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

A {nother} Fall Wreath

Hi Y’all! Happy {almost} Fall!

Ok, that was so cheesy I couldn’t resist! But seriously, there’s a crisp breeze in the air today, telling us fall is near.  I LOVE it!!!

As promised, I made another fall wreath for my front door. Do you recall the first one I made, almost solely out of burlap? If not, you can see how I made it here.

 

But alas, I wasn’t totally satisfied with how it looked against my black front door.  So I promised to make another one…

here ya go!

To make this, I started with some beige burlap fabric and cut it into 5 inch strips.  I folded the strips in half lengthwise like this:

Then I wrapped the strips around a 12” foam wreath.  I overlapped about halfway each time, coving up the cut edge, exposing the folded edge and about half of the fabric:

Once my wreath was covered it looked like this:

Next I made a bunch of fabric flowers just like I did for my burlap wreath. I followed the easy tutorial on Prudent Baby. 

I also used a handful of those Eucalyptus Tree Nuts with the little stars in the middle that my kids collected on a hike recently. 

Lots of hot glue and voila, a 2nd fall wreath to welcome a new season!

I like it on my front door much better than the first version:

Please, remind me to put “Do something about front door knob” on my SHORT to-do list!

And the little owl wreath?  It’s hanging over my mantel…which is not quite finished!  A few more minor details to complete and I’ll show you my fall mantel.  Smile!!

Hugs,

Celeste

If you want some more wreath inspiration, here are some others I have made this year.  Click on each picture to see the whole post:

A Fall Wreath

Hi friends!

School is in full swing around here, so that means I only have my twin girls home with me full time! With so much extra time on my hands, it’s time to ramp up my projects around here, don’t cha think?

No Bon Bons or soaps for this mama.

I took a look at my 2011 House Goals and realized one easy I have left is to paint my son’s room.  I need to get on that.  So I’m in the impossible painful process of choosing just the right color.  Do you recall how hard that is for me?  If not, see here.

At any rate…today I decided to tackle a much easier project than selecting a paint color, I made a fall wreath! I figured the 4th of July was long over and it was time to take down my red/white/blue wreath.  If you missed it, or just want a fun/easy wreath idea, see it here.  You can make a beautiful fall wreath with the same technique…perhaps with corduroy fabric or even burlap.  They’re so easy and cute, heck, you could make one for every month!

But I’ve had this jute rope sitting in my garage for months {thanks dad} and I have been wanting to make something with it.  Also, Cost Plus had the most adorable little felt owls the other day, and I needed an excuse to buy one {or two, hee hee}. So here you go, my fall wreath:

Here’s how I did it….

Fourth of July Rag Wreath

Hi and Happy Summer! 

It’s officially summer and has finally stopped raining in N. Cal, Yay!!

I have been sooo wrapped up in my master bedroom remodel, I have been neglecting the {kids, cooking, laundry, bathrooms} rest of the house/decorating for summer.  Then I saw this rag wreath the other day on Twin Dragonfly Designs and haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

I loved coming home every day to my Valentine’s Day Wreath; it made the front door so welcoming.  I figured I could adapt the rag wreath to make one for the 4th of July! 

I felt guilty about starting {yet} another project before finishing all of the other ones I have begun…so before I made this wreath today, I did a primer coat on all my picture frames and mirror. I am trying to finish my photo gallery wall which will sit on the picture ledge atop the board and batten in our family room.

 

And then I allowed myself to take a detour to the fabric store for my 4th of July Wreath!

Materials Needed:

~1 yard of red fabric

~1 yard of white fabric

~3/4 yard of blue fabric

~a foam (or any kind would work) wreath

Easy Peasy Directions:

I ripped the fabric into strips that were 2” wide by 14” long (I could get 3 strips per length of fabric…42” wide fabric)  I ended up using 50 strips of red, 50 strips of white and 39 strips of blue. 

Next I tied the strips onto the wreath in a simple knot.

I did 5 strips of red, then 5 white, then 5 red and so on. 

I alternated the knot placement to make it as full as I could.

And then I scrunched them all together.  And in just an hour I had a festive wreath to welcome guests {and myself}!

 

It makes me smile every time I come home!

Now I’m off to do a 2nd coat of spray paint on those frames.  Smile!

My {Pretty -n- Pink} Valentine's Day Wreath

While blogging around the other day I came across this Whimsical Valentine's Day Wreath that I thought was so cute!

 

Jen, at Tater Tots and Jello (don't ya love that blog name?!) always comes up with the cutest crafts.  Anyways, I thought I try to make one with fabric.

 

I picked up these fabrics from JoAnn's (my home away from home) and got right to work.

 

{I'm thinkin' that table needs a coat of paint.}

 

 

MATERIALS:

~fabric
~pinking shears- preferably sharp

~ruler
~hot glue gun
~knitting needle
~styrofoam wreath- 12 inch

 

STEP 1:

Cut out 50 100 150 4" x 4" squares

 

STEP 2:

Poke a knitting needle into {BUT NOT THROUGH!} the middle of a fabric square and apply some hot glue to the tip.

 

 

 

STEP 3:

Poke the fabric INTO the styrofoam about 1/4 inch.

 

 

and just keep gluing and gluing and gluing...

 

Here's the first 50 squares I cut {which I thought for sure would be enough.}

 

So I cut 50 more.

Still not even close to enough.

 

Then I decided that my mom's {love ya mom} 40 year old pinking shears were just not gonna cut it anymore. So back to JoAnn's I go.  And I got THESE:

and then cut 25 more. 

AHHHHHHHHHH. 

How did I ever cut the first 100 with those other scissors?

  Maybe that would explain the blisters on my fingers.

So I cut 25 MORE, 'cause I could.

A total of 150 squares. {Did you know I used to teach math.}

 

And finally, ended up with this:

 

 

 

Such a happy sight to come home to! 

Smile.

I loved the fabric from this wreath so much that I decided to make a
Valentine's Day Banner from it too!

Click HERE for the banner tutorial.

 

For more wreath inspiration, here are some others I’ve made.  Click on each picture to see the post:

 

I linked up at: