DIY Valentines Day garlands

I love decorating for Valentine's Day- it's one of my favorite holidays. Maybe that's because of the lovely colors involved (PINK!).
So I made some pretty heart streamers for the windows. They were really easy : just cut out a bunch of pink paper hearts and sew them down the middle, leaving a length of thread in between each one.

But the letter garland is my favorite so far! I saw something similar on Pinterest.com and decided to make one of my own.
You just fold up some paper into envelopes and decorate them. Then I used some thread to string them together. Mine was made quite small scale but you could certainly  go big!

Have Fun!

Love is King (and Queen!) Easy DIY Valentines crowns from Toilet paper rolls

These are so pretty! and a great way to use up those tp rolls.. I hate just throwing them out so it's nice to come up with new ways to use them!

I actually recycled some wrapping paper from Christmas presents to cover the crowns too! Just glue it on, cut the crown shape and glue decorations on them!
You could put little holes in the side and stretchy strng to make them wearable. How cute would that be?!?!?!

Christmas Cards and left over Turkey

Got totally snowed in this year!
That's NY winter for you.

I discovered that making turkey soup with the holiday leftovers...

is MAD better with a few splashes of blackberry merlot in it!!
Bet you didn't see that coming ;)

I almost always make my own Christmas Cards. This year they look like presents! I used sparkly wrapping paper and glued some ribbons and a gift tag on to a card form I made out of cardstock.

Santa kitty made a debut appearance!

Easy DIY Christmas Decorations with Garland

Here are some easy DIY Christmas decorations!
The tree is just a Styrofoam cone (but you could use poster board shaped into a cone) wrapped with garland and the ends were secured by tucking them in so I can unwrap it after Christmas and decorate it differently for another holiday. No sense in having a million cones in my basement between holidays, right?

This is a great idea for those of us who aren't professional wreath makers!
I grabbed an old picture frame (mine happened to have cross bars that look like window panes!) and wrapped it with garland. It hangs cheerfully on my front door. You could even put a winter scene behind it so it does look like a window!

Santa Bottles. DIY Recycle Craft for Christmas!

Aren't These great?!
Use them as vases, centerpieces, or even gifts!
Finally a use for all those accumulating wine bottles from my parties :)
I removed the labels first by soaking in hot water with some dish soap.
Once they are completely dry, you can spray paint them red. When that is dry, I taped off the outer lines of the belt and painted with black acrylic paint.
The buckles are some adhesive rhinestones that I found at Michaels for $1!!

DIY Furniture Polish that makes Scratches Disappear Like Magic!!!

These chairs started out pretty rough looking.

But with a few things from the cupboard, they were shiny and lovely again!

I mixed 3 parts vegetable oil (or olive oil) with 1 part vinegar (white or cider vinegar works). So depending on how much you need, you could do 3/4cp oil to 1/4cp vinegar and keep it in a labeled container for next time!

Just grab a rag, dip it in the polish, and rub it in to the wood. The scratches disappear like magic in front of your very eyes!! It's that easy ( and not to mention cheap). The polish is great for wood thanks to the oil that gives the wood moisture and helps prevent cracks/ splits. You can use this polish as frequently as you like and there are no harsh chemicals. It's all natural!

Make your own Minions!

But first, look at what I grew!!! The first rose on my rosebush this year!

Ok, now to the business of minion making.
All you need is a toilet paper roll, construction paper, scissors, a black marker, and glue.
Cover the roll in yellow paper (use glue to attach it, but you knew that!).

Cut out this shape long enough to wrap all the way around the roll. Use blue paper so it looks like jeans.

Glue on the clothes and draw on a face and pockets.

Oh my gosh! but isn't he cute?!
You could make a little army of these guys!