DIY Valentine Decor

So remember this post?

I did go shopping and didn't find as much as I was hoping for...a few new Valentine children's books, some flowers and a cute little mailbox at Kohl's.  Finding the mailbox reminded me of these that I saw on Pinterest.

Okay...now I just needed to find a cute candlestick and I was set.  Easier said than done.  I checked three craft stores and finally ended up at the D.I.  There I found something that would work.  Not as cute as the ones above, but it would do the job.  While I was hunting at Hobby Lobby for a candlestick  (love that place!) I found these cute little unfinished, inexpensive mailboxes.  I just couldn't pass them up.  Here everything is ready to be painted.

Luckily, I have a very sweet husband and he didn't seem to mind the bright spray paint markings on the floor of the garage...not too much anyway :o)

I have to mention how much I love spray paint.  I will have to do a post later on about some of the other things that I have done.  I don't really know what I am doing...I should read some tutorials or something but all I know is that it makes things look completely different and it's awesome.  As a matter of fact...last night I was out in the garage putting another coat of paint on these puppies and Matt opened the door and said, "Mom, do you like what you're doing?"  I said, "You mean painting these things?"  When he responded in the affirmative I told him, "Yes, I like it a lot.  It's fun to make old things new again."  He seemed satisfied and closed the door.  Apparently on his way back to his bed he ran into Andy who was looking for me.  Matt told him, "She's out in the garage making old things new again." 

Pretty cute!

Anyway...back to business...this is how they turned out.  (I apologize for the plethora of pictures)

After they were painted, I just took some ric rack (love that stuff!), some felt stickers from JoAnn's and some vintage postage stamp images that I found on Etsy for approx. $3.50 and printed on regular paper.

Oh, and here's the one from Kohl's

I'm pleased as punch with how they turned out. It was quite a fun project.

I also wanted to make this from Pinterest.
I put my own spin on it though...this is what I did...

I sewed some ric rack and ribbon on 2 pieces of stiff felt.  (I made sure the rows of ribbon and ric rack were matched up well on the two different pieces.)

Then I sewed the two pieces together (right sides together).

Then I turned them right sides facing out and sewed along the bottom seam...forming a heart.  (Be sure to trim excess ribbon hanging off the sides of the felt before this step)

Now you have a log of hearts.  That's kind of fun sounding isn't it?...log of hearts?
Simply cut them apart now...like you're slicing individual cookies off of a log of cookie dough :o)

Now you've got a bunch of cute little hearts.  I repeated this process (minus the ric rac and ribbon) with more flexible, white felt.  I also made them quite a bit smaller.  I lined them up how I wanted and, using a needle and some embroidery thread, strung them together.  As an added touch, I also dangled some tiny heart embellishments from the center of some of the big red hearts.

 

 

As a side note; those heart decorations on the shelves above were found at Real Deals a few days after my initial shopping excursion.  Interestingly, they are some of the same images I purchased from Etsy for the mailboxes.

I'm quite happy with the result of my 2012 Valentine projects.  Now I should be free to get some other things done...like cleaning the house.  Oh the things that I neglect while I'm in craft mode.  Sorry family.