Sewing with ♥ : :

This weekend was another busy one spent making mostly etsy orders during my sewing time, but we did find a little stint both on Saturday and Sunday for some handmade holiday sewing. Valentine's Day has always been a favorite in our house and here on my blog for crafting. My celery stamping project remains in my top ten most popular posts! But really we all just want a reason to keep the house looking festive after the Christmas tree comes down and these slow, cold winter days present lots of time for creating!

First, we made a few Valentine's Day versions of my crown of flowers. I have enough flowers made to offer a few for sale later in the week! If you happen to have a Valentine that you think might like one, feel free to put an order in!



I'm very happy to have decided on a final special use for what's left of these spools of recycled rope I purchased from Anthropologie a couple of years ago. I love how it finishes off these crowns!



There were a few fox pillow orders made as well! I especially like this one with the burgundy bow and Daisy Janie's Tilly Mumsy in Dusk for the backing!





On Sunday Haila and I had a sewing session date, this time she made a quick heart felt garland! My boys and I have made this garland before, first discovered on Betz's wonderful blog two years ago, oh my! You can find her tutorial here on Craftzine, it's so quick & fun! I knew it would make the perfect decor sewing project for a newbie to tackle!



We started with just one 9" x 12" piece of wool blend felt, a spool of red Aurifil, some red & white Divine Twine, and our cutting tools!



Two quick stitches later, a little measuring & cutting, and she had made a dozen hearts!



I love, LOVE this photo! We had some fun with black & white focal editing and I had to share it!



In just a matter of minutes, after carefully threading her hearts onto the twine, she had made her very first strand of garland! Yes!



Making this for yourself or with a little one eager to start sewing, will surely start you're February off right! We highly recommend it!

Happy sewing!  ♥ Maureen

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought it would be fun today to share a post dedicated to some of our most favorite Valentine's Day decorations and crafts that we've made and shared here. Here we go...

Celery Stamp Roses! I still remember the look on my kids faces when we tried this little experiment of ours. It worked so well and was SO much fun!



My Quilted Heart Throw Pillow, you can find the tutorial for this project right here.



Our Heart Felt Garland. I made three of these, they were so much fun! This project was inspired by the amazing Betz White!



My son Jacob and I made these bakers twine pom poms together last year. A pompom first for the both of us!



Our Warm Hearts. The tutorial for these is available right here. My kiddos still have them and occasionally will ask me to heat them up in the microwave.



My new Improv Valentine Mini Quilt! Thank you for all the kind comments yesterday, you made my day!!



Last Year's Valentines -- project by Noodlehead, tutorial available here.



My most recent tutorial -- A Valentine Appliqued Apron Set, but definitely not just for this holiday! We plan to wear ours until we wear them out!

I hope some of these projects might inspire some of you! 

I wish you all a beautiful day filled with lots and lots of L.O.V.E!

♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥ : :

I hope you all are feeling loved today! My husband and kids have really made this years Valentine's Day something very special -- the best one yet! We all had such a blast making our handmade decorations, warm hearts, and Valentine's, I'm sad to see it end. Hopefully they will embrace the next holiday with just as much enthusiasm.

A few special moments I captured from the crafting...



And, our favorite Valentine's -- project by Noodlehead, tutorial available here. The boys wrote their names in code ( if you're wondering what the numbers are all about :)



Aren't they so sweet? Wishing you a great day filled with love!
♥,
me and my little Valentines

Warm Hearts : :

Earlier today my two youngest and I decided to do a little crafting together. What we made, we are calling "warm hearts" -- named by Jacob and loved by all of us. This turned out to be the perfect project, for this snowy day, so I had to share! Here is what we did...



What you'll need -- basic sewing supplies (sewing machine, scissors, needle, thread), scrap fabric, wool felt scraps, and flax seed, ours is a combination of flax and a bit of sesame seed. (You can also add lavender, chamomile, or any other aromatic ingredients that you would add when making a sachet.)



After the kids picked out their fabrics (warning : : this can take a while : ), we cut two large hearts from the wool felt and then a smaller heart from the fabric. I first, zigzag stitched the fabric heart to the top of one of the wool felt hearts. Next, putting the two wool felt hearts right sides facing, I stitched around the hearts, leaving a one inch opening.



Simply turn the fabric right side out and begin to fill with your seed and aromatics through the opening until you reach your desired fullness.



I let the kids do this all by themselves, they loved it!



Finally, stitch the opening closed -- by hand or with your sewing machine. Warm in microwave 30 seconds to 1 minute.



And, voila! You have a warm heart for your little one to snuggle with.



Perfect for snow days and Valentine's day!



For more Valentine's Day gift ideas, visit these links by simply clicking on the photo! Enjoy!!

Is it February yet?

I can't believe how excited my littles are about Valentine's Day this year, with Haila leading the pack! You would think a jolly man, dressed in a red suit was coming with bags full of presents. They are demanding decorations everywhere and daily crafts, which is fine with me, but I was not at all prepared. So,we had to get creative with what we have -- Celery? Yup, it works and was really fun!



See how when you cut the stalk it looks like a rose. (I happen to know this works with bunches of leafy lettuce, too.) We stamped away and have glittered them -- I'll be sure to share the finished product once we're completely finished and Valentine's Day gets closer.



On another note, I finished up a few more felt pillows yesterday and added them to my shop. I think I am just going to make a tea pot one and then this set will feel complete. And, maybe a cupcake, too? In my last post everyone thought that the ice cream cone was a cupcake and I really like that idea. Thanks!



My yummy cake pillow was also picked up in this sweet treasury, isn't it a cute collection?



Happy February creating! ♥,  Maureen


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