St. Patrick's Day Decorated Candles....

I needed something to go with my St. Patrick's Day topiary for my March dining room table centerpiece. Here is what I came up with:

I found the cute felt clover stickers at JoAnn's crafts, I just stuck them on each candle and was done!

They were so easy, inexpensive and I think they turned out super cute!  I'm getting pretty excited to put up my March decorations this weekend :)


Linking to:
http://lilluna.com/lil-luna-link-party-66/
& t2t-tuesday
& oopseydaisyblog
& projectqueen.org/-turning-the-daunting-into-the-do-able
& todayscreativeblog

Clover Trio....

Another project that I did over the weekend:Trio of clovers.

The big one:

1st of the smaller ones:

2nd of the smaller ones:

I'm loving all the green these days!


 Linking to:
todayscreativeblog
& mad-skills-party

Leprechaun Hat....

My hubby is the best!  I'm always sketching ideas on scraps of paper and handing them to him.  He then takes the sketch and finds a way to cut the wood exactly like I'd envisioned, (although my sketches are more like a preschoolers scribbles than well drawn idea's.)  This weekend, I gave him 3 different designs and he did not disappoint!  Here is my leprechaun's hat:

I base painted it green and then added several coats of Folk Arts extreme glitter paint in Peridot. It glitters this pretty gold-ish sparkly color all over.

I love how it turned out :)

Linking to:
craft-o-maniac-monday
& making-monday-marvelous
& made-by-you-monday
& mad-skills-party
& 4-real-friday-link-party
& kitchen-fun-and-crafty-friday-
& todayscreativeblog
& whatever-goes-wednesday

St. Patrick's Day Topiary's....

I made two topiaries yesterday.  One for my table and one to send to my cute girl in Florida.  I used tissue paper to make these ones.  I found the cute buckets at JoAnn's Craft Store.

So festive!

Linking to:
craft-o-maniac-monday
& making-monday-marvelous
& made-by-you-monday
& mad-skills-party

Irish Block for St. Patrick's Day...

I really need to get my daughter's St. Patrick's Day decor package in the mail so that it can arrive in Florida by March 1st. As with the Valentines deco's that I sent her in February, I am trying to keep them as inexpensive as possible because she will only be there for a few more months and won't have room to bring them home with her when the time comes. I hate the thought of her apartment being holiday decor-less (is that even a word?!) so, regardless of the fact that they will only get used by her once, I still want her to have them. She did say that she knows of a place to donate everything that she can't bring home with her, so hopefully someone will get to enjoy them when she is done. Anyhoodle, (I'm on a non-word roll today!) Here is one of the decorations that I came up with to send her:

Irish blockies:

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all have lots of crafting plans this weekend, I know I do!

Linking to:
4-real-friday-link-party
& sassysites-party-in-ffa
& its-hodgepodge-friday
& somedaycrafts-st-patricks-linky

Decorated Tile Magnet Sets...

I was going through the pictures I have saved on my computer and found these tile magnets that I made for gifts 2 years ago.  I can't believe that I never posted them!

This is also another craft that is really fun for the kids to help with and make cute gifts for girls to give their friends to decorate their lockers or magnet boards.

Linking to:
hookin-up-with-hoh
& show-off-your-stuff-party
& t2t-tuesday

St. Patrick's Day Luck Frame...

I'm still going at full speed to make enough St. Patrick's Day deco's to fill my hutch for the month of March. I made this cute, inexpensive frame last night:

I just used one of the dollar frames from Micheal's that I got on their 2 for $1 sale awhile back.  I painted it and then mod podged a scrap piece of St. Patrick's day paper on the frame, sanded and inked the edges. Then I mod podged some scrap gold sparkle paper on the inside of the frame.The clovers and ribbon were from a floral pick that I'd bought a few years back and I had the sparkle letter stickers from a package that I found at dollar tree.

Crafting doesn't have to be expensive! Because I had all of the supplies on hand, it didn't cost me anything but even when I add up the cost of everything, the total would be less than two dollars.  Not to shabby eh?!

Linking to: trash-to-treasure-tuesday
& show-off-your-stuff-party

Lucky Clover Canvas...

I had an extra canvas lying around and decided something needed to be done with it. Here is what I came up with:

                                            The clover actually has gold  sparkles, I couldn't get a picture that did it justice.

I'm liking the way it turned out :)

Linking to:  craft-o-maniac-monday
& making-monday-marvelous
& trash-to-treasure-tuesday
& todayscreativeblog.net
& oopseydaisyblog

Rustic Clover Plaque...

