To start off the week, I shared a perfect dessert for your Valentine, Pink Lemonade Pie. Then yesterday, Gina shared her Valentine Mantel. And of course, giveaways on both days too!

Today it’s all about crafts! Kellie made some darling Valentine Envelopes! I think I might just dust off my sewing machine to make a few!  Oh and don’t miss out on the giveaway from The Shabby Creek Cottage Etsy Shop!

I have made several Heart Garlands over the last couple years, one using a cookie cutter and sewing it to a ribbon {sorry about the pictures, I’ve come a long way},then another one using a paper quilling technique, but I this one is definitely my favorite!

These kitchen cabinets were in need of a little pick-me-up after the holidays, so I gathered all my Valentine sprinkles, a few extra decorations and pulled it all together.

The hearts are cut from Lifestyle Crafts die cuts. They have a super cute Valentine selection with lots to choose from. You may remember the snowflakes, paper lanterns and most recently the cupcake wrappers I also made with their die cuts!

I just love these hearts, they come in a couple different styles, I used the nesting eyelet die cut.

To make the Heart Garland, you will need…

• Scrapbook paper
• Heart die cuts
• Glue stick
• Twine or ribbon
• Mini clothes pins or another way to hang them

Directions:

1. Cut out hearts in different sizes
2. Fold heart in half, right sides together
3. Spread glue along the folded edge and add to larger size heart
4. Measure and add twine to the area you are hanging the garland
5. Add hearts with mini clothes pins or you could hang them with thread or fishing line

The rest of the cabinet has some fun little Valentine decorations I thought you might also like.

I’m ready to decorate lots of cupcakes and cookies for Valentine’s Day with the jars full of sprinkles. In the upper left photo, you can see Valentine cupcake liners in a clear tall jar, and scattered throughout are some vintage Valentine cards that I’ve had for years. On the bottom shelf, I filled a red heart shaped basket with cookie cutters, and added a Scentsy candle warmer too. Watch for a giveaway next week for one of these cuties!

And then I couldn’t stop at the cabinet, I just had to add some hearts to my ladder that hangs above the kitchen sink.

Let’s take a closer look…it’s kind of hard to see with the window behind it. We took down the curtain in preparation for the Kitchen Remodel…remember, it’s on our Home Goals list?

Cuteness!! The hearts just make me smile! The letter “L” was left from Christmas decorating, and I simply changed the little chalkboard tags to read “Be Mine.”

We wrap up our Valentine Week tomorrow with Amy from The Idea Room, she will be sharing a fun Valentine gift idea, and of course a giveaway. I will be back with Love Buckets too!

On Friday, it’s YOUR turn to share! Link up your Valentine recipes, crafts, decorating, pretty much any love filled idea you have to the Valentine Party and it will show up on ALL four blogs at the same time! Pretty cool huh?

AND you won’t want to miss the Valentine Printable from The Paper Cupcake! She sent it to me a little bit ago and you are going to FLIP out over it!!

I also created a Pinterest Board for Valentine’s Week, and will be pinning your awesome ideas! So follow along and gather some ideas!

Photo credit – Positively Splendid

Interested in these cool products from Lifestyle Crafts? Head on over and be sure to use Promo Code…HOOSIER to receive 20% off your order!

And don’t forget to enter their giveaway…it’s HUGE!

Yup…that’s some pretty cool stuff! Learn all about the giveaway!

Disclosure: I received some products to try from Lifestyle Crafts and as always, the opinions are my own.

Linking to…Show & Tell Friday, Weekend Wrap Up Party, Made by you Monday

Last week I shared our Valentine Mantel, before time slipped away even more, I wanted to be sure to share the Heart Garland tutorial with you.

Many, many years ago, I learned to quill…you know the very thin paper that you wrap around a little tool and it makes curls. Well, I wanted to create a Heart Garland with those hearts. After making a few of the hearts, I quickly realized that they were not going to show up very well, so I decided to try another option using scrapbook and construction paper. I first saw the idea over at How About Orange, several weeks ago, but after my computer crashed, I lost the bookmarked post and thought I could re-create them.

Making them wasn’t hard at all, stringing them was a little more difficult. I thought I had remembered how Jessica strung them together, but after several hours of trying to figure it out, I gave up and did a quick search and found Jessica’s post.

I guess I need to learn not to try to “re-invent the wheel” when someone has already done it. Let me show you how I created the Heart Garland…

Supplies…

• Scrapbook and Construction Paper
• Straight edge cutter
• Glue
• Pencil
• Nylon Thread and Needle

1. Cut strips of paper {1/2 ~ 3/4 or 1 inch wide} Fold in half, curl each end inward using the pencil
2. Add a small dot of glue and attach the circles together
3. Make 3 for each garland
4. Thread needle with a long piece of nylon thread. Starting at the bottom, push the needle through at the fold, and up through the middle of the circles. Then add the other 2 hearts the same way. Add a very small piece of tape to the bottom to hold the heart so it doesn’t slip down the thread.

