Melted Crayon Valentine Hearts

Hi Friends!

It’s hard to believe we are already into February. All of my kids are talking about Valentine’s Day at school so I surprised them the other day with a fun Valentine’s Day craft at home…a sneaky way for me to get more fun Valentine’s décor up in my house! This idea is far from new or original…in fact I got it from none other than Martha Stewart herself. None-the-less it’s a fun one!

Melted Crayon Valentine Hearts

They are super easy, not too messy, and come out looking so cool! Even my doubtful 7 year old son asked to make another and another, surprising even himself!

We started with a box of older crayons

Peeled back the paper

 

And started shredding over a piece of wax paper

 

We used several tools to shred the crayons: a pencil sharpener, the blade from the pencil sharpener when it broke off, cheese graters, and a butter knife.  The pencil sharpener worked the best while it lasted…but it broke so early I didn’t even snap a picture of it. It was a 50 cent plastic one, so no wonder!

At any rate, after a bit we had collected quite a lot of crayon shreds on the wax paper

 

Then fold the wax paper over to lay across the top of the crayon shreds

Place on top of a folded towel (or ironing board) and then a brown grocery bag

Also place the brown grocery bag on top and then iron

The first time I ironed I set the iron to 6 (out of 7) out of habit. It didn’t take long to realize that’s waaaay too high! You only need to have it set on low to melt the crayons, and it doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds.

We used cookie cutters to trace the shapes and cut them out.

Attached them to fishing line and hung!

The pictures don’t really capture all their beauty when the sun shines in, but every time I stand at my kitchen sink, I can’t help but smile. I know who made each and every heart and my heart is warmed remembering how much fun we had creating these.

So now with my impromptu Valentine’s Day Mantel

My Valentine’s Day Banner up

and of course, my favorite wreath

We are ready for Valentine’s Day!  Smile!!

Hugs, Celeste

Driftwood Mirror

Oh hello there! Thanks for stopping by! Long time, no see. 

Last summer my kids and I gathered a garbage bag full of driftwood from the beaches of Oregon. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d use it, but I had plenty of ideas: driftwood star like Pottery Barn’s,

 

a driftwood Christmas Tree like Restoration Hardware’s,

a driftwood wreath like Cottage & Bungalow’s? 

I think they are all SUPER CUTE. But alas, the driftwood was an eyesore sat on the picnic table in our front courtyard for 6 months! With the first rain of the season approaching (sorry to the rest of the country, but CA hasn’t had rain this winter yet!), my husband suggested that I finally do something with all the driftwood before it gets soaked.  

So we gathered the driftwood off the table, brought it inside and got to work.  I started with an old mirror, a hot glue gun, the box of driftwood and a big ‘ol cuppa tea.  (Do you recognize the mirror? This might jolt your memory.)

At first I thought I’d make a plan. I’d lay it all out. Figure out where each piece would go before I glued.

Yea, that plan lasted all of 2 pieces. The rest of the mirror was left up to chance. It was like a big puzzle. My kids enjoyed searching through the box for “just the right piece”. They were so excited whenever I used their chosen piece. Then they got bored and the sticks turned into guns.  How does this happen?

At any rate…progress began….

And finally a couple of hours later:

Here’s a few close ups:

  

It was looking kinda lonely up there on the mantel all by itself, so I pulled out a few things I had laying around…

I bought these rock postcards about 15 years ago, when I first started dating my husband and we took a romantic trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea (ahhh, those were the days!) I have been saving them in a little box all these years wondering what to do with them…and they finally made their debut today.

Ever since then, I started collecting heart rocks myself. My collection has gotten quite large and usually sits on my kitchen window sill.  But a few were lucky enough to be highlighted on the mantel this month!

Well that’s all for now folks. I wasn’t really planning on doing a “Valentine’s Day Mantel” but it just worked out that way. I’m loving the early bloomers collection at Cost Plus World Market, so come Feb. 15 it will likely change again.  Smile!

Hugs, Celeste

Word Art

Hi Friends!

I am increasing intrigued & inspired by some of the wonderful word art I have been seeing around.  There are so many many wonderful ideas all over the internet, but I  came across this one locally last week.  I love it as a whole and also love each of the little sayings on their own.  Oh the possibilities!  I have my eyes open for just the right medium on which to create my own!

This one is stenciled on two separate pieces of black painted wood.  I love how all the sayings run into each other.  And I love the simplicity of the artwork itself. So simple yet so powerful.

{Sorry about the picture quality, I had to take this one with my phone}

I suppose you can read it right off the picture, but here are all the sayings if you’d like to cut and paste any!

He used to say things like

all that glitters is gold

and you catch more flies with honey than vinegar

money doesn’t grow on trees

never trust a man a dog doesn’t like

early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise

beggars can’t be choosers

where there’s a will there’s a way

a closed mouth catches no flies

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

the squeaky wheel gets the oil

an apple a day keeps the doctor away

don’t count your chickens before they hatch

a leopard cannot change its spots

the early bird gets the worm

don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater

a watched pot never boils

good things come to those who wait

never trust a skinny cook

a rolling stone gathers no moss

waste not want not

cloudy mornings give way to clear evenings

two heads are better than one

makes hay while the sun shines

into every life a little rain must fall

finders keepers losers weepers

it goes without saying he was a good man.

------------------------------------------------

So there ya go, permission to use clichés!

Hummm, I’m thinking on a large pallet perhaps? 

Smile!

hugs, Celeste

A {nother} Fall Wreath

Hi Y’all! Happy {almost} Fall!

Ok, that was so cheesy I couldn’t resist! But seriously, there’s a crisp breeze in the air today, telling us fall is near.  I LOVE it!!!

As promised, I made another fall wreath for my front door. Do you recall the first one I made, almost solely out of burlap? If not, you can see how I made it here.

 

But alas, I wasn’t totally satisfied with how it looked against my black front door.  So I promised to make another one…

here ya go!

To make this, I started with some beige burlap fabric and cut it into 5 inch strips.  I folded the strips in half lengthwise like this:

Then I wrapped the strips around a 12” foam wreath.  I overlapped about halfway each time, coving up the cut edge, exposing the folded edge and about half of the fabric:

Once my wreath was covered it looked like this:

Next I made a bunch of fabric flowers just like I did for my burlap wreath. I followed the easy tutorial on Prudent Baby. 

I also used a handful of those Eucalyptus Tree Nuts with the little stars in the middle that my kids collected on a hike recently. 

Lots of hot glue and voila, a 2nd fall wreath to welcome a new season!

I like it on my front door much better than the first version:

Please, remind me to put “Do something about front door knob” on my SHORT to-do list!

And the little owl wreath?  It’s hanging over my mantel…which is not quite finished!  A few more minor details to complete and I’ll show you my fall mantel.  Smile!!

Hugs,

Celeste

If you want some more wreath inspiration, here are some others I have made this year.  Click on each picture to see the whole post: