Valentine Subway Art Mailboxes

I wanted to make my kids mailboxes for a new Valentine's Day tradition.  I want to leave them special love notes and goodies.  I found plain red mailboxes at Target for $1 each.

I started to design a few words to put on the mailbox, when I came across Kaysi's subway art design for a mailbox on her blog Keeping it Simple.  I asked her if she would share her file and she was nice enough to send it to me!  She is super nice and did a fantastic job with the design!  I completely believe you should work smarter not harder.  Why not utilize the talents of others versus racking your brain trying to do it yourself.  Thank again, Kaysi!

Once I had the vinyl cut out, I applied transfer tape and scraped it good so the letters would adhere.

Then I peeled off the paper backing and applied it to my mailbox.  Scrape it good so you can peel off the transfer tape

Here are my finished mailboxes.  I personalized each mailbox for my kids.  I also added a heart to the lid so that it would be decorative from all sides.

I can't wait to write my little sweeties a love note for Valentine's Day!  I hope they enjoy a new tradition!



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Homemade Chocolates with flavored Butter-cream filling

I picked up these cute heart gift boxes the other day at the dollar store.  I wanted to make something special for Ryan's teachers for Valentine's Day.  I got these boxes, but didn't have a clue what to put in them.  Then I remembered something I made last year, Homemade Heart Chocolates with Strawberry Butter-cream filling.

Here is the box filled with these yummy sweet treats!

My friend Faith gave me this recipe a few years back.  I had never thought of making my own chocolates.  That was completely foreign to me!  She made them for a party and they were delicious!  I have since made them for at least our Valentine get togethers.

Butter-cream filling:
3 tablespoons softened (slightly melted) butter
1 cup powdered sugar (add more to stiffen the filling, if needed)
1/2 teaspoon extract or flavoring (I've used strawberry, peppermint, and raspberry.  You can use any flavoring or extract you can find or desire).

Mix together butter and powdered sugar.  Continue to add powdered sugar until the filling is thick and paste like.  You will want it where you can mold it into a shape or ball.

Then add your extract.  If it smooths out too much, add some more powdered sugar.

For a Chocolate Butter-cream:
Follow the same instructions as above but use vanilla extract plus about 3 tablespoons of cocoa and reduce powdered sugar by about 3 tablespoons.

Chocolate
1 package Chocolate Bark Coating or 1 package melting chocolate (found in the craft area of larger supermarkets).  You can also mix these for a nice combination.
Double Boiler

Place about 3 bars of bark coating in your double boiler.  Stir frequently with a spatula.  Be careful not to scorch.

Take off the heat when chocolate is almost fully melted.  If it starts to harden, put over heat again.

Pour a small amount of chocolate into your mold, just enough to shape the bottom.  Tap down once all the spots have been filled. (I am using a mold from IKEA, which is not meant for chocolate candy making.  The normal plastic candy making sheets will help make the candy shiny, which you will notice mine is not).

Here they are a little less than half full.

Roll a ball or log shape and place in each spot.

Fill the remainder of each spot with chocolate and tap down again.  It will be fine if it is slightly under filled or over filled.

Place the mold in the freezer for 8 to 10 minutes.  If you use the candy making sheets, only put it in your freezer for 3 to 4 minutes.  Don't let the chocolates stay in the freezer too much longer or it will be hard to pop them out of the mold.

Pop the hearts out of the mold and place them in a container to store.  Here are my hearts in the gift box and picture of one by itself.

These are great to make for any holiday or for a simple gift for someone.  You can also fill them with peanut butter and other types of fillings.

Make this sweet treat for those you love this Valentine's Day!

Enjoy!

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Wooden Conversation Hearts Tutorial

It's not too late to make some last minute Valentine gifts!   Here is an easy tutorial for Wooden Conversation Hearts!

I picked up three large wooden hearts from Michael's on my browsing day (the same day as my heart picture frame day).  I drilled a hole at the top of each heart.  I then painted each heart a different color (red, purple, pink).  Then I realized that two of the hearts needed a second hole drilled at the bottom on the heart. (not shown)

I used my fabulous Silhouette and cut out the words "Hug Me", "Kiss Me", "Love Me."  I peeled away the excess vinyl.

I covered each set of words with transfer tape.  Make sure to scrape the transfer tape well on the words so they adhere to the tape. Peel off the paper backing from the letters and tape.

