Be Mine Burlap Sign

Cupid is on the lookout for love and Valentine's decor! Here is my latest and greatest. A burlap sign that says "be mine". It's simple and sweet and is adorned with a heart that is cut out of a page of Gone With the Wind. The heart has the words "devoted heart" and "her beloved" - Cupid would be proud!

Like the Conversation Heart Picture? Go here to see how I made it. You could do this one with your kids!

I just *love* these parties and will link to them this week.

My Heart Has a Key

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, it's time to start decorating!

I started with a round plaque, some paint, scrapbook paper and an old antique key.

I painted the edges of the plaque.

Cut the scrapbook paper to fit the front and mod podge it on.

When the mod podge dries, sand the edges of the scrapbook paper.

Cut out the letters, mod podge them on and add a cuphook.

Finish it with the key hanging from a cute ribbon.

I used a little easel to prop mine up on the mantel.

Hold onto your key or give it to your true love. How romantic!

I will be linking to these parties this week.

Coupon Organizer

Are you one of the many people trying to get organized in January?? Here is a helpful idea that works for me - a fabric envelope. I use it in my purse to carry coupons. It is simple, only uses a scrap piece of fabric, and it's reusable! (Yay environment!)

I started with a scrap piece of fabric. I cut 2 strips and just eyeballed it without any measuring. You can make it any size you want it. I folded up what will become the bottom of the envelope, just to see the size.

I wanted my envelope to have a curved flap, so I used a plate to trace the curve. I then cut around the curve with my rotary cutter.

I pinned the two pieces of fabric with the right sides together and sewed all around it, leaving a little opening to turn it right side out.

Here it is right side out, and sew the little opening closed.

Pin the bottom and sew up the sides.

Attach a button and you have a fabric envelope! (I actually cheated- I used a snap to close the envelope and just hot glued my button to the front. Don't judge, I made this when I first started sewing and I hadn't met the button hole function on my sewing machine yet!)

This results in a super cute way to get your purse organized. How cute would it be to make one of these and throw a gift card inside as a little gift for someone? Oh the ideas are endless...

I will link up to these parties this week.

DIY Dog Leash

In honor of our new little doggie Choco, this past Christmas I decided to count in man's best friend on the nice list. I made some dog leashes and they were SO quick and easy! This would make a great gift for a new dog owner, a doggie birthday or file it away for another Christmas.

You will need some ribbon, webbing and a dog leash hook thing. There are a few ways you can get the hooks. One, go to a hardware store, they sell them there. Two, go to the dollar store, buy a leash and cut it apart (this works well for small dogs). Or three, do what I did, find the hooks at Goodwill for like .50, buy them, hold onto them for a year and then hunt them down to make a leash.

I did two different versions of the leash, so that's why you will see different webbing and ribbon in some pictures.

Begin by pinning the ribbon down the length of the webbing. I believe my webbing was about 3 yards long, but you can chose your own length depending on how long you want the leash to be.

Carefully sew as close to the edge of the ribbon as possible, all the way down the length.

After you have sewn along both sides of the ribbon, fold over one side to make the handle of the leash.

Sew and reinforce.

At the other end of the leash, sew and reinforce the hook onto the webbing.

And there you have a dog leash! It takes like 10 minutes!!

And some doggies to model the leashes!

I will be linking to these parties this week- hope to see you there!

Introducing Choco!

In case you didn't see our Christmas pic this year, we have adopted another little chihuahua! Now Tulah is a big sis (even though she is still smaller at 5 lbs). Introducing Choco (pronounced with long o sounds)!

Choco hails from New York City, where her parents were working long hours and were afraid they couldn't spend enough time with her. My future sis-in-law told them she had just the right people to take in their sweet little girl. We are so glad she thought of us, because after having Choco since Thanksgiving, we can't even imagine life without her!