Cozy @ Home: Make A Simple & Sweet Valentine's Gift

Would you like to make a sweet, simple Valentine for a good friend or a family member?  I have a fun little one to show you today.

It involves a little hand-stitching.


All you need is:

quilting thread and needle

felt in two colors

cookie cutter or something that you can trace and cut the shape out

pinking shears

ribbon for hanging

a small amount of  stuffing, I used very little just to barely puff it.

The recipient of this little periwinkle heart with a Scottie dog on it loves the color periwinkle and Scotties, so she'll be pleased, I think.

Cutting with the pinking shears seems to help the thread to have a place to rest when the stitching is done and makes it look a little bit neater, I'm not the best hand-stitcher.


I cut the dog out first.


The heart shape (cut two) I first cut with a piece of paper--free handed--then cut the felt with the paper heart pattern, AFTER making sure the shape would fit nicely inside the heart.


First, stitch the shape onto the front of one heart.


(Tiny buttons could be added at this point for accent if you'd like.)


I secured the ribbon to the back heart on the inside before starting to stitch the hearts together.


Start stitching the hearts together.


Sew almost all the way around, stopping on a flat side on bottom to gently push just a little stuffing in before finishing your stitching.  


Words could be stitched on, but I thought the simpler, the sweeter.


They're almost as fun to decorate as a Valentine's cookie!  And I don't think you'll be able to stop with just one...so have fun!

Simple + Sweet = LOVE!

A Vintage Farm Table for Sewing...

Now that Christmas is over and done with, I have a big bunch of stuff to catch up on:  the main one is sorting to do in my sewing room.  It's sorting like thread, fabric, doodads and whatsists, stuff that is super-dee-dooper annoying to think about sorting.


Well.


Yesterday, I got some inspiration started for that when I accidentally bumped into this table at my favorite antique mall.  It's a little porcelain-topped farmhouse table, painted in brilliant red, glossy paint.  It came with two solid oak chairs, also red.  What a set!  And under $75!

It's a sweet lil' thang...


All red and white and cheery.


Even the man that helped me load it into the truck asked me if I planned on leaving it red and white.


I told him yes.


He said "Well that's good, because it's so cheery."


A man.


Said that.


Well.  


Well.


I was amazed.


And then, of course, I recovered from the pure shock of his observation to me and agreed with him --"It IS cheery!"  I said, and then, like a good girl, I helped him load it, said thank you, waved and was off to home.

I lugged it in the house and up the steps after I took out the old table and unloaded the stuff that lived underneath it.  (Like I said, I must SORT.)  


The old table is a 6' white plastic banquet table I made a skirt for from Sam's Club.  It worked for a long time, but it took up way too much room in my small area.  I'd been on the lookout for a little farm table like this.  


After I moved the old table out, I vacuumed up three complete generations of Asian beetles that lived (and died) under my sewing table.   


(Oh, have I mentioned that I would like to personally wring the neck of the brilliant governmental official who thought it would be beneficial to import these ANNOYING, USELESS bugs into our environment to drive every housewife in the state INSANE!??)

This little set has to remain red.  Besides being cheerful, it matches the curtains!

MOTIVATION, that's what this little set is.  Now I am obligated to sort and organize because my old table was WAY bigger and hid way more under its skirts.  


My sins are all out in the open now, with this little number.  I don't think it will wear big old long skirts well like my big table did.  She's a petite little thing, and her legs should be shown off.

Right?

Cheery.  
Oh.  
Yes.








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Please tell me that you hate Asian beetles, too, Michiganders?!  

Three Front Doors = Three New Wreaths + One Burn

I just spent some time out in the garage with the hot glue gun and oldies on the stereo. The tunes were disco and stuff like the BeeGees, Saturday Night Fever (oh, yeah!) and Michael Jackson, so I danced a little as I worked on some wreaths to hang near each of our three front doors (we used to have four but removed one when we added on to the house). I've always wanted to have three similar wreaths for the seasons, but since buying three done by a florist would be crazy expensive, I finally, after about fifteen years of "thinking about it", took the plunge, bought the supplies and made the wreaths for spring/summer seasons.

(Whew! That glue is HOT when you mess up and glue your finger. YOWZA! I finally went and hunted down some cowhide gloves...I think my index finger on my left hand will be sore for a while.) In spite of the fact that I barbequed my finger, I got all three wreaths done, started them at 10 p.m. and was done by 11:30. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I've got most of the mess cleaned up and will go get the shop vac out tomorrow and get all the debris off the floor --grapevine wreaths are MESSY!

For my wreaths, I bought three little stubby garden tools in the Dollar Spot at Target to use as focal points: they came in primary or pastel colors, in case you're interested. They had little rakes, shovels in two shapes. I bought primary colors, and then immediately hopped over to Michael's while I was in the mood for crafting, and got three grapevine wreaths and some yellow daisies and little red flowers. To complete it all I bought wired red gingham ribbon. I think they'll look nice on the old farmhouse. (I have a sister who is a "professional" florist and it's intimidating to take on something like this when you know what really professional work looks like!)

It's one of the first times I've been crafty on my blog, so I just had to share with you...and I was inspired by Shanda at Front Porches, Sweet Tea & Old Aprons...she bought a gorgeous wreath not too long ago, and the focal point was an adorable mini vintage-style bicycle...her wreath can be seen here! Thanks, Shanda, for the inspiration! That cute retro bicycle made me think that these little garden tools would look great on a wreath!

To close out this post, I thought I'd share a poem off my May calendar page written about...

Spring!

God, give us eyes to see

The beauty of the spring

And to behold

Your Majesty

In every living thing,

And may we see

In lacy leaves

And every budding flower

The hand that rules

The universe

With gentleness and power.

--Helen Steiner Rice--