For the three dimensional Heart Garland, you will need…

• Scrapbook and Construction Paper
• Heart shaped cookie cutter
• Scissors
• Pen
• Glue
• Nylon Thread

1. Trace 4 hearts with the cookie cutter on the back of scrapbook paper
2. Cut them out
3. Fold 3 of the hearts in half and cut a small amount off of each heart, making each one smaller
4. Add a small amount of glue on the fold of the second largest heart and attach it to the largest heart
5. Add another heart, then add a small amount of glue in the crease and add a long piece of nylon thread
6. Add the smallest heart

This Heart Garland was also inspired by Jessica at How About Orange, except she used fabric to create hers. The Valentine Garland I made last year was similar, using cookie cutters, but I assembled it a little different.

Jerri from Simpy Sweet Home won a Valentine Garland from me last year and displayed it in her kitchen.

Linking to…Made By You Monday, Get Your Craft On, Show & Tell Friday, Weekend Wrap Up Party

Since I live in a house full of men, Valentine’s Day is the one holiday where I can decorate with pink, pretty ribbons and…lots and lots of hearts! Over the years I have collected many different sizes and shapes of hearts, some baskets, boxes, and even some that are ceramic.

I created the Heart Garland with scrapbook and construction paper from my stash, making it not only a fun project but also a frugal one. I will be sharing the tutorial for the Garland next week.

For now though, here is the Valentine Mantel…

1. I started with a piece of pink gingham fabric
2. Then layered on some white fluffy fabric
3. Next came the Heart Garlands
4. Then I starting adding the large hearts, baskets…
5. ceramic and boxes
6. and some stuffed hearts also
7. I filled in with a chunky white candle and some small hearts that were ornaments
8. On the other end, I added some love birds and a red candle

Linking to…Saturday Night Special

I often have readers mention to me, that they can’t believe I get so much done. I seem to work all the time, well, I do…but I LOVE it. I feel so blessed to be able to share with you all my love for my home, baking, cooking and my family! I also couldn’t do many of the things that I am able to get done if I didn’t have my husband, Doug, to help me and my boys.

Hoosier Homemade is really a family affair! Whether they are stringing garland or being forced to try a new recipe, they all help me share my passion with you!

One of the MANY projects that they have helped with during this year, is decorating the Mantle. When I started pulling this post together, Doug and I were surprised that I had decorated 12 Mantles, one for every season, Holiday and a couple others.

• After the Christmas decorations come down, I decorate for Winter. A few of my Snowmen are moved from the Dining Room to the Mantle.
• Valentine’s Day is such a fun holiday to decorate for. I also shared a tutorial on how to make the Valentine’s Garland.
• It’s all about the green for St. Patrick’s Day.

• Soft Spring colors and bunnies were used on the Easter Mantle.
• With the fresh forsythia, the Spring Mantle brings much needed color into the house.
• The Summer Mantle with the Pinwheel Garland is one of my favorites. I absolutely LOVE Summer…I know, I’m crazy, but the hotter the better as far as I’m concerned.

• Our oldest son, Andrew, graduated from High School and I decorated the Mantle in celebration of his graduation.
• In our town, Fourth of July, is a BIG deal. It also has a special place in my heart, since it’s a time, 20+ years ago, that Doug and I began our relationship.
• Moving into Fall, this Mantle has a fun Garland made with acorns and other natural elements, you can learn how to make one of your own.

• Halloween…my creepy Mantle was so fun to decorate, with the ghouls that I printed, the black and white decorations, and of course spiderwebs, it was one of my favorites.
• An often forgotten Holiday, Thanksgiving is always a very special time for me.
• And last…my Christmas Mantle! Fresh green, woodland Santas and a homemade Garland make up my favorite Mantle of the year!!

I had lots of fun creating the Garlands too.  The Pinwheel Garland is made with scrapbook paper. The Fall Garland with acorns and items I collected outside is a great no cost project. The Valentine Garland uses cookie cutters for the shapes and scrapbook paper and the Christmas Garland has popcorn, cranberries and dried fruit. You can visit each of the posts to learn how to make them.

Do you decorate your Mantle for the Holidays or Seasons? Share your ideas with us!

I’m linking to… Works for Me Wednesday,Strut Your Stuff, Transformation Thursday, Show and Tell Friday, Saturday Night Special, Masterpiece Monday, Made by You Monday

I also have such a great time decorating. While I have decorated my mantle for Christmas, Winter and each of the seasons, I have never decorated it for Valentine’s Day. After being inspired by lots of great fellow bloggers, I decided to join in the fun.

I’d like to share with you how to make the Valentine Heart Garland.

I started with scrapbooking paper and lots of different sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters.

I traced the hearts on the back of the paper

Then cut them out

I chose some ribbon, the wider ribbon I bought at the Dollar Tree and the narrow ribbon I bought at Michael’s for $1.00.

I laid the largest hearts out on the table

but decided to add in some of the smaller hearts, to give it a little different look

Then I sewed the hearts onto the ribbon with my sewing machine.

You can learn the step by step tips to decorating the mantle that I shared last week.

And if you aren’t able to make your own garland or don’t have the time, head on over and visit my Etsy shop.

Be sure to mark your calendar, I’m having a Valentine Linky Party on Monday, February 1st.  Bring your best ideas for Valentine Baking, Decorating, Dates or Fun for the Kids.   And there will be some awesome giveaway too

This post linked to:

Friday Linky hosted by The Inspired Room

~DIY Day hosted by A Soft Place to Land

~Make Your Monday hosted by The Twice Remembered Cottage