Everyday Celebrating

Easy, simple way to recycle Valentine's Day roses

By now, that beautiful rose arrangement you received from your sweetie for Valentine's Day, may have a couple of roses looking worse for wear.  Let's face it, they aren't going to last forever, but you want to savor all the time you have with each flower, none the less.

When you get down to having 2 or 3 good roses left, it's time to re-arrange the arrangement into something you can still enjoy.

My friend Amy from ABCD Designs is a fabulous artist, designer and stylist in NYC.   She makes breathtaking stationary and invitations on top of many other amazing creations, including the arrangement above.

This is so easy, you'll be stopping on the side of the road to pick a single flower for many future arrangements.

Get one large fish bowl globe.  Walmart, Target, Michaels all have them.

Also, Amy recommends polished stones.  Also available at Michaels, Target, etc.  Polished are preferred but not crucial.  Any interesting filler stone that attracts you will be fine.

You'll need bear grass.  Fresh bear grass can be purchased at a local florist by the bunch.  You won't need but a few pieces of it.   If you can't find fresh, there is some available at craft and floral stores that look very real.

Put the stones on the bottom, swirl the bear grass in the bowl (anchoring the grass under rocks, if need be) and fill the bowl to the middle of the bear grass with water.

Leave a very short stem on the rose and lay it on top.  Make sure the end of the stem is in the water.

An interesting arrangement to enjoy the last of your Valentine's Day gift!

 

Happy Valentine's Day: Heart shaped felt treat bags

Happy Valentine's Weekend!
Above are a couple of the treats I made for my son and his daycare buddies.   

Heart shaped felt treat bags!   Each "bag" included a small toy.  Boys received small wooden cars (found at the Target Dollar Spot) and girls received mini mermaid dolls (found at the Dollar Tree).  You can see her pink hair peeking out of the bag above.  LOL

Very easy to make:

Cut pieces of felt into heart shapes.  You'll need 2 hearts per bag.

Hot glue the hearts together, but leave the top open and unglued to fill with treats.

I glued on white foam hearts onto the outside along with initials of each child's name.
(The initials are letter magnets found at the Dollar Tree.)

Then cut a slit into each heart at opposite ends.    Thread the ribbon through and tie a knot on each end forming a handle for the treat bag.

Fill with treats!

 

Say it in stencil

I've always loved the idea of coffee stencils.  But they are hard to find and even then, there weren't many options available.  Not you have 33 to choose from at CoffeeStencil.com

Valentine's Day Roses

See those gorgeous roses above?  

They aren't real.  Nope.  Silk, you ask?   Nope.

Coffee filters!  Hand folded, hand painted COFFEE filters!

The Crafteteria gives an amazing tutorial on how to make these beautiful roses.  I'm warning you, it's time consuming, but what a stunning finished product!

 

Hip aprons from The Hip Hostess

Is your honey stumped for ideas for a great Valentine's Day gift?  Looking for a unique gift for a great friend, mom or someone that you just wish to thank?

Enter the adorable aprons from The Hip Hostess. 

The mother/daughter creators of The Hip Hostess recently sent me that beautiful black and white demi apron you see above.  It's called Black a la Mode.  While I'm not normally an apron wearer, and heck, I'm not really a cook either, these aprons are cute enough to inspire you to do both!  

First, they are packaged beautifully!  I'll confess that I had photos of the packaging to share but then somehow lost them during a major flash card clean out.  Anyway, let me just share that the apron I received was packaged in a beautiful matching damask paper.  I'm big on packaging, especially when it's being sent as a gift and this packaging adds to the excitement and quality of the gift.

The apron itself is so cute, you almost wish it were a skirt.  LOL  Two things I loved about the apron.  One - it's light.  It's not a heavy duck cotton like some aprons and it's not stiff.  It's light and comfortable and moves with you.  Two - it fits a plus size gal.  It's generous in size and has extra long ties.  And it doesn't just FIT, it's flattering. Perfect!

The demi apron has 2 pockets and a cute ric rac bottom.  It can be worn on the waist, or, because it's generous in size, can be worn on the hips.

And guess what else they offer?  How cute are these?  Children's aprons!  You and your daughter can match!

 

Add The Hip Hostess to your wish list.  It's still time to drop a hint for Valentine's Day or... Mother's Day!

Disclosure: I was given one demi apron in return for conducting this review.  My reviews and recommendations are always products I believe in.

More easy Valentine's Day treat packaging

The crew at Martha Stewart's Craft Department shared this idea.  

Create treat bag toppers by taking a photo of your child blowing kisses.  

Photoshop on hearts or use mini heart stickers and create a message on the back such as

 "Kisses!  Love, Daniel" 

For schools that are a candy free zone, try filling with stickers or cute pencil erasers, etc.

 

Comforting serving pieces

Isn't it odd when you have something in your head and then you run across a picture of the VERY thing you were thinking of?

Country Living magazine was reading my mind!

A great idea for winter entertaining!

At Goodwill, find a set of bowls and a couple of long sleeved sweaters with patterns you love (such as cable knit, etc.)  You'll need one sleeve per bowl.  And remember to look for sweaters of any size.  The size doesn't matter and looking in a different size may result in finding more options in colors/patterns.
Also, it would be great to get a half off or 99 cent sweater!

Cut the sleeves off the sweaters.  

Slide the bowl through the sleeve so that the cuff of the sleeve is at the top of the bowl.  Hot glue the edge in place.

Then pull the sleeve to the bottom of the bowl, trim off the excess and glue the bottom pieces to the bowl.

Perfect for a "comfort" theme.  Warm, comfort food served in warm, comfort covered dishes! 

And wouldn't a set of these make a great gift?

Potato soup or mac 'n cheese, anyone?

Sidenote:  This will be an item to be handwashed, very gently.  And you can let the knit air dry if it gets wet.

 

Candy frame decor

photo credit: Better Homes and Gardens 

I love this simple way to add color, dimension and theme to your decor.  Buy an inexpensive square frame at The Dollar Tree or Goodwill.  Glue a cardboard circle onto the front of the frame then glue conversation hearts head to head all the way around the circle.
 

Mini easy treats

photo credit:  Better Homes and Gardens

Valentine's Day means getting ready for the parties.  An easy way to give a bit of a sweet treat for little hands is the matchbox.

Cover a small matchbox with scrapbook paper and fill with mini treats.  Great for when you only want to give them a taste of something sweet and I guarantee those of the toddler age will love opening and closing the box just as much as what's inside.

Ribbon touches

photo credit: Country Living

Add fun punches of color to your table by attaching ribbon to vases.  

Match your ribbon to the colors of your flowers and hot glue on.