Stupid buys that I Love

So a quick little post.  I stopped by the local Dollar Tree store and fell in love with their solar dancing cupid and devil.  I have seen other dancing solar figures in the stores before but I have never bought them because I didn't need more junk around my home but I just couldn't pass these ones up because they were so cute.  The cutest ones I have ever seen. 

I almost broke down and bought one from Five Below a few weeks ago but it wasn't great quality and I talked myself out of it.  I'm not sure how well these will stand up but for $1 each I had to buy them.  So here they are:

Look at those big eyes...

and those pink cheeks!

So cute!

Even the back of them is cute!

Has anyone else seen and bought these dancing Cupid and Devil?  I love them...now I just need to find a place to put them.

NostalgicValentines

As I went through Pinterst looking for ideas for my valentines swap I kept seeing all these great old valentines and it made me wish that they were still being printed ( I know there are a few companies that print off vintage valentine books that you can pop out).  Come on look at these graphics and these sweet sayings:

I would love to give this Valentine to my brother...he is an officer of the law.  He protects and serves and enjoys a few occasional donuts.

And look at this one.  The colors are fabulous and the graphics are so cute.

Love the little bird!

This one is funny and I know a few people that would enjoy it.

I don't know if the kiddies would get this one but it is sweet.

I would have loved getting this as a Valentine!

What has happened to all those cute valentine graphics and sweet sayings.  As a child I got a few of these sucker valentines which has some nostalgic feel to them.  I have been looking for similar valentines but haven't found any.  My grandmother gave them to me, my siblings, and my extensive amount of cousins.

Now all the modern valentines have simple sayings, Be mine or Happy Valentines Day.  They are so impersonal, and I don't think very cute.  Here are a few boxes of Valentines you can find on the shelves.  They are mass produced and easily disposed of.  My nieces and Nephews usually get 5 of the same kind in their Valentine boxes.  I'm sure kids love to get the latest Disney or Nickelodeon cartoon valentines, but I can't rally see those becoming collectible...let me know if I am wrong.  I just like more variety.

I just wish we could go back to something more personalized and one of a kind.  I guess I will have to get out my craft supplies and make a few of those personalized valentines with sweet sayings or turn to Pinterest for homemade valentine ideas.

I did find a few of the Valentines me and my siblings received when we were in grade school.  Some had cute little kids on them but most were Poochie, Strawberry Shortcake, Care bears, Transformers, he-man and star-brights...am I dating myself.  I am trying to find more of them in our boxes of keepsakes so I can do a collage or something special with them.  I would like to hear your view of modern day Valentines...do you like or hate them?

Ships Ahoy Valentine!

Warning:  Photo Heavy Post!  As I mentioned in a previous post I entered a Valentine Swap hosted by Sarah from Makin Projiks.  Every year Sarah hosts two Swaps, a Halloween Swap and a Heart to Heart Swap.  I have participated in several Halloween Swaps but this is the first time I have participated in the Heart to Heart Swap.  Let me tell you I have missed out on some wonderful creations by not joining the Valentine Swaps earlier.

So this year I decided to join the swap, I signed up, all excited and then it hit....WHAT DO I MAKE?  So I hopped online looking at blogs and searched Pinterest searching for an idea that "I" could make but could make my own.  I found lots of ideas but I kept going back to a PIN by Sarah.  She had pinned a ship valentine from Ann Wood Handmade.  Go to her website to download and make one of your own!  I love ships and the sea.  I think it is because I'm land locked.  So I used Ann's design and made it my own. 

There was lots of cutting involved...I mean LOTS!  Halfway through cutting everything I wondered what I had gotten myself into.  My hand and arm was shaking and I worried that I would make a wrong cut.  I only printed off just enough images for each ornament.

After cutting, I got to accessorizing the ships with some glitter glue and little heart sequins (not pictured).

 The kitchen table is my work station!  I'm still cleaning up glitter and glue.

After all the cutting was done I had to decorate the boxes.  I used mini candy boxes, tops and bottoms to make the ornament.

I used cheap wrapping paper, paper napkin rings, and glitter to decorate!  I only had Elmer's glue so there is some wrinkles in the cheap wrapping paper...I didn't let that stop me!

Who knew wrapping so many boxes would keep me up till 3 am! (Flashback to Christmas Eve 2014)  By this time I just wanted them done and was almost there.

Did I mention I love Whales too?  I had to have one and found the image here.

More glitter...I don't think you can ever have enough...do you?

