Last Minute V- Day Crazy Idea and Oops

I didn’t do tons of Valentine’s decorating but figured my cooking this weekend would be Valentine-y. So I thought hmmm…I should have a Valentine’s table and hmmm… don’t want to buy anything and I’m really not a tablescaper so hmmm….make some placemats. OK.

Naturally I used scrapbook paper because doesn’t everyone make placemats out of scrapbook paper? Some people do! I googled it. I thought this would be a perfect use for some “clear” contact paper I picked up on one of my Dollar Tree trips. More on that later. Here’s what I started with:

Misc papers, K&Co self adhesive scrapbook borders, contact paper.
I played around like I was making scrapbook pages…tear here, border there, sticker here, use up some scraps etc. :

Then the big plan was to cover each “pagemat” with CLEAR contact paper. One problem: what I thought was CLEAR was in fact…WHITE. Duh! So now what genius? To the stash!
Pulled out these that I’d picked up somewhere on clearance:

Clear overlay transparencies! Take that contact paper.  I figured these would provide just as much wipeability as my “I thought it was CLEAR” contact paper, so I adhered them to my pagemats with my tape gun. And waste not want not, I used the white contact paper to cover the backs so they’re wipeable too! They won’t last forever but they’ll last long enough and then I’ll just cut them up for something else ‘cause that’s what we do!

Oh yeah…if you click on the lip thingy, it’s a printable

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BFF aka Blog Feature Friday#9: Food, Wine, and Mod Podge!

How did it get to be Friday already? Don’t know. Not complaining! Before we get all sugared up this weekend on Valentine’s treats ( chocolate of course!) it’s time for another:

This week, I’d like to introduce you to Katie from Food, Wine, and Mod Podge!

Katie combines her love of all of these things into her blog. No, she doesn’t combine food, wine, and MP all together although I suppose if one has enough wine, anything could happen! No, Katie has her blog neatly organized into sections devoted to each of these. Let’s look at food first:

Wouldn’t these be perfect for Valentine’s Day:

peppermint chocolate meringues

Katie’s food section provides lots of delicious from scratch recipes with great pictures and step by step instructions. You will be hungry after scrolling through it!

But what’s good food without good wine? If you’re like me and a wine ignoramus, Katie will educate you as well as show you some more great recipes that use wine, and then…what to do with all the wine labels you have leftover. Hint. Don’t. Throw. Them. Away. She made this for her hubs for their anniversary out of wines they’ve shared. Awwww!

Mod Podge Collage of Wine Labels…Make This

Wine Label Collage Tutorial

Ragu With Homemade Noodles…Eat This!

I put those instructions of what to eat vs make in case you’ve had too much wine.

Last but not least, Katie’s crafty and as you might have guessed, loves Mod Podge. What’s good food without some food themed décor? Katie did this recently using her Silhouette :

And where would a crafty cook and wine connoisseur be without a wonderfully Mod Podged recipe book?

So go visit Katie for some wonderful inspiration and just remember you drink or cook with the wine and use the Mod Podge!

I Finally Said It On Something!

Last year ( why does that sound like SOOOO long ago? ) I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Say It On The Wall over at Craftily Ever After.

Say It On The Wall is home to all kinds of awesome vinyl sayings and designs that you can use to adorn everything! I picked out what I wanted right away ( and it shipped super fast) but then I got busy with the holidays and only just got around to using one of the things I got. So what did I do?

I started by re-purposing a 12x12 tile from another project:

which I covered with a piece of scrapbook paper, Paper Adventures Beachy Shadow Wash:

I added a couple of coordinating scraps at the corners and then put my vinyl piece on:

Easy peasy. To finish, I added some paper flowers from Recollections at Michaels topped off with buttons:

I loved this message when I picked it and even more now that I have it on something!

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Keep The Roses, Give Me The Chocolate

OK, I admit it, I like the roses too! But with Valentine's Day only a week away, I started looking online for some fun  dessert ideas and thought I'd share some of them with you all. I haven't yet decided what I want to make for our Valentine's dessert but here are some things I'm considering:

From Hershey's:

 Fudgey Valentine's Cake

Double Chocolate Cheesecake

From Martha: 

Rich Chocolate Heart Cakes

From Country Living: 

Chocolate Peanut Cheesecake

From Better Homes and Gardens:

Rum Laced Chocolate Fondue

I'd probably leave out the rum but I do have that new fondue pot....

Decisions decisions! 

BFF aka Blog Feature Friday: Naturally Me Creations!

Whew. These past couple of weeks, Friday can’t come fast enough. Now, if we could just do something about Mondays! On with the show. It’s time for :

This week, my BFF is all the way from South Africa! The great thing about blog travel is you don’t have to get to the airport 2 hours earlier and no TSA scanners! Meet Monique from :

Monique calls herself a craft addict. I call her a craft maniac! She is always up to something. From her own creations, to craft tips, to recipes, to hosting a link party, to entering challenges,to featuring other bloggers. I’m tired!  Monique makes lovely cards:

Including the one below that won a challenge at Creative Inspirations!

She’s an avid scrapbooker, sharing the progression of her wedding album on her blog, and  also loves to incorporate beads into her projects like she did on this adorable box:

or this jar:

There’s much more to see over at Naturally Me Creations, and did I mention that she loves chocolate?! If you go right now, you’re just in time for Monique’s weekend link party:

I’m sure you’ll be welcomed with a big smile!

I LOVE It When A Plan Comes Together!

My mom (aka The Mumster) gave me a gorgeous frame for my birthday last year. She did a whole “bling” theme, with a box FULL of blingy adhesive rhinestones and stickers and the frame was also blingy.

I just couldn’t decide what picture  to put in it so it’s sat empty. Until today! While linking up to Someday Crafts Whatever Wednesday, something caught my eye which brought me to a new blog called Sprik Space, home of a lovely and generous blogger named Aimee. Aimee had linked up some adorable printables which just happened to feature an image my mom loves and in a color that was perfect for my frame! WIN WIN!!!

It’s the LOVE image based on a sculpture by an artist named Robert Indiana. The Mumster  has pics of the original sculpture in New York and this just tied together an already meaningful gift from her.

However, since the frame is mirrored , it’s also a bear to photograph without reflecting everything, but I was so giddy about this coming together  I wanted to share.

Go follow Aimee for this printable that she’s done in a variety of colors, as well as many more cute ones!

And yes, I’m going to frame Mom’s favorite color for her. Thank You Aimee!!

Be Still My Heart

I thought that was a more poetic title than “Galvanized Metal Heart” which is what this post is about.

Somewhere in my travels, I picked up these galvanized metal hearts but I know they had to be a steal deal because I bought 3 of them.
This started out like this:

To which I added some of these rub ons:

I remembered a gorgeous frame I downloaded from The Graphics Fairy and pictured it as the focal for this. I imported it into my graphics program and added the text “j’taime” and the number 20. We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary this year so I figured this could be up now for Valentine’s but since  it’s neutral,  it can stay up all year for our anniversary.

I printed the image out on Avery transparent label paper which actually looks like vellum. It was perfect with the rub ons…the white in them is almost the same opacity as the vellum paper. And I had to bling it up with some clear adhesive rhinestones.

Right now it’s hanging on our bedroom door. Haven’t decided if that’s its permanent home or not.

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