I'm moving on to St.Patrick's Day crafties!!! I need to get enough to fill up my hutch for the month of March, and I need to make a few to send to my cute daughter in Florida to decorate her cute apartment. I found an old piece of wood in my wood pile and here is what I came up with:

I'm loving the combination of the light and dark greens!  Now I just need to figure out what to make next :)


Linking to:
trash-to-treasure-tuesday
& todayscreativeblog.net
& crafty-soiree-78
& terrific-tuesdays

Easy Strawberry Spinach Salad Recipe

 I love Strawberry Spinach Salad, I eat it all year long, we did it as a side dish for our Valentines dinner this year.
I dont' pre mix any of the ingredients.  I put everything in separate bowls so that if someone doesn't like one of the ingredients, they don't have to put it on.  This also helps with ensure that any leftovers will taste great because it doesn't go all soggy like when it's mixed together for too long.  Here is my quick and easy recipe for it:
                              Ingredients:                      
****Spinach.  I like Natural Directions organic, not only because it's organic, but also because it comes in this little tub and stays fresh for much longer than the bagged kind.

****1 qt of fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced, again I prefer organic

**** One bag of butter toffee sliced almonds.  I like the Sunkist Almond Accent brand

**** Feta Cheese Crumbles.  I love the Atheno's brand.

**** Brianna's Strawberry Vinaigrette, this stuff is freaking delish!:

And there you have it, so quick and easy! 

Enjoy!

Valentines Dinner...

We do a family "candlelight dinner" for Valentines every year and invite my parents to join us.  This year was no exception other than it's always a bummer with Valentines falls of a week night.  I work full time outside my home so on years like this one, I tend to simplify and don't go as overboard as I do when it falls on the weekend.

The Menu.

The beverage "Cupids Love Potion"  it was so cute and festive and tastes delish.  I found it here.

The dinner.  I made Olive Gardens Fettuccine Alfredo, heart fruit kaboobs, spinach strawberry salad and  Olive Garden Breadsticks.  This is my plate, Hubs also made breaded chicken strips for the meat eaters in the fam, which is basically everyone except for me :)  

For dessert, I made the brownie trifle. It was so delish!!!

 

After dinner, we exchanged gifts and everyone got a goodie bag filled with lots of chocolates and cinnamon hot lips. I found the cute bag toppers here.

It was such a fun night!

Button Art Heart Tile #2....

Happy Valentines Day!!!  I hope you will each be surrounded with loved ones who will make you feel very special all day long!

I made some button art heart tiles for some friends.  It's very similar to the other, with just a few differences:

The paper is actually called "Heartstrings" and is made by Carolee's Creations.  I think it's just darling and really ties it all together.

My sweet daughter is spending her very first holiday alone.  Well, not completely alone, she is living and working in the "Happiest Place on Earth", but I still wanted her to know that we love and miss her, so we sent her a card and goodie bag.

She is our zebra stripe loving gal, so this is her card:

I embossed the "Sweet Love" tag with pink glitter and filled the bag with her favorite chocolates and included a Utah Truffle just so she would think of home.

We do a fun Valentines dinner tonight and I'm super excited about it, although we will miss sweet Kadee.  I hope that you all have a wonderful, fun filled Valentines as well.  Make sure you tell the people you love how much they mean to you. XOXO

Candle Holder Redo...

I've been crafting for a long time, as in decades.  I've gotten rid of most of my early projects, but some I've hung on to.  I have these heart candlestick holders that I made clear back in the early 90's:

So, this year I pulled them out of my Valentines tote and decided they needed to be updated.  Here's what they look like now:

Repainted, mod podged some paper on to them, sanded, inked and added some 3D heart stickers.

They found a home on top of my fridge for February anyways.

I can now look at them and no longer say to myself, "Joni, the 90's called and they want their candlestick holders back!"  I guess I'll hang onto them for another 2 decades ;)

Bucket O' Love (Coffee Can Craft)....

A few years ago, I made on of those cute candy bar bouquets for the family.  I decorated an old coffee can with Valentines paper and embellishments.  After that Valentines was over, I thought it was too cute to throw away, so I kept it but haven't used it.  This year, I added a few pink flocked heart picks and one sparkly red and turned it into my "Bucket O' Love!

This is another super easy, inexpensive but still cute craft that anyone can make.  It looks darling as a center piece on a table :)

Linking to:friday-frolic

LOVE Letters...

I made these 2 years ago and originally did them without any embellishments other than the mod podged paper.  Last year, I added the tulle bow, this year I added sparkly hearts.  Apparently, I just can't leave anything "simple" LOL!

This works for this year, maybe I'll add more next Valentine's Day :)

Linking to:
sassysites-ffa-friday
& frugal-friday
& flaunt-it-friday
& functional-friday
& friday-fun-party
& woodyouliketocraft-love-linky-party

Yarn/ Wire Art- LOVE...

