DIY: Felt Heart Garland

Oopsey Daisy is an absolutely adorable blog that helps us stay on track with our Valentine's Day themed crafts.  We are closing in with only 35 days to go until the big day filled with hearts, dinner, champagne, and stuffed animals.  Speaking of hearts - this felt heart garland couldn't be any sweeter. 

You can make your own with some scraps on hand!

Let's get started!

I started with the felt.   I secretly wanted to use all wool felt, but my frugal conscience got the best of me.  So I purchased the red and mustard wool felt, and I had the other colors on hand.  I LOVE the color scheme!  The mustard and turquoise were fun and unexpected pops of color.

Then I sat down and just started cutting out a whole lot of hearts!  I didn't use a pattern--just used the old traditional method of folding the fabric over to achieve a symmetrical heart.  I think I cut out about 90 hearts total.

It was 12:30 AM, and I couldn't thread the yearn through the needle for the life of me.  Finally I tried this trick of taping the end with masking tape. Duh!  It worked perfectly.

I knotted the end of the yarn to prevent fraying and then started stitching!

I made sure that I had plenty of excess yarn so I could sew as long of a garland as possible.  (I didn't want to have to thread that needle any more times than completely necessary!)

I wanted to be unpredictable, so I didn't repeat the colors in any certain pattern.  Crazy, I know!!

I just knotted the very end of the yarn, and started draping!

So what do you think?

DIY: Valentine's Day Mantel

So, it is that time of 2013 when all the stores remove any last remnants of Christmas and New Year's items and start overloading on pink and red Valentine's Day jazz!  We are getting in the spirit to with this great mantel decoration idea from My Blessed Life.

We think that this would be easily adaptable to an office / cube space if you feel like making your work spot more interesting.

We hope that you find this as inspiring as we did and gets you into the mood for pink and red EVERYWHERE!

I love the layered simplicity of how the mantel turned out.  I kept the background {old window and vintage ceiling tile} that I used for my Christmas mantel and I switched out the printer’s drawer for another one that is a bit lighter. My hubs and I dug out the V-day decor out from last year and I had a blast making it work on the mantel!

I love my DIY “Be Mine” Topiary from last year.  I also used my Ruffled Satin Heart Wreaths and little balls.

Are you tired of seeing aqua insulators in just about every mantel I decorate? Ahem. I love ‘em, so they aren’t going away anytime soon. My Burlap Valentine’s Wreath from last year adds a fabulous texture to the mantel. The white vases with pink tulips make me smile because they are simple and calm.

An old cigar box and salvaged piece of trim {from Southern Accents} created a perfect stand for my little white vase.  The pink leather flower is part of a boutonniere from our wedding…almost six years ago. Wow.

This yellowing, falling apart framed “art” was a gift to my husband back long before he was my husband.  It is sentimental and I love seeing it every day.  Oh, if you haven’t read our story, it’s a good one!

So pretty!

DIY: Three Easy New Year's Eve Party Favors

Free People's Blog has three wonderful last minute party favor ideas for those of you procrastinators out there (like me).  These look fun and easy to make and definitely have the ability to be ready to go in a short amount of time.  

 

 Confetti Cones

This gold acrylic paint is my jam – it looks like liquid gold! It’s made by Reeves and I can’t get enough of it.

I painted a piece of card stock with the gold paint, and to make the confetti I did it the old fashioned way – I used a hole punch and a stack of multicolored post-it notes!

Roll the gold paper into a cone, fill it with confetti, and voila! An adorable confetti cone. Make a bunch of them and place them on a table for your guests to pick up and toss at midnight!

Mustache Photo Props

I also love the idea of making little props for photos – especially if you have a photo booth at your party! I used my mustache stamp from a while back and stamped a few on card stock and then just cut them out and glued them to coffee stirrers!

Party Hats

You can also use the gold-painted card stock to make party hats! I added some gold glitter to the bottom for some extra sparkle. Roll your hat into a cone shape and attach a string so it can be worn.

Stick a confetti cone and mustache in a diy glitter champagne flute and you’ve got some seriously adorable New Year’s Eve party favors!

Source: 3 Easy New Year’s Eve Party Favors | Free People Blog http://blog.freepeople.com/2012/12/3-easy-years-eve-party-favors/#ixzz2GGPJPhvM

DIY: Eggnog Cupcakes with Spiced Rum

Baker's Royale has made a picture look so delicious we wish we could eat two dimensional objects!!  These look unreal.  We know that our frosting will not look this amazing, but if they taste anything remotely like they look we couldn't be happier...

  

Makes 24 cupcakes | Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffins tins with cupcake liners.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• ¾ cup eggnog
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Spice Rum Buttercream:

• 5 large egg whites
• 11/2 cup sugar
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, diced and softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup spiced rum

Instructions:

To make cupcake:

1. Measure out flour and set aside.
2. Add sugar and butter in a bowl and cream on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs in 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the eggnog and vanilla to start. Mix after addition until incorporated-do not overbeat.
3. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer cupcakes from tins to cooling rack. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

To make Spice Rum Buttercream:

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl placed over simmering water. Bring mixture to 160 degrees F while whisking constantly.
2. Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium  high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer) until mixture cools and doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10-12 minutes).
3. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking at first-this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again.
4. Add salt and spiced rum and mix to combine.

 

DIY: Balloon False Ceiling

Wants and Wishes blog has a fantastic last minute idea for that New Year's Eve party!  If you've been debating how to jazz up the home for the festivities - here you go!!  Visit them for more ideas.

 

 1. Blow up all of the balloons you would like to use. I wanted a variety of colors of balloons so I used 2 different colors of purple, 3 different blues and silver. I think it turned out really well to have the mix of colors.

2. Roughly arrange the colors the way you would like them, this will help when your tying them together that you don't have all the same blues together, but a even mix of colors. (Note I used almost double the amount of silver balloons since I have different shades of blues & purple balloons).

3. Tie them together with string or curly ribbon. Don't tie them too close as they need a lithe room in between. I tie them together so you have 2 rows of balloons- one hanging on the right then one on the left.

Here is a picture with one strand hung up so you can see how full one strand can be. You can add as many strands of balloons you need to create the depth of your area.

DIY: New Year's Eve Confetti!

Head on over to "Homework: Today's Assignment: Be Inspired"'s website for this awesome DIY New Year's Eve confetti!  This is so easy to whip up and would make for a great last minute party idea.  The only problem?  Vacuuming it all up!

DIY: Gold Dipped Glasses

Having a New Year's Eve party?  These gold dipped glasses would make the perfect edition to any party night!  These come to you from Momtastics' blog - so go check her out! 

Supplies:

• Mettalic gold spray paint
• Masking tape
• Newspaper
• Wine glasses

Wash wine glasses thoroughly. Wrap tape around the base of the wine glass leaving the area exposed you want to paint gold. Cover the rest of the glass with paper

I taped up the sides too to be extra cautious

Spray from a good distance, at least 1 1/2 feet to get a nice even coat.

Do the same with the other glasses in your set.