Valentine Crafts and Teacher Gift Ideas

    Here are a few Valentine's crafts.  .  .

 

This is a set of old spools that are full of love. If you'd like to see how I made them, you can go here.

 

 

I made this Valentine's bunting out of old playing cards. It was a super easy project. If you have twine, playing cards, and a set of letter stickers, you can make this. You can go here to see how.

 

I made two strands of this heart garland- one out of old book pages and this one out of an old comic book. You can see the tutorial here.

 

These first three projects were made for Valentine's Day, but I liked them so much, I kept them up all year!

 

 

Here is an idea for a teacher gift. Send her favorite soda with a little chocolate. This project is super easy, but perfect for sending to school on Valentine's Day. After all, who doesn't like a little treat? You can go here to see more.

 

 

This is one of my favorite discoveries of all time- chocolate covered gummy bears. Heavens to Betsy- they are sooooooo good! Whip up a batch of these, then put them in a snack size Ziplock bag with a paper doily stapled over the top. What a delightful gift! You could give a bag of these to your co-workers, grandparents, or your child's teacher. You can see how to make these here.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

To God our Savior, who alone is wise,

be glory and majesty, dominion and power,

both now and forever. Amen.

Jude 1:25

This post is linked to Tip Junkie, Too Much Time On My Hands, Craft-O-Maniac, Making the World Cuter, Between Naps on the Porch, and Skip to My Lou.

Flowers Made From Playing Cards

     Earlier this week, I showed you some projects that you can make from playing cards. Staying with that theme, here's a tutorial for making flowers from playing cards.
     I am all about being frugal and using what you have. Who among us doesn't have a pack of playing cards laying around?

     To make these, you'll need:

playing cards

pen

scissors

circle punch

gems/buttons for the flower centers

hot glue gun

Start by drawing a swirl on your card. I did this on the back, so the ink wouldn't be seen from the other side.

Then cut along the line. You'll need to trim the excess part of the card off from the end (it will be the corners of the card).

You'll be left with this curly Q. Starting at the loose end, run the card through your thumb and index finger so it's not so stiff for this next part.

Starting with the center of the swirl, wrap it in a circle around the tip of your finger. The card may be stiff, if so, repeat the above step.

Keep going until it's rolled all around itself  like this. Set it aside.

Use your circle punch on another card. This circle will become the base for our flower.

Apply some hot glue to the center of the circle.

Then place your flower on the circle back. You may need to re roll it if it came too loose when you sat it down.

This is what it will look like.

Feel free to add some bling or a button to the center.

These would look cute atop a wrapped gift.

They would also look cute sitting in a decorative little bowl on the table behind your sofa.

 

     I hope you all have a fantastic Labor Day weekend! Enjoy your extra day off. Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their

days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

Job 36:11

 



This post is linked to Happy Hour Projects, Be Different Act Normal, Five Days Five Ways and

Layout of the Week #26- Using Playing Cards to Scrapbook

     This week you need to get your game on because we're going to incorporate playing cards in our Layout of the Week.
     I love using things out of the ordinary when crafting. Playing cards aren't usually thought of for scrap booking, but they make a cute and very inexpensive embellishment. I have picked up several packs of cards for next to nothing at yard sales. You may even have an unused pack laying around your house.

Here's the layout we'll be creating.

 For this project, you'll need:

one piece of 12"x12" pattern paper

one strip of pattern paper measuring 12"x3.5"

one 12" length of coordinating ribbon

6 playing cards

letter stickers for the title

stapler

adhesive

paper trimmer

We're going to begin by creating the strip of paper with layered playing cards. Just lay them down the strip turning them this way and that. There is no science to this.

I used six cards- two of them I flipped over and put the backside facing up.

Once they're all attached, you need to trim off the excess that is hanging over the edge of the paper. You can either trim them with scissors or use your paper trimmer like this.

Adhere the strip to the right edge of the 12"x12" pattern paper.

Overlap the edge of the playing cards with your ribbon.

I adhered mine by stapling the ribbon at the top and bottom.

  Now place your two 4"x6" photos like this.

Place your title at the bottom of the page.

Write your journaling in strips, then adhere them in between the bottom photo and the title.

And you're done!

I used my layout to document how my family loves to play games, but you could use this for a "Lucky" themed layout- like how you're lucky to have your spouse, your children, or your best friend. Or you could use family photos and the title "Full House."

Here is a layout where I used two large playing cards (7"x4.5") to create a layout.

For this photo display, I tied together four large cards and used it to document my family's favorites right now. This went together very quickly.

If you don't have cards this big, you could just use card stock or chip board trimmed to size.

Print a photo of each of your family members, back it with a bit of pattern paper, and use letter stickers for their names. Then just have them write down their five favorite things, trim their words from the paper and adhere them. Quick, cute, and easy!

Here's how it looks from behind- just four large cards tied together.

Here is a close up photos of my hubby and my side.

Here is a close up photo of the boys' side.

     If you're not played out on playing card ideas, this final project shows a mini album made from playing cards. I made this for a make-and-take using only five regular size cards.

I bound it with the Bind-It-All.

The second page is actually one card that I cut about 1/3 off.

Then I used the other portion or the 2/3 card for the third page. 

The clock and star is printed on a transparency that I placed in between two pages.

I used some vintage style pattern paper to cover the unsightly back on the cards.

The journaling consists of prompts that I had to answer. That always makes for easy journaling.

Here's the back cover. Thanks for looking!

     Well, I think I've tipped my hand- and more with all these photos! Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one

receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

1 Cor. 9:24



This post is linked to At the Picket Fence and