(Crafting) Love is in the Air!

Oh boy! I have so many goodies in the works right now and I am here for it! Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I have been designing my little heart out. (Ha! See what I did there!?) I have FOUR projects to share with you today and I hope you LOVE them as much as I do. You can find the files that I used to create these projects here.

I have a tiered tray in my kitchen that I love to decorate for the holidays, so I set out on a quest to up my Valentine game. I first went to the dollar store to see what they had that I could take apart and use the bones to create something truly cute. I was actually quite surprised with all of their goodies this year. They're cheaply made, but the bones are pretty good. I found this here little "floating" frame that really wasn't too bad, but needed a face lift. It isn't glass in the middle, it's just two thin sheets of clear plastic sandwiched together holding that love heart in place. 

So I cut this cute little gnome out of vinyl, layered him together, had my honey spray paint the frame white and viola! Now I have a cute little square frame! And who doesn't love GNOMES?! 

Next up, I wanted to try my hand at cutting some chipboard. I recently upgraded my Air Explore 2 to a Maker, so this was something that I really wanted to try. You do have to get the separate knife blade and housing, but I would do some research in your area before buying -- I found mine for $35 at JoAnn's. 

I made a video, linked below, that will somewhat quickly take you through the steps to create this little tag that I made. Full disclaimer: this was the first time I had done this, and I did end up making modifications to the original design because the little hearts didn't end up cutting so well. But, it's all about trial and error, right?! And I did the hard work for you. ;-) 

Click the video to watch!

Next up, this cute little banner that I made for my tray using card stock that I had on hand and some pretty little twine that I found at Dollar Tree. This took no time at all and is a perfect addition to my tray, but you could always size it up to make a larger banner for your mantle or hutch. Add some L-O-V-E letters to make it even cuter! 

Here's the video for the banner:

Last up, I wanted to also show how you can still create some cute little signs even if you don't have a cutting machine. I found some of these rectangular wooden blocks (that actually can double as frames if you flip them over) from Michaels. I painted it red, printed my design on card stock (after measuring, of course) and then I lined it up on my block and covered the whole thing with Mod Podge (aka the great craft substance in existence). After it dried, I took a metal file and sawed off the edges and took sandpaper to it to create a very weathered effect. I swiped one more coat of Mod Podge on it and ta-da! A weathered-looking printed wood sign -- without a cutting machine! 

My tiered tray looks great -- even if it is a little early! You can click the image below to check out this bundle that these designs came from and since you came here and read all of this, you deserve a discount! It's 50% OFF TODAY through Monday, January 24th.