Valentine's Day Already?

I know it happens every year, but I was completely unprepared for Valentine's Day this time. Last week I kind of acknowledged that I should start preparing things when the V-Day class lists came home from school. However it wasn't until yesterday morning when my youngest son asked me what he was handing out that I really started to panic. Thank God for all of the crafty people out there who graciously share their creative ideas on the net! I did a quick search and stumbled upon an adorable idea for a V-Day card here.

So, here is my attempt at what I'm calling a Cupid Ninja Tootsie Pop Card.
I used the following materials - Tootsie Pops, white tissue paper, tape and red raffia ribbon.

I found a free image of a flying ninja on the internet and printed it on cardstock paper (I modified the image to remove the head). I then folded the paper in half and punched a 3/4" hole along the crease where the head would be...

Finally I printed out some eyes on label paper and put the whole ninja together. Here's the result...

Oh wait, did I mention that I started constructing these at 9pm last night and that I had to make 40 of them? And yes, it took forever!

I hope you were more prepared for this day than I was. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Template for the Valentine's Day Dino Card

Even with over ten years of computer consulting experience, I still don't know how to attach a pdf to a blog post! Fortunately there are a ton of bloggers who are way smarter than me and have figured this out - big shout out to Chelsea and her tutorial on this very topic.

All this to say, please disregard the link at the bottom of this post that no longer works and use this one instead: V-Day Dinosaur Template that really works!

Thanks!
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Some of you might remember this card that I made last year...

This little dino has been popping up in a variety of different places around the net, most recently in this article that appeared on Glo...I'm beyond honored and excited to be included in this group of crafty folks!

A few people have asked me for a template of the dinosaur. I wasn't exactly sure how to attach a file within a blog post, but I think I figured it out (still learning after almost 2 years of blogging).

Here's a link to the V-Day Dinosaur Template. By the way, the darkened area on the template is where the googly eyes should go. I hope this helps!

Angry (Love) Birds

My husband's new love, along with the rest of the country apparently, is a game called Angry Birds. I've never been a gamer, but I do appreciate the creativity that goes into some of these video games. Case in point - in Angry Birds players use a slingshot to launch wingless birds at evil green pigs who stole their eggs...hence the reason they're angry. I recently heard that the pigs were chosen as the enemy because the Swine Flu was in full effect when the game was being developed - very cool!

Since he loves this game so much, I decided to make my husband an Angry Birds-themed card for Valentine's Day. I took the same approach to making this card as I did for his Father's Day card (that was when he was in love with the Wii - see it here).

For the front of the card, I first found a picture of an iphone and then cut/pasted an Angry Birds Valentine's Day card that the video game developers created for Facebook users.



In addition to the Facebook card, the developers also released a new Valentine's Day version of the game this month. For the inside of the card, I took images from that game and added a caption.



Here's the real card...



To complete the gift, I also downloaded the Valentine's version of the game onto my husband's phone (for only .99 cents) - I know, how romantic!

I hope you have a fantastic Valentine's Day!

DIY Candy Valentine's Day Cards

I finally decided to start constructing Valentine's Day cards for the annual card exchange extravaganza at my son's school. But halfway through the construction process I had to stop and remind myself why I didn't make my life easier by just purchasing cards. And the answer is simple: I'm a crafter - this is what I do.

After a brief consultation with my client, it became pretty clear that he could care less what the card looked like as long as it wasn't too "girly" and there was candy on it. So I decided to let the candy be my inspiration for this card - Butterfinger Hearts.



Okay I'm going to admit that I did not put much thought into this design because, let's face it, the candy is going to trump even the most elaborate card out there. Both of my boys love dinosaurs, so I thought that would be a safe bet. The heart-shaped candy was what led me to make it a Stegosaurus. This card was super easy to make - just cut out a dinosaur shape, add googly eyes, a mouth and then attach the chocolate candy using adhesive dots. I saw a blog post where they attached candy onto a card using a low-temperature glue gun, so that's an option as well.



I started thinking about other ways to use the candy for Valentine's Day cards and just had to try them out. Here is an idea for a butterfly card...



And an idea for a flower card...



Here's a close-up of the flower...just arrange the chocolate hearts in a circular shape and attach a small piece of scrapbook paper in the middle...



I'm working on one more idea for a do-it-yourself Valentine's Day card that I hope to finish before the big day...stay tuned!

Home Improvement-inspired Valentine's Day Ideas

I have spent the past 2 days trying to de-clutter my house...with very little progress I'm sad to say. I don't know if the creative side of my brain was working overtime or if I was just incredibly bored with cleaning, but somehow I kept finding inspiration for Valentine's Day crafts as I came across basic household items. So, I felt compelled to take a small break from cleaning to put together some of these ideas - and I emphasize the word 'small' because each item took very little time to make. Sorry in advance for the sappy titles for the ideas - I get a little caught up around Valentine's Day!

Idea #1: Stuck on You Card
Household Item Used - Duct Tape

I really love simple designs on cards, so I cut out a heart from a piece of red duct tape and attached it to a white card - easy!

Idea #2: Hugs & Kisses You Won't Want to Wipe Off
Household Item Used: Sponges

A while ago I read an article about making custom stamps using sponges, but never tried it until now. I cut out an 'X' and an 'O' from the sponge freehand, but after seeing them I would definitely recommend using a template!

Dip the sponge in paint and apply it onto whatever you want to embellish - in this case I used gift bags.

Idea #3: I Heart You Frame
Household Items Used: Shelf Liner & Spray Paint

I have a stash of pictures (like of the kids sitting on Santa's lap) that I only pull out at Christmas time to decorate rooms. Instead of having to change out pictures each holiday, I thought it would be cool to embellish the glass in the picture frame and change that out instead. First I cut out a heart shape using adhesive shelf liner that I found buried in a cabinet. Attach the heart-shaped liner directly onto the glass.

Then apply spray paint over the entire surface of the glass and let it dry. Once dry, remove the shelf liner heart and place the glass back in its' original frame - that's it!

That was fun, now back to cleaning...