Our home decor stays pretty static  most of the year. Halloween and Christmas are the holidays where we decorate but I’m realizing that celebrating even the small ones we’d probably enjoy them more.  I consider Valentine’s Day a “Hallmark” holiday. A holiday hyped up to sell cheesy greeting cards, expensive candy and boring roses. This year I’m starting early with this Framed Key to My Heart art.

I like frames. They cover my walls and shelves filled with photographs of my family and friends but I’m seeing that they make great vessels for crafty art. I can interchange frames to suit the season or holiday.

I had the perfect spot on a table that I knew needed a little something

Materials Needed

Frame, size and color your choice, paint if you need to

Cardstock or scrapbook paper, color and pattern of your choice

Coordinating ribbon, skinny and wide

Embellishments, I used paper & felt heart cut outs

Stamps, markers or printed message

Key, I used a decorative skeleton key

Glue & tape

Directions

Remove the glass from your frame and cut your cardstock to fit the opening. I layered a pattern and a coordinating solid with a valentine’s theme but not overdoing it.

I played with the wording and tried my best to hand write it but my writing is terrible so I taped my cardstock onto a sheet of paper and ran it through the printer after figuring out the right placement.  Go ahead and write or stamp if you prefer.

Play around with the embellishments you choose to use like rhinestones, lace, raffia or buttons.

I used a piece of thin black grosgrain ribbon to hang my key and wider ribbon to seperate the different papers.

I added dimension to my paper hearts with a little ink.  Using a black sharpie and scrap felt I rubbed the edges of the hearts to ink them.

I layered the key over a felt heart for a pop of texture and color and added the entire craft to the frame.

It’s sitting on a small end table where it can be seen for the season.

For Valentine’s Day I like to tuck little notes in the kid’s lunchbox or next to Rob’s night stand.  Doing this gives them a little surprise just letting them know how much I love them. This year I’m taking it a step further by using these Handmade Felt Envelopes to hold my love notes.

I made these using a sewing machine but a good ole needle and thread would work just fine too. These don’t have to be for just Valentine’s Day either.  I’m thinking pretty blues, greens and pinks for spring time or to even celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.

Materials Needed

• Felt
• button
• needle & thread or sewing machine
• glue

Directions

Cut your felt into a long rectangle with a triangle at the top. You can easily go wide to fit sheets of paper but make sure it’s tall enough to fold then also have enough for the fold over flap. I didn’t make mine any particular measurement.

Use a decorative button so you’ll be able to close your envelope.  Velcro or snaps would work too but buttons work for me.   Use straight pins or safety pins or even binder clips to get your folds in the right spot. Do this before sewing your envelope together.

Choose a contrasting thread and sew the sides and bottom of your envelope shape.  I used a zig zag pattern with my sewing machine but a wide running would look great too if you had to sew by hand. Cute a small hole in your flap for the button hole.

School glue is the simplest way to adhere your “stamps”.  Sewing these down would look great too. Pink shears would’ve given these stamps an endearing quality but I don’t have a pair.

Once the glue has dried they are ready to use for notes, candy hearts or favorite valentine chocolates.

If you want to make these with children just skip the sewing step and go with fabric glue to hold the sides together.  Decorate with glitter glue, buttons or rhinestones to make it a true gift from your child.

There is never a shortage of toilet paper rolls in this house. 5 people, 3 bathrooms there is always a holder that needs to be filled. I’m usually the one replacing them so imagine how a crafty mom’s mind does flips when she’s holding this simple cardboard tube that’s begging for some flair. If you’re looking for ideas to put into your gift box, check out Gift Glide.

This Toilet Paper Roll Gift Boxes are perfect for candies, play jewelry or other small gifts. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and I thought I would put some of my stash to good use.

Supplies
toilet paper rolls, cleaned of all tissue pieces
paper, paint, ribbon, glue, glitter, buttons, paper or foam shapes, raffia, the list goes on and on

Red Gift Box
Using poster paint I applied an even coat and set it aside to dry for 2 hours. I circled double-sided tape around the tube once. Then, over a paper towel (or sheet of paper) I sprinkled silver glitter on the tape, tapping it on every once in a while. This is much easier and less messy than glue. Using this awesome bow tying fork technique I made a tiny bow from a thin organza ribbon, adhered it with glue and the box was done.

Ribbon Gift Box
Even simpler. I left the tube naked, and neatly wrapped ribbon around it and tied it in a nice bow. I tucked a note under the ribbon and it’s ready to give as a gift.

Each tube held about 6-8 starburst candies but hershey kisses or sweetheart candies would be very appropriate too.

Covering in a pretty lightweight scrapbook paper is a great way to personalize and customize for any holiday or occasion. I wouldn’t recommend heavyweight cardstock though.

Letting a child decorate their own gift box is an adventure. Break out the stickers, paints, markers and everything else you can find to let them be as creative as possible. Don’t have any stickers? Why not make a sticker using this site?