a little LOVE

Whew! I did it! I completed a not-so-quick project that turned out absolutely nothing like I had envisioned... Tell me I'm not the only one that happens to. Right?

The finished result is not what I had planned on, but I do love it! And I love that it makes Valentines day seem a little closer!



These letters are yarn-wrapped foam board letters. I'll be honest. Way back when I first saw yarn-wrapped letters popping up all over the internet, I really didn't care for them. Over time I warmed up to them a bit. And now I've finally caved and made some for my own home. Using the foam board was, in my opinion, and excellent choice for someone like me. Where I wasn't sure I would love the way they turned out, I certainly didn't want to spend money of the letter forms. Plus, I like being thrifty and using what I already have on hand. I love the way they look, but at a mere 1/4inch thick, these are great for standing in a plate groove or hanging up... definitely not for standing alone.

 Here's a few instructions if you feel {inspired} by this project. However, consider yourself warned: it is quite time consuming. Not hard. Just tedious.

1. Cut out your letters on card stock to create your pattern. Mine are about 8 inches tall. I found a font I like and used SCAL with my Cricut to cut out my pattern. I also added a simple heart in the middle of the 'O' as a special little touch (but this definitely added difficulty to the project)

2. Trace your pattern onto foam board... then comes the part where I almost gave up (the first time)

3. Cut out your foam board letters. To do this I used a razor blade & my electric knife (see this post)

4. Trace the heart onto cutesy paper & mod podge the paper onto the foam board.

5. Start the yarn wrapping process. I used hot glue to tack my yarn down every once in a while to help keep it wrapped nice and tight. (plus, this is time consuming and sort-of boring. You may want to be able to just leave the project for a while. or, if you have kiddos, THEY may need some attention from you too!)

Yep, I saved the 'O' for last, knowing it would take the longest...

6. After wrapping all the letters with yarn (and taking several breaks... I'll be honest, I spread this project out over several days...), pick some paper to make rosettes.

I bought this textured pink paper a few years ago simply because it was unique and super cheap! Today I finally found a good use for it! I love the ruffled-y rose look it gives the rosettes! For my flowers, I chose to do these simple paper flowers.

Easy Peasy. Cut your paper into a spiral and start rolling from the outside - in. Once 99% rolled up, I filled the bottom in with some hot glue and twisted the last tiny bit of paper onto the hot glue.

7. Embellish those letters! Hot glue the flowers where you want them, and add a little contrasting yarn if you please. (THIS is where I really started to LIKE how it was looking... so glad I didn't trash this project when I was feeling like it wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to!)

Hmmmm, so happy with how it turned out!

I linked up to Oopsey Daisy's Wednesday Wowzers!

Sock Snowmen

I don't know about anyone else, but this weird-winter-weather has thrown me for a loop.

Christmas was wonderful, and, as always, it was nice to get back to "normal" after taking Christmas decorations down. However, when we woke up to snow this morning, it made me
feel "Christmas-y" all over again!

I assume we'll eventually get a winter-wonderland around here. Christmas decorations are down, but I'm not ready to take down all my winter decor... not when it hasn't even felt like winter.

So, my snowmen are out and I made a few more to add to the bunch!

I found a little {inspiration} from Amy over at Then She Made...

*socks

*scissors

*rice

*rubber bands

*acrylic paint

I tried a few different ways of doing it and I love'em all! Two out of one sock or ONE big snowman using an entire sock. They all worked. For their faces, I simply painted it on using acrylic paint and the end of a paintbrush handle.

While making my lil' sock friends, I felt {inspired} to create another little snowman using a container from the little baby cereal puffs...

Happy Winter!

I Linked up...

Today I tried something new... I linked up this post:

http://aspirationinspiration.blogspot.com/2011/12/mater-cake.html

in a linky party! Not any linky party either. The first ever party on one of my favorite blogs Oopsey Daisy. So head on over and see what other fun creations are being posted!And take a peek at some of her fabulous ideas!