A little Valentine wish...Whale You Be My Valentine?  I know corny.  I added little pennants underneath the wording, randomly cut.

No two ornaments are alike.

Almost done!

I added the money so you could see the scale of the ornament...it was at my sisters request.

Getting the ornaments all wrapped up!

All ready to be shipped! No pun intended.

The pretty packaging!

Despite my complaints I really enjoyed making them and like how they turned out.  I hope the recipients enjoy them just as much as I do.  I can't wait to see what the other participants made.  I will post photos soon of the other Valentines...now I just need to find a Valentine tree...I missed out on the white trees at the after Christmas Sales.

PS-My Christmas decorations are down, now I just need to haul them up to the attic...that's another job.

 

Valentine Heart to Heart Swap Sneakpeak

I joined the Heart to Heart Swap hosted by Sarah at Makin Projiks.  It was hard to decide what to make for the valentine swap.  I have joined her Halloween Swaps in the past and I have always had fun but the Valentine Swap for me was new and I think I bit off more than I realized.
Here is a sneak peak at what I have been working on.

The idea and printables came from Ann Wood Handmade and A Cup of Jo, of course I am making it my own but I wanted to give credit where credit was due.

Lots of cutting, gluing, and glitter.

I hope the other Swap members like their Valentines.  I can't wait to see what they make.

I will have a more complete update of the valentines I made once they have been received and I will post what I get in return,

Better late than never...Christmas 2014

I wanted to share a little bit of my Christmas with you, just a few photos.  I love Christmas but I hate the mad rush to get everything around and then it's over...at least for most families.  I still have my Christmas tree up and I don't know when I will take it down.  The main color scheme is red and white so maybe it will be up at Valentines, joking...I hope.

Here is my little Christmas village.  I built this several years ago from a Greenleaf kit.  You get a lovely view of my neighbors home in the background and a view of my unfinished porch but the main attraction is the houses.  Normally the village goes on my mantle but this year I had to do something different because of the placement of the tree.  The Happy Holidays sign was a thrift store find for $.69.  I think it's vintage but if it's not I still love it.  This was the first time I have displayed the sign even though I've had it for a couple of years.

 Santa came to visit us this year.  I guess I was a good girl.  My nephew insisted on dressing up as Santa so I found an old suit and pinned it to fit him.  He wouldn't put a pillow underneath to give himself a belly but I think I love this svelte Santa the most.  A lot of people got pictures of this Santa for Christmas from my Nephew.  I was trying to teach him that giving is better than receiving but I'm not sure that idea stuck this year.  His older brother certainly didn't want to get gifts for others and wanted the money to be spent on himself.  We are working on him.

 Some pictures of our tree and our outdated color palette for out living room, hopefully it will get a make over this year.  I have some vintage and modern ornaments in red, white, and glitter on the tree...glitter is a color right?  I definitely did not stage these photos.

 Christmas was hectic this year.  I paid an agency to wrap my presents this year because I knew I wouldn't have time to do it myself and I didn't want to be up late on Christmas Eve wrapping gifts, guess what I was up till 3:30 am wrapping my mothers gifts.  I am not doing that next year, it made me very tired Christmas day.  The money I paid to have my gifts wrapped went to a nonprofit agency who took donations.  I only wrapped a few gifts of my own this year.

 Now I want to show you my favorite Christmas ornament.  It's kind of gory and makes me laugh.  It doesn't belong to me but I look forward to seeing this on my fathers tree every year.  My brother made this ornament for my father years ago in wood shop.  It is a dove, the symbol of peace, with a dead deer on it, blood coming out of the doves orifices and the words "I love my Dad."  Don't get me wrong I'm not promoting killing things but the combination of the dove with the dead dear makes me laugh,

Well that was a small snapshot of Christmas 2014 at my house.  I hope you all had a Happy, Joyous Christmas. 

 Our Christmas was bitter sweet this year.  My cousin, a young, amazing mother of 4 passed away.  She suffered a major heart attack, at the age of 36.  The family celebrated her 37th birthday in the hospital and after Christmas had to make the hard decision to remove life support.  She passed away surrounded by her family and their love.  When something like this happens it makes you question God and why this happened.  It also made us all understand that life is short and you should always let those closest to you know how much you love and appreciate them because you never know when they could be taken away from you.  Our family is dealing with their grief in different ways but for the most part the family has been remembering all the good moments, laughing, and celebrating her life and trying not to be sad.

I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe New Year in 2015!