Melted Crayon Valentine Hearts

Hi Friends!

It’s hard to believe we are already into February. All of my kids are talking about Valentine’s Day at school so I surprised them the other day with a fun Valentine’s Day craft at home…a sneaky way for me to get more fun Valentine’s décor up in my house! This idea is far from new or original…in fact I got it from none other than Martha Stewart herself. None-the-less it’s a fun one!

Melted Crayon Valentine Hearts

They are super easy, not too messy, and come out looking so cool! Even my doubtful 7 year old son asked to make another and another, surprising even himself!

We started with a box of older crayons

Peeled back the paper

 

And started shredding over a piece of wax paper

 

We used several tools to shred the crayons: a pencil sharpener, the blade from the pencil sharpener when it broke off, cheese graters, and a butter knife.  The pencil sharpener worked the best while it lasted…but it broke so early I didn’t even snap a picture of it. It was a 50 cent plastic one, so no wonder!

At any rate, after a bit we had collected quite a lot of crayon shreds on the wax paper

 

Then fold the wax paper over to lay across the top of the crayon shreds

Place on top of a folded towel (or ironing board) and then a brown grocery bag

Also place the brown grocery bag on top and then iron

The first time I ironed I set the iron to 6 (out of 7) out of habit. It didn’t take long to realize that’s waaaay too high! You only need to have it set on low to melt the crayons, and it doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds.

We used cookie cutters to trace the shapes and cut them out.

Attached them to fishing line and hung!

The pictures don’t really capture all their beauty when the sun shines in, but every time I stand at my kitchen sink, I can’t help but smile. I know who made each and every heart and my heart is warmed remembering how much fun we had creating these.

So now with my impromptu Valentine’s Day Mantel

My Valentine’s Day Banner up

and of course, my favorite wreath

We are ready for Valentine’s Day!  Smile!!

Hugs, Celeste

Driftwood Mirror

Oh hello there! Thanks for stopping by! Long time, no see. 

Last summer my kids and I gathered a garbage bag full of driftwood from the beaches of Oregon. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d use it, but I had plenty of ideas: driftwood star like Pottery Barn’s,

 

a driftwood Christmas Tree like Restoration Hardware’s,

a driftwood wreath like Cottage & Bungalow’s? 

I think they are all SUPER CUTE. But alas, the driftwood was an eyesore sat on the picnic table in our front courtyard for 6 months! With the first rain of the season approaching (sorry to the rest of the country, but CA hasn’t had rain this winter yet!), my husband suggested that I finally do something with all the driftwood before it gets soaked.  

So we gathered the driftwood off the table, brought it inside and got to work.  I started with an old mirror, a hot glue gun, the box of driftwood and a big ‘ol cuppa tea.  (Do you recognize the mirror? This might jolt your memory.)

At first I thought I’d make a plan. I’d lay it all out. Figure out where each piece would go before I glued.

Yea, that plan lasted all of 2 pieces. The rest of the mirror was left up to chance. It was like a big puzzle. My kids enjoyed searching through the box for “just the right piece”. They were so excited whenever I used their chosen piece. Then they got bored and the sticks turned into guns.  How does this happen?

At any rate…progress began….

And finally a couple of hours later:

Here’s a few close ups:

  

It was looking kinda lonely up there on the mantel all by itself, so I pulled out a few things I had laying around…

I bought these rock postcards about 15 years ago, when I first started dating my husband and we took a romantic trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea (ahhh, those were the days!) I have been saving them in a little box all these years wondering what to do with them…and they finally made their debut today.

Ever since then, I started collecting heart rocks myself. My collection has gotten quite large and usually sits on my kitchen window sill.  But a few were lucky enough to be highlighted on the mantel this month!

Well that’s all for now folks. I wasn’t really planning on doing a “Valentine’s Day Mantel” but it just worked out that way. I’m loving the early bloomers collection at Cost Plus World Market, so come Feb. 15 it will likely change again.  Smile!

