Since I'm done with my Master's degree and settling into full-time motherhood, I've started exploring the crafty side to keep my mind sharp and keep myself entertained!
Here are a few from Valentine's Day 2011:
Earth-friendly valentines, made from homemade paper hearts with wildflower seeds added in. I put them in a plastic cup with a baggy of potting soil (to keep accidental messes to a minimum) and a personalized leaf. We used wooden coffee stirs, since I couldn't find popcicle sticks out here.
My original "Freezer Paper" stencil try was on a red polo shirt, but the weave made it impossible to get the lettering to come out crisp. So I bagged it and turned the wrecked polo into a little dress for my 2 year old. A nice little Valentines mistake resulted in a comfy dress for my daughter-- not to bad!
Here's the second Freezer Paper stencil, on a regular pre-washed red t-shirt. Mr J actually wears it quite often (surprise!). This picture doesn't show it, but the yellow is actually sparkly golden letters. You know- to be really masculine!
We tried dying pasta a long time ago and finally found a use for it-- and for the frame with the broken glass (thanks, AF movers!!). I used a multipurpose glue to adhere the pasta after carefully marking out the quadrants on the background material. Total time (minus dyeing and drying the pasta), about 1.5 hours. And it's so colorful, we left it up for St Patty's too!
This was Mr J's Valentine's present. The culture here is very pro-family, so he wanted some nice framed pics of the girls. I painted our generic Wally World frames and then tied them together with matching layered-circle flowers. (Yes-- that is a real lion cub and YES!! My 2 year old is holding it!)
Here are a few from Valentine's Day 2011:
