful, puffy, shabby chic wreath that you can use for just about any occasion.  I had this one tied with a Christmasy ribbon on my back door for Jesus' birthday.  Now it is simply hanging with a ribbon taped (yes, taped) behind it and a cardboard glitter heart sitting inside.

Add some milk glass (weakness) and a few twigs and you've got yourself a whimsical winter mantle.

And now...for the other.  Start with another wreath form.  I used a straw one but I'd recommend a foam one since it is more uniform.  Then I found some yarn left over from some crocheting projects.  

Now start wrapping!  

Here is a picture of my almost finished wreath.  It would have been done by now but my yarn keeps getting tangled up from someone using it as a jump rope.....

Happy Valentines Day!!