A Day of Love

Yep!. That is what today was-a day of love. I love crafting! I don't think I actually realize how much until I haven't been able to do it for awhile! Then, I somehow "feel" the need. I have to do something. Lucky for me, there are so many holidays throughout the year that seem to appear right when the mood strikes me most.

I have been thinking about Valentine's Day for some time now. I went through my Pinterest boards and pulled a few idea, but it wasn't until I read the blog "Confessions of a Plate Addict" that I knew I had found what I was going to do.

The first idea is a PB knock off of one of the pillows I just bought. Because this lady likes all things French, she created her own design using the PB pillow as inspiration. And then, like a sweet gift dropped in my lap, she made a download and even reversed the image for any of us who might want to try her idea. I jumped on that one real quick although I actually DO know how to reverse an image for printing on a transfer.

It was amazing how quickly I went from this:

to this:

Instead of making pillows, I actually just made the covers. Now that I have found that idea, I don't think I'll ever make or buy a full pillow again.

And then, somehow from this:

came this:

I actually made 6 all together but daughter #3 came by as I was finishing up and decided she needed to take her presents home with her today. This idea also came from "Confessions of a Plate Addict" and once again, she made it very easy by supplying the download. I changed it up a bit by printing on velum. I thought the candle would give off a prettier glow through the velum and I was right. All I did was wrap the clear container-and that was actually the hardest part. Somehow it was difficult to begin the wrapping process perfectly straight and once you were off even a little, the whole thing went on crooked. After I finally had them all wrapped to my satisfaction, I tied on some twine and glitter ribbon and embellished with a heart and dangling key.

When I ran one piece through my Xyron machine, it got wrinkled. While I didn't want to use it on one of the tall cylinders, I cut a short strip of the download and used it on a shorter holder. I simply tied it with glitter ribbon and added a glittered heart. It looks cute on top of the pie safe nestled amongst the other decor.

I loved that I got to spend today doing something I get so much pleasure from. Tomorrow it is back to routine-have tons of errands to run. I am striking out on finding the accessories I was looking for for the bathroom, so I will try again. Then, on Saturday, I am off to the "Great Air Potato Roundup" in Gainesville. We have done this for a number of years. Air Potatoes are an invasive plant that displace native species of plants and disrupt water flow. They can grow 8" in one day and new plants shoot off of the bulbs that look pretty much like potatoes. Every year Gainesville does a massive clean-up using volunteer groups to help out. After several hours of pulling potatoes-sometimes in very remote areas-everyone heads to a beautiful park where the total weight of everything collected is tallied and contests for smallest, largest, ugliest, funniest, etc. potato are awarded. There are drawings for many prizes, t-shirt give-away and foods provided by community restaurants. There is usually live music as well and it makes for a really fun day-and even better, we are helping the community and environment as well. It is a win-win situation.

While I am off "picking potatoes", my husband will be home FINALLY welcoming our new mattress and box spring. And none too soon I might add as the hole on my side of our Sleep Number mattress seems to be getting deeper and deeper no matter how much I attemt to "pump it up". Can't wait!

After sewing my daughter's pillows, I am moving forward to the small re-do of the guest bath. Stay tuned.