Remember back in the day before the good plastic hangers came out and we would cover our wire hangers with yarn?  Okay, so maybe you didn't do this, but I did!  For a couple of my Valentines decor items, I used this same technique to make some word art.  I did the word LOVE and a cute heart using fencing wire and yarn  that I already had on hand:

I like to use the loop technique with the yarn, but you could just wrap it around the wire.

The possibilities are endless here, you could also use more than one color to mix things up. These are also easy enough that kids could help or make their own. They are so simple, and cost next to nothing to make, but look super cute and festive, which is my favorite kind of crafty :)

Linking to:
crafty-soiree
& show-off-your-stuff-party
& hookin-up-with-hoh

Tissue Paper Valentines Topiary...

Awhile back, I made a Valentines Topiary using cupcake liners. I liked it so much, that I decided to make another. This time, I was bound and determined to not spend a dime and to only use supplies that I had on hand. Here is the final result:

I love pulling out my old scraps and seeing what I can make with them.  It totally makes me happy to turn things that could very well have just been tossed in the garbage into something that looks so cute!

Linking to:
sassysites-t2t-tuesday

Valentines Hutch...

I got my hutch redecorated for February this weekend! I'm so in love with all of the fun pinks and reds! Here is how it turned out:

Yeah, I know.  I need a heart instead of the snowman for the "O" in my HOME.  Hubs still can't be around sawdust, so for now, Mr. Snowman stays :)

The center of the hutch:

Left Side:

Right Side:

The top shelf.

Middle Shelf.

Bottom shelf.

I just LOVE it!  Makes me happy every time I walk into my dining room :)

Linking to: craft-o-maniac-monday
& making-monday-marvelous
& made-by-you-monday
& mad-skills-party
& sassysites-think-pink
& thematic-thursday
& feathered-nest-friday

Plate of the Month, February...

Yay for me for remembering to post this months plate of the month!  Here it is:

I just adore Valentines!  Love is most certainly in the air at my house, I hope it is at yours as well :)

Heart Bouquet & A Frame Re-do....

A couple other Valentine decor items that I put together to send to my cute daughter in Florida to help decorate her new apartment:

For the bouquet's:
I got all of the stuff for the Valentines bouquet's at the dollar store.  I just put a little square of floral styrofoam in the bottom of the bags and covered them with valentines tissue paper. I then stuck the cute hearts down in and then added some red tulle on top.  So stinking simple! 

For the frame:
I repainted an old  brown wooden frame white and then added a couple of coats of Plaids Extreme Glitter paint so it is all sparkly.  I did it in white so that I can send her a new subway are for each holiday and she can just continue to use that frame, i'm keeping my fingers crossed that the glass won't be broken by the time UPS gets it to her!  I found the darling subway art at Every Creative Endeavor (Thank you!).

This project is another one that will look super cute in her apartment but didn't cost very much so we won't feel badly when she won't have room in her luggage to bring it home with her.  I still have some of the hearts and boxes left and I intend to find a way to use them :)  Yay for cute Valentines crafties!!!

LOVE Banner....

My LOVE Banner:

Made two rosettes with the same scrapbook paper that I had mod podged onto the chipboard and put them on each side of the banner.

Linking to:
its-hodgepodge-friday &
sassysites-ffa-friday

Hugs & Kisses Blocks...

I mentioned before that Hubs can't cut wood or be around sawdust while he is recovering from a recent sinus surgery.  This stinks because I'm constantly asking him to cut wood for me!  I scavenged my scrap pile and found two blocks that he'd cut awhile back.  Here is what I did with them:

I love Valentines because of the colors.  Reds and pinks are my favorites!  I really like the combo of the light pink with the dark pink on these.  I'm getting so excited to decorate my hutch for Valentines this weekend :)

Linking to:
firefliesandjellybeans-show-off-your-stuff-party
& hookin-up-with-hoh
& katiesnestingspot-crafty-soiree-
& mad-skills-party 

Button Art Heart...

I have some tiles left over from doing the back splash in my kitchen.  I have been wanted to do some cute button art for awhile and decided that it might be super cute to do it on one of my left over tiles rather than a frame.  Here's how it turned out:

I love it!  Buttons make me so happy!  I have a huge jar of them and it's like my own little treasure chest!  I know, I'm a dork but seriously I get a huge sense of pleasure out my button jar, lol!

Featured on: plaidkidscrafts


Linking to:
oopseydaisy-wednesdays-wowzers
& lil-luna-link-party
& overflowing-with-creativity
& a-journey-of-1000-steps
& hookin-up-with-hoh
& firefliesandjellybeans-show-off-your-stuff-party
& sassysites-ffa-friday
& thematic-thursday
& somedaycrafts-valentines-categorically-crafting