...loving the hearts...

so the kids and i are staying busy getting ready for valentine's day and having so much fun in the process! i decided that valentines is so easy for me to enjoy because there is literally nothing else going on right now. i love christmas, but it almost seems like i'm so busy running around shopping and wrapping and planning that it just flies right by...so i'm loving the fact that we have nearly a month until valentine's day...and can just enjoy baking and doing some fun little crafts here and there.

emerson loves these little window stick-ons and drives her brother crazy because she messes up his designs by pulling them off over and over again. he's finally given up trying to convince her to leave them alone...

we made some cute little waxy window hearts...thanks to martha, of course! they're so easy...you just want to peel off the wrappers of some pink, red, and purple crayons. we used about 10 crayons total...and had PLENTY. so you really don't need to use many. then get a little pencil sharpener & sharpen away.

then we sprinkled the shavings on to some wax paper and covered it with another sheet of wax paper, just like so...

and then iron over it until the crayon shavings are melted. (and just make sure the iron is on the lowest setting.) after that, we made some different sized heart templates and traced them onto the wax paper & cut them out...punched a little hole in them, attached some clear fishing line...

and they were ready to hang! they were fun...and they especially look cute during the day when the sun is shining through...

*and i have to admit that i have a case of ocd...i know these pictures aren't the best quality and it drives me crazy. i know my aperture was set too low...and that's why not everything is in focus...but i seriously get frustrated that i am still taking BLURRY pictures. so to my dear photography friends...please feel free to lend some words of encouragement or insight...because it really drives me crazy. i feel like i sit and make adjustments to my settings and i'm just not getting the quality of pictures that i want. practice makes perfect...but i'm practicing and am still having problems...aaaahhhhh!!!*

...finally...

some may be wondering what i've been up to that has kept me away from the blogging world for so long. let's just say i've been plenty busy...and haven't felt like taking the time to upload pictures. so now i'm back...and here's one project i'd like to tackle before the end of next week...thanks to my good friend for giving me the idea...which she got off of ali edwards' blog, who got the idea from martha...(surprise, surprise!) anyway...it's an advent calendar...i bought the boxes from my local craft store...and then bought some christmas paper, paint, and number stickers. then instead of tacking them straight onto the wall like others have done, i found an old cork board that i'm going to try and salvage into something cute...we'll see how it turns out. hopefully it does...i'll keep you posted.

(photo courtesy ali edwards)

then of course we have zac's 4th birthday coming up! so fun...but it's keeping us busy around here! seeing as how zac thinks animals are pretty cool, we decided on a jungle sa"four"i party. it should be fun. it's zac's first "friend" party...so he's excited about it. hopefully we can pull it off...we'll see how it goes! :)

...bat craze...

i'm really liking bats this halloween...even though i haven't made any yet. i've had the paper sitting on my dresser for like two weeks now, so i think it's about time i get my act together and actually DO it. i'm hoping that here in the next day or two, zac & i can copy one or two of these cute ideas from martha!! you can click here or here for some fun downloadable bat templates.

...banner how-to...

a few months ago, i posted pictures of this banner and this banner that i made for kalle's & emerson's birthdays. i said that i would post instructions on how to do it...and lo and behold it has taken me like 6 months to get around to doing it. weird i know! better late than never, right?

so you'll want to print off some letters spelling out whatever it is you're wanting to say. i sometimes like to use different fonts for each letter...but it all depends on how much time i have because that is a little more time consuming. you'll want to make sure and space the letters out on the page so you have room to cut them out. i usually can fit around 6 letters on each 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper.

i like to round the edges of my letters. this isn't something you HAVE to do, but i just like the look of it for most of the banners i make.

i also like to distress the letters. it just gives it a nice finishing touch...

then what you'll want to do, is cut down your 12 x 12" sheets of paper to a regular size sheet of paper which is 8.5 x 11". also, i usually like to use around 3-4 different styles of paper...all coordinating of course!

flip the paper over onto the side that won't be seen and make a marking in the middle of the longest side of the paper. this would mean, you'll make a marking at the 5.5" mark.

then straight across from the marking you just made (on the other longest side of the paper), you want to make two more markings. they will be at the 2.75" & 8.25" marks. is this making any sense at all??! scroll down to the next picture, it'll make more sense then.

so you'll draw some lines, connecting the marks you just made like this...and then cut along the lines. super easy, if it sounds complicated, it's just because i don't know how to explain the simplest of tasks. after you have cut all the triangles out, tape the letters on and whatever little embellishments you want to add. i also usually distress the triangles as well...

then you'll want to place them out on some ribbon, just to get them all centered right. i like to use a ribbon that's around 1" thick, it works great...but i haven't used anything else to be honest. once you've laid them out and know where you want them placed use some REALLY good double stick tape to adhere them to the ribbon. if the tape you have doesn't work all that well, i would try using a hot glue gun.

also, make sure to leave some extra ribbon at the ends of the banner for hanging purposes. i made this banner for a friend of mine who was throwing a baby shower...so this isn't really the finished product...i think it would have been cute to add some sort of extra ribbon/tule/flowers or something to the ends...just to frill it up a bit. it's up to you though!

anyway...hopefully this atleast gives you an idea as to how i make the banners. they're fun and are a nice little touch to those special occassions!

...paper birds...

i saw these cute paper birds in the latest issue of better homes and gardens...and thought they'd be a fun accent to my spring decorations...plus they're easy & cheap!! if you want the template so you can make some of your own, click here...