Hugs, Celeste

Beachy Mantel Details {summer mantel}

Oh, this is just too exciting!  I’m gearing up for my first ever mantel linky party!  When I first started blogging last year, I didn’t know what a linky party was and I didn’t have a mantel.  Since then I’ve done quite a bit of partying and decided I *needed* to install a mantel so I could keep up with the Jonses jump on the band wagon. {To see my mantel installation click here…and to see when I painted the fireplace white click here!}

Please allow me to give you a tour of my mantel, all dressed up for its first ever linky party!!

 My goal was a beach theme with aqua accents…so I was thrilled when I found this wonderfully shaped aqua bottle at Crate and Barrel. And, it was on sale for 50% off!

Next I used a couple of vases I had stashed away from flower deliveries over the years and wrapped them with jute rope {tutorial coming soon}.  I filled them with sand/shells.  I also filled the apothecary jar {which I picked up at World Market with my $10 off coupon} with sand and shells. I got the shells in  a huge bag from Michaels, with my 40% coupon. And finally I topped them with battery operated tea lights from World Market.

Speaking of coupons, did you know you can do a Google search for coupons before you hit the stores?  Well, at least the stores listed above.  I can always find coupons for 30-40% off for Michaels & Jo Ann’s.  Also, World Market usually has a $10 off $30 coupon floating around too.

Moving along…

 This water pitcher is probably 40+ years old. As a child, I can always remember this little guy filled with cold water in our refrigerator. I was lucky enough to inherit it a few years ago and have finally put it to use again! It’s fun to think of my childhood each time I glace over at it.

And the starfish is also from Michaels.  Waaaay cheaper than from Pottery Barn.  Well, I actually should take that back…PB Kids had a set of 4 the other day for under $20…that’s around the same price as this one.

I think this is my favorite find! I just love this jar. I found it at World Market, advertised as a bee catching jar. You are supposed to put something sweet smelling in it and I guess the bees fly in the bottom but can’t get out? Well, for me it was perfect for the mantel! Just look underneath, there is a hole the perfect size for a votive to sit inside {just make sure you use battery powered votives, not the real thing or you could cause a little explosion!}

See the hole in the bottom!

 

I told ya, it’s a wasp trap! But I think it’s too cute for those bad guys!  Plus, it’s aqua tinted….thumpity- thump goes my heart! Can you hear it? 

Next comes the sand dollars I’ve saved for 5 years since a good friend’s wedding. These were used for table assignments at their Hawaiian reception. {Our names are on the other side!}

Three little votive holders I made with jute string…and real candles this time!

Do you recognize this jar?! It’s one of the mason jars I painted myself. If you missed it, see the tutorial here.

Then I just filled it with beach glass which I picked up at Michaels.

{I started to raid my son’s own beach glass collection, which along with the beach rocks could have easily filled this jar…but he protested so it was just another excuse to go to Michaels. Bummer, huh!}

My son started to protest me taking this one out of his room…but when I promised to hang his new Star Wars posters I framed for him in its place {see them here} he quieted right down. This is an old PB Kids piece that I bought on HUGE sale like 6 years ago.

Finally that old pine mirror in the middle.  It’s been under my bed for the last, um, 9 years.  But not just 9 years under my bed…this is the 3rd house in which she’s sat patiently under my bed…just waiting for her chance again.  I’m thinking a very pale coat of turquoise would give her new life…we’ll see what I can come up with in the next couple of months…before it’s time to change this mantel for fall!

Now I’m not sure if you recall the first time I posted my finished mantel after building it, but I had a string of lights hanging from below:

They seemed kinda beachy to me…with their woven rattan look…reminds me of the ones Pottery Barn sells, but I got mine for half the price at World Market.  Here’s PB’s:

They’re cute, huh?  I liked them. But then I decided to take them down.  Why?  Well, I know that I want lights up there at some point during the year.  Christmas for SURE, maybe even Halloween/Thanksgiving….but I wanted the lights to be something extra special, not just an every day thing.  So I decided to take them down for the summer and most likely these exact ones will go up in the fall. What do you think?

So that’s it folks! My mantel’s ready to par-tay!! 

It’s gonna be fun changing it up with the seasons. Smile!