All You Need is Love

Recently my EtsyMom team posted a Pinterest competition between all the members.  Basically, we have to find a Valentines Day themed craft (outside of the scope of our usual "shop" craft), make it, blog about it, and then post a photo and blog link on the Facebook page.  Then, people will have a certain amount of time to vote on their favorites.  So I searched for days, and finally found what I wanted to do...

I didn't find instructions to do it, but it was easy to figure out myself.  They were so simple and fun to make, and will look so cute on my wall.  I'm even going to make another set for the whole year in a beach theme (I'll post photos of it once it's made). 

So here's what you need to make it:

4 6x6 canvases
4 different fabrics (enough to cover canvases)
Bag of buttons
Cardboard heart
Red glitter glue
Iridescent glitter
Spray glue
Fabric Glue

First start off by making the heart.  Place your cardboard heart on plastic and spray with the spray glue.  Sprinkle the iridescent glitter on in a thick coat.  Immediately spray with the spray glue again (you will see the glitter almost foam up and become puffy...that's the point).  Sprinkle more glitter on and let it dry completely.

Next, cover each canvas with a different color fabric.  I used fabric glue to adhere the fabric to the canvas by gluing it to the backs only (that way if for whatever reason down the road you want to redo them, you can just remove the fabric and reuse the canvas).

Then, draw out the L, V, and E on three different canvases, leaving one open for the heart (the O).  You can do this freehand, or if your handwriting stinks, do like I did and print out the letters in whatever font you like (I used Monotype Corsova in my example) in however large you want (I did 400pt).

Finally, fill in each letter with the red glitter glue.  Place the buttons on top of the glitter in order to fill in the center of each letter.















And here is the final result hanging up on my wall...

So much fun, and it adds a cute romantic setting to the space, perfect for this time of year.  Hope you love this craft idea, and I'd love to see photos of any you make, so please comment below with links so everyone can see!

Birdseed Snow Angel

Birdseed Snow Angel

As you know, I am always looking for cool ideas for my son to do outside.  Even in Florida, it is quite cold today (a whopping 20*, yet this weekend I'm sure we will be back up to the 80s), and this always makes me think of my stint up north in the snow.  So I had to find a cute snow inspired craft, and this one caught my eye immediately.  Of course, I found it courtesy of my friends at Disney Family Fun.  And even if you live in an area more prone to sand than snow, it could always be re-created at the beach (and I'm sure the seagulls will thank you for it) as a Sand Mermaid.

Materials

• Various types of birdseed (like thistle, corn, sunflower and safflower) or if at the beach, breadcrumbs.
• Cups

• Pine boughs (again, if you are at the beach, substitute with seaweed and shells...can even make it into a sand mermaid!)

Instructions

1. This angel is easiest made by a team: One partner lies down to make a snow angel while the other partner stands by to help the maker get up without messing up the imprint.
   
2. After the imprint is formed, pour cups of birdseed into the angel, filling the head and body with bands of variously colored seed.
   
3. For a finishing touch, add pine boughs for the angel's spreading wings.