Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Over 50 Great Crafty Valentine's Projects

Aloha!

You know you're a crazy crafter if...you start planning for Valentine's Day just 2 days after Christmas. ;)

But here we are, and I'm ready for it! Valentine's Day is probably our family's second-favorite holiday after Christmas. Maybe a close tie with Easter.

I've seen some great V-Day projects and thought it would be fun to do a round-up of some awesome crafts to get you feeling inspired.



WARNING: I may use the words "cute", "adorable", and "love" an extreme amount of times in this post.

Here's a cute classmate idea from Family Fun Magazine. I think my 7-year-old would love these:




I also found this cute idea from Family Fun. See-through/Peekaboo Valentines:





These super hero sucker templates from Zakka Life were originally for a birthday party, but they'd be really cute with a little note under the cape, right? "Justice is sweet!" or "You're super!" or "Sucks to be the bad guys". Ok...maybe not that one. It's late. Leave me alone.





These felt fortune cookies from Martha Stewart are so stinking cute! What a fun classroom gift!




Wouldn't they be adorable in these mini Chinese take-out boxes I did last year? (There's a free printable included.)














My kids love stamps. And we have a million erasers sitting around, wasting space. So this would be a perfect craft for them! DIY eraser stamps from The Sweetest Occasion.



My girls would probably be mortified if I made them take these to classmates with "KISS" on it. But they might let it slide with a cute "Hug" tag and Hugs. Maybe? They're just too cute to pass up. These are from Cheri at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.




And a Martha Stewart idea that I know my girls would think is just amazing. (They really love stickers and envelopes and hearts. Check. Check. Check. Maybe add some glitter and call it a day.)




"You make my heart glow" Valentine's from The Teacher Wife. Another adorable idea!





And here's another classmate gift idea. Friendship bracelets with a great tutorial from Dandee Designs. Super cute that the kids can really get involved in this one by braiding their own bracelets.




And how cute are these mustache and kissy lips suckers? Another great idea from Family Fun.



Now follow me on this next one. I KNOW the bottom stickers are for a baby shower. But wouldn't it be fun to do hugs and kisses and do some fun cute words on the bottom for classmate gifts? Or even just some fun scrapbook paper or red and pink prints?




Here's a cute printable from Salt & Paper. Kids are more comfortable with the "like" cards than those mushy "love" ones, right? And they also have some green and blue ones if your little guy isn't down with pink and red. (note: even though it asks you to add it to your cart, they're still free. The price is $0.) :)




Let's not forget the family V-Day fun, right? We always give each other gifts and cards and letters for the holiday. And we've done the small mailboxes before, and we sneak in and leave letters in each others' boxes. But they've never been as darling as these ones from The Anderson Family Crew. So cute!





Our mailboxes bit the dust somewhere along the lines, so last year I improvised with some Christmas stockings I found on clearance and made Valentine's heart "stockings". :)





















This wreath is from an Etsy shop, but it looks simple enough if you're willing to put the time into it!




While we're talking about wreaths, what about this cute one made from cupcake liners by Diary of a Wannabe Domestic Diva. Here's a link to her original tutorial on Catch My Party.





You know we can't get enough of pink feather boas in our house, right? This wreath will be made this year. That's a threat promise (my husband might think it's a threat). This cute one is from Simply B Creative.




This is a cute variation on a front-door wreath. The tutorial comes from Lasting Memories:



And another cute one. This one by Then She Made:




This printable from Peppermint Plum is sweet. And I love the little ribbon detail on the frame!





Are you feeling super pinched for $$ after Christmas and not looking to spend any more on Valentine's decor? Do you have any of those old wire hangers just wasting closet space? Turn them into art! Love this LOVE sign by Family Chic.







Amy from The Idea Room did this cute little Valentine art last year. I loved it so much that I made a similar version (but cheater printed version...cuz sometimes I'm lazy like that).





















Wouldn't you smile every time you passed by these pillows if you had them? There's a free printable from Creature Comforts for the iron-on transfers.




I can't promise that my house won't be covered in pom poms this holiday either. Love these pink ones from Etsy. I found them via Pinterest, and sadly, it links to Etsy home page, and I couldn't find the owner for the life of me to link to her shop. :( Let me know if you find it!




And if you're looking for a good tulle pom pom tutorial, Chintzy Couture has a good one using a cardboard circle!



















Here's a simple way to gussy up your dining room from BHG. Their instructions say to use rivets, but I imagine doing them with a simple button hole stitch on my sewing machine would look equally elegant. :)



And this adorable card says it all for me and my sweetheart. He might not believe it if I gave it to him...

It's also from an Etsy shop, but $3 is super reasonable for this cute card. And you peeps are crafters. You know how to make it your own if you want to.











I'm going to call it a night, but this post is far from being complete. If you have a project with a tutorial you'd like me to include, please send me an email. I'd love to see!

Aloha,
Charlie
Posted by Attempting Aloha at 9:12 PM 12 comments

Ten of My 2011 Favorites

Aloha!

2012 is just days away, so it's round-up time in blogland. Everyone's sharing their favorite projects of the year, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and share my favorite posts of 2011. With our ginormous home renovations in Hawaii, then finding tenants, packing our stuff up to move across an ocean, staying with family for a month, then heading here to the east coast and finding a new home and settling in; I'm actually quite surprised I did ANY projects!! :)

But here they are:

I made this "Love Your Laughter" sign for my husband for Valentine's Day out of some free lumber I found in a scrap pile at Re-Use Hawaii. I made the stencils myself because I wanted the letters to fit perfectly across the board and line up just right. It now hangs above our bed, and it still makes me smile. Every. Single Day. :)



In February, I showed you how we organize some of our girly hair stuff with these fab wire baskets I designed along with the pleated basket liners. There are links for tutorials on both the baskets and liners in this post also. The wire basket tutorial was one of my most popular posts with readers this year as well. :)


Another popular post that makes me laugh is this one where I showed you how to gussy up your potty with $7 by replacing the toilet handle in about 7 minutes. :)


If you're on Pinterest, chances are good you've seen this pic at one point or another sometime this year. This is the one where I taught you how to make your own chalkboard paint in small quantities in ANY COLOR, using basic acrylic craft paints and some non-sanded grout.



For the first time in my 7-years of sewing, I FINALLY ventured into clothing and did this revamp that I still love today. Ugly skirt and shirt get made over to paper bag skirt and cute shirt. This link is for the skirt, but there's a link in the tutorial for the shirt as well.




I dabbled in art a little, and let me tell you, I'M NO ARTIST! But if I can do it, you can do it!  Here's my shabby chic coral wall art also made from reclaimed wood from Re-Use Hawaii's free bin.


My playroom Scrabble wall art is also a favorite in our house! It makes such a statement and was so cheap (but quite time-intensive...be warned).



Also a playroom project, the kid's reading nook is another family favorite. My girls read in there every day. It's their own little sanctuary. ((cuz they have it so tough and need a place to escape to, right?)) ;)


I'm not sure if this one is a favorite because I love the project or because my wee one looks so stinking adorable in this pic?! But it was among the most popular posts this year, so here's the fabulous Halloween flamingo costume.



It wouldn't be a blog year-in-review if I didn't show off a building project. My doll canopy bed plans was such a fun project! And with Christmas just finished, it's been SO MUCH FUN for me to see the beds you've made using my plans for your little ones! Nothing makes me happier! Except maybe the look on my daughter's face when she saw her own canopy bed... :)

Check out the Attempting Aloha Facebook page to see some of the beautiful fan beds that were done these last two weeks.



And there you have it! Ten of my favorite posts of 2011!

I wanted to take a second to say thanks for following along. Even with the giant break from May to October. :)  I'll confess that I'm HORRIBLE at finishing projects, and having a blog really helps me get things done. It also pushes me to try new things that might otherwise seem too intimidating. Not all of my projects turn out, and maybe in January I'll share some flops with you. I haven't shown them mostly for the sake of time. They're funny and all, but it takes lots of time to take pics and make posts...it's hard to find that extra time when you know you're not really teaching much other than, "uhhhh...keep trying!" :D

Here's to a fabulous 2012! If you noticed, I just started ads on my blog this week. I've been blogging for just over a year and am hoping to make it a teeny tiny drop in the med school debt, so thanks again for your support!

Aloha,

Charlie

I'll be linking to Sarah's Before and After party:


Posted by Attempting Aloha at 7:22 AM 4 comments
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