Just Make Stuff

Teacher's Notes...

Last month Sean and I made Valentine's gifts for each other for the nineteenth time. 

My gift wasn't particularly lovey-dovey this year, but it was something he mentioned wanting a few times. 

He has been meaning to take the time to send birthday wishes to each of the students on his caseload. He has done this is the past, making a pile of cards as the school year began, but hasn't done it in years. 

I put together a couple card designs for him from digital kits I have...one birthday card and one for other notes. I printed a bunch of the cards, bought envelopes and ordered an address stamp with his school address. I figured it would be a nice surprise for his students to get good, old-fashion mail.  

Here are PDF sheets of both cards in case they'd come in handy for you too...birthday cards and pencil note cards.

Valentine's Mantle...

There is really no point to finally decorate for Valentine's Day at the last minute, but the new year's mantle was pretty old six weeks into the year. This year I added a wood heart from the Target dollar spot that I tied with some ribbon. 

Mac has class on Tuesday night, so we are not celebrating Valentine's (with our fondue dinner tradition) until Thursday. If we take the delay into account, I guess I decorated just slightly before the last minute.

Valentine Dates...

"But you can't open them"

How's that for a Valentine's gift? 

Sean and I have a tradition of making each other a gift so this year I planned six dates for us and made little cards for each. I gave him the little stack of envelopes and told him he could use them whenever he wanted. 

I started each idea with "let's" so that's what I included on the tag to tie it all together. It's just a few things that one or the other of us has mentioned, but we never actually go do. Then I put together another couple simple ideas we could do instead of just watching Netflix...although we both actually love to do that too. 

Oh and Sean made me a cute little blackboard. He wrote a sweet note on the back that included that he thinks of me every morning when he wakes up. When I said there is no chance he thinks of me in the morning (most of the time he's all happy getting up to go for a run) he totally proved me wrong. 

He said every morning when he wakes up he thinks, "Don't wake Nora up".

Now that's true love.

Lots of love...

Last Thursday I took one hour before picking up Mac from school to stop grading, listen to a podcast and craft. 

Man, was that a good idea. 

With Valentine's Day this week I couldn't resist all the pink and lovey-dovey-ness.

Valentine Kit...

I sent my eight-year old niece and my nine-year-old sister little kits this week to craft up some valentines. I saw this super cute jar of conversation heart stamps at Michael's and grabbed a few other supplies to go with it...stickers, mini washi tape, ink pads, glitter glue and a stack of cards and envelopes.

Now my inner-eight-or-nine-year old really wants to craft up Valentine's too.

A holiday decorating world record...

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two holidays that I am guaranteed to decorate for way in advance. Every other holiday decoration throughout the year is at great risk for not being up until the night before or something.

This is why it is kind of momentous that there are Valentine's decorations on the mantle on February 1st. Free prints from here and here helped (as did some patterned paper and a heart punch) along with a quick trip to Ikea for white frames. The heart lights also came from Ikea, but I have had them for a couple years now.  Some candlesticks help it be a glow-y and romantic. 

This was so simple to do and I am so happy to see the mantle all lovey-dovey...maybe I should decorate for holidays in a timely manner more often. 

Heart Projects:07

Wanted to share the love with my class this week, so they are each getting a little Valentine. I hope a little bit of chocolate and a couple extra points on a test question will let them know how much I care.

Heart Projects:06

Can't have Valentine's week without a batch of hearts baked from our favorite sugar cookie recipe.

Heart Projects:05

I saw this amazing print last week and was inspired to pull together a simple version for myself. And to share if you'd like it...Download Multicolored Hearts.

Heart Projects:04

I sent this card to a friend I hadn't had the chance to talk to in way too long. We spent two hours on the phone today. I need to send cards more often.

Heart Projects:03

Little packages of love (and crafts) on their way to my six-year-old niece in Iowa and my seven-year-old sister in Oklahoma. 

Heart Projects:02

When I shared a "I love you because" frame a couple of years ago it actually wasn't anywhere near Valentine's Day. So I thought I'd give it a little bright pink update...

You can download a print to fit in an 8x10 frame with this link... Love You Because.

Heart Projects:01

Can't have Valentine's Day without cards, so I crafted up a couple of super simple ones this afternoon.

Love them...

Sean left notes around the house and sent texts throughout the day with reasons he loves me. Mac made me a card covered in hearts with the sweetest sentiment inside. So wrapping up these gifts was the least I could do for them...

I mustache you...

Mac is still loving all things mustache-d so his favorite stamp inspired Valentine's for his classmates this year. 

A mustache, heart nose and googly eyes went on top of a coin envelope that we tucked the all too necessary chocolate into...

We used my new favorite stamp to put together the sentiment.

And I tried not to be too sentimental when I realized this is the last batch of classroom Valentine's we'll ever need to make together...I'll just have to start passing them out myself next year. 

Little love mantle...