Center the letters over your heart.  Scrape the letters down onto the heart.  Carefully, peel off the transfer tape.

I connected each of my hearts with white satin ribbon.  You could also hang these individually.  If you do this, only drill a hole at the top of the heart.

One more Valentine decoration is finished!  My house is starting to look festive, with only a few days left before Valentine's Day!





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A New, Easy Way to Make Decorative Shirts-A Tutorial

Do you want to create a personalized tshirt in less than thirty minutes?  It's possible! My friend Lesli shared this form of tshirt making with me.  Thanks, Lesli!

This is what I used:

shirts

fabric (for the design)

a heart stencil

scissors

Heatbond-iron on adhesive-LITE-purchased in the fabric department of JoAnns

an iron

a needle

thread

a sewing machine is optional

First, I traced the heart onto the paper side of the heatbond.

Then I ironed the fabric on to the rough side of the heatbond. I turned the steam off on my iron and made sure it adhered well.

I then cut the heart out.

Tada.  (Sorry about the ugly ironing board cover background)

This is what the back of the heart looks like.

I peeled the paper coating away and was left with a smooth material on the back of my heart.

I positioned the heart on my shirt and ironed it on. I had my iron on the hottest setting possible, no steam. 

The heart attached easily. You could stop here, but I wanted to do a little decorative stitching.

The fabric had a "dotted" black line running throughout it.  I decided to continue that around the edges.  I used a piece of embroidery floss and hand stitched around the heart.  I've seen others use their sewing machines and fancy stitches but... I'm not a great seamstress and I really thought with this particular fabric, this looked cute.

In less than an hour I had two shirts done for my two girls.  I like quick crafting!

Winner of our 100 Email Subscribers Giveaway

Thank you to all who entered our 100 Email Subscribers Giveaway!  We are so thankful for all our wonderful followers!

Now for the winner....

35. Amy Roper said...

I follow the blog

February 7, 2011 9:31 PM  

Congratulations Amy!  Please email us at oursevendwarfs@gmail.com so we can make your personalized sign!

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Valentine Picture Frames Tutorial

A few weeks ago, I was browsing at Michaels and I came across some wooden heart picture frames.  I knew that with some paint, paper and Mod Podge, I could make them cute.

Supplies needed:

wooden heart frames
paint for the frames (should match your scrapbook paper)
sponge paint brush
scrapbook paper
vinyl letters (or you can print on your scrapbook paper)
Mod Podge
Exacto Knife
cutting mat
5 x 7 pictures

Tutorial:
1.  Measure the frame and cut scrapbook paper to fit the frame.
2.  Flip your scrapbook paper right side down.  Place your frame on top of your paper.  (see picture)

 

3.  Now take your Exacto knife and cut out the center heart.  Make sure to cut very close to the wood.  Cut along the outer edge to as the frame has rounded corners.

 Your scrapbook paper will look like this when you are finished.

4.  Paint your picture frames to match your scrapbook paper.  You don't need to cover the entire frame.  I did just because I couldn't stand to look at the spots not painted in the middle.

 5.  Once your paint is completely dry, paint on Mod Podge to cover the entire face of your frame.

 6.  Place your scrapbook paper on your frame, taking care to line up the heart center.  Starting at one end, use a scraper and scrape out any bubbles.  This will help the paper to adhere to the frame.  If you mess up, Mod Podge is very forgiving.  Just lightly pull up the paper and scrap back down.

 7.  Allow the paper to dry for a few minutes, then cover with another coat of Mod Podge on top of your frame.  Allow it to fully dry.

 8.  Cut our the saying you want on vinyl.  I used my wonderful Silhouette to do this.  Remove the excess vinyl.  Take transfer tape and cover the vinyl letters.  Scrape it so that it grabs the letters.

 9.  Peel off the paper backing.  Take the transfer tape with the letters and place it on the frame.  Scrape it thoroughly so the letters adhere to the frame. 

 10.  Take off the transfer tape.  Here are my three frames with the vinyl lettering on it.

 11.  Take the inside heart provided with the frame and place it over your picture.  Using the Exacto knife, cut close to the heart, so that your picture fits nicely.

 Here is the picture after I cut it.

12.  Place the picture in the frame.  I included the heart that came with the frame for extra stability. 

Here are my finished frames:

I think they turned out really nice.  I can update the picture every year and keep these for years to come!  I love looking at my sweet little ones in these frames!





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