This year's Valentine decorations ended up being a case of too many ideas and not quite enough time. However the ombre love canvas is front and center on the mantle for tomorrow...along with last year's handcut hearts and some old spools unevenly wrapped with fabric. 

Please don't look at it for more than a second or two so you don't notice how unevenly the letters are arranged...I try to think of it as homemade charm.

Love you because...

When I first saw this idea here (from this Etsy shop) I knew we needed one. It went on my crafty to-do list to make one and it just got crossed off last night...

I figured I could leave it around the house as a surprise for Sean and Mac. For instance I wrote this for Sean yesterday referring the the new parenting strategy...

The design includes my current chevron obsession and my now old wood-grain obsession...

I made it into a PDF to share because I also love my blog readers. Download Love You Because. All you have to do is trim it down to an 8x10 and stick it into a frame...oh and make sure you have a dry erase marker handy too.

Shhhh don't tell them...

Mac gets his first bottle of cologne tomorrow.

Sean gets a homemade gift because our tradition is to always make something for each other.

And we get to have chocolate croissants for breakfast.

I love Valentine's Day already.

This plus this...

This idea and this digital kit came together for Mac's valentines. What would we ever do without the internet?

I heart our mantle...

I keep a corner of our guest room closet filled with decorating details I like to switch out so I went digging and put together red stuff like an old window and vintage "G" (on top of a few of the antique textbooks Sean collects). Then I got together a branch in a bucket to hang the polka dot hearts that were sewn last year. Last thing was filling a frame with dictionary paper and handcut hearts to complete a little fireplace mantle love for Valentine's Day.

Our Valentine's Day

Just had to make a video...

Some notes...

The song is "Everybody" by Ingrid Michaelson...like at Christmas it was totally another song I really wanted to record memories with

These pancakes are the best thing ever

Mac thought of getting me super fuzzy heart patterned pajama pants as a gift...which ties with the pancakes for being the best thing ever

And yes he is wearing a Member's Only jacket...someone in Bryce's family got it for him as a Christmas gift and it's pretty much worn every day...with a vest underneath

And here's the recipe for Cheese Fondue...again the best thing ever

Hearts...

Just a little bit of Valentine crafts from around here...

We broke out an old Sizzix die for Mac's school Valentines...Sean helped with the sewing (I tried and couldn't get around those curves to save my life) and then we pinned on a little stamped tag.

Some of the extra hearts ended up as ornaments on the tree in our entryway...

 

 

Hope you have a weekend filled with hearts and all kinds of other lovey-dovey stuff... 

Isn't it romantic...

Valentine's night sitting by the fireplace together...while Sean and Mac play Mariokart and I'm on the laptop. :)

So here's the little book I made yesterday...full of hearts and a few quotes (which I didn't credit the authors for as usual)...

   

 

 

I realized after I stamped the date that I need new date stamps...my ended with 2008

 

The button heart was inspired by this...because of my lack of spacial skills it took me forever to put together

 

 

 

 

 

The back is waiting till I get a new date stamp.

We always make each other something for Valentine's day and this year I "made" (since it's not like I sewed them or anything) some boxer shorts with an innuendo we joke about...here's the action (a.k.a. blurry) shot from when he opened them...

 

He made me a scrapbook out of plywood...

 

You just gotta love a guy that will make a scrapbook with a skill saw. :)

I had to...

 

Between organizing all the pages of notes I take each day at school and writing flashcards outlining all the intricacies of earthquakes I need to know for a rapidly approaching test I had to attempt to copy this adorable idea.

I made mine with a larger heart punch and hung it in the dining room all the while trying to brainstorm how we'll celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend.

 

I also made enough to be able to send a packet of heart garland supplies off to someone...just leave a comment if you'd like it to be at your house...

Recycled...

It occurred to me yesterday morning to recycle an idea I've done before for Sean...ten years ago he and I were celebrating out first Valentines day...he made me pancakes in the morning spelling out I love you and then had to be gone for the rest of the day at an away basketball game...I worked hard through the afternoon to decorate the apartment with streamers, balloons and hand-cut hearts lining the walls of my teeny-tiny apartment with various reasons I loved Sean written on many of them.  (P.S. check out the scrapping prowess I had back in 1998)

So yesterday when I was at the Oasis while Lisa, Moriah and Lisa's mom Donna shopped I frantically die-cut as many hearts as I could...56 of them that have been slapped up with blue tape all over our headboard for Sean to discover when he gets home...

I'm sure those ten year old hearts are around here somewhere...it'd be cool to see how many reasons are similar and what's changed over the years.

Happy Valentine's Day! :) 

Preparations...

Getting ready for the big day around here...not that it's that big a deal, but Mac has his valentines ready to go (that are pretty much just like last year's), we have our contribution to his classroom ice-cream party themed sprinkles and a pan of brownies finished ,and we've gathered together the recipe and supplies to make fondue for dinner tomorrow.  Sean and I have our tradition of making something for each other and I totally half-assed my gift to him but thought of a little something else I could do that I'll share tomorrow...