CRAFTS FOR YOU: Valentines!

Day 3

There are a couple of thrifty crafts here – one for a love note jar to drop in sweet nothings for your Valentine and one for FABULOUS and THRIFTY homemade Valentine cards.

LOVE NOTE JAR: As you recall…Lori lives in LITTLE CITY, ND!

Small City, ND

Ethne lives in BIG CITY, MN!

Big City, MN

But one thing they both have in common is a FANTASTIC THRIFT STORE SELECTION!  We adventured out on the same day and documented our mission.  Find an adorable glass container with lid (our inspiration:  one of our blog faves, YOUNG HOUSE LOVE).

HOLD ON MUR-MAN!

SCORE!  Lori’s jar cost a whopping 25 cents while Ethne’s came in just over 50 cents!  YIPPEE!

Ethne:  Ugly heart sticker begone!

Lori's Thrifty Find!

Now all that was needed was glass etching compound…Ethne has a wide selection of craft stores and found this product at Michael's for $12.99 (Ethne was disappointed that there was no discount or coupon to be found, but rest assured this product will be used for future crafts).  Lori didn’t fare so well and of course the local Walmart didn’t offer such a product.  She luckily enlisted the help of her super crafty friend Katie who had recently purchased the product at Hobby Lobby in big city, North Dakota.

Tape of Wuv!

Ready to etch!

The design was simple “I <3 U”. 

Ethne was able to use the YOUNG HOUSE LOVE method.  Create a stencil using painters tape.  Cover the jar and apply the compound.  Perfection!  (Ethne does recommend that you leave the glass etching product on longer than recommended—you want to ensure that the foggy look is consistent).

Etch-a-Sketch

i <3 u

Lori was able to use Crafty Katie’s Cricket machine.  Katie helped Lori by simply typing in the letters and heart, utilizing scrap vinyl, and it was done.  Lori then applied the glass etching compound!  Perfection!

Crafty Katie and her Cricket

Applying the compound.

Ready for WUV notes!

Both Ethne and Lori were lucky to have extra scrapbooking paper lying around the house.  Notes were cut and instructions were given.  Document daily our love to each other (Ethne to Shaun, Shaun to Ethne, Lori to Steve, and Steve to Lori).  Now let’s hope that the husbands follow instructions. At the end of all of this we will have a better understanding of why we L.O.V.E. each other so much!  WHAT A THOUGHTFUL IDEA!  FANTASTIC!  AND THRIFTY!

Ethne suspects Shaun's notes are SASSY!

HOMEMADE VALENTINES: The second craft you can do is to make homemade cards for your Valentine, family and friends.  Special Guest Michelle (Ethne's friend and co-worker) is an expert card-maker.  She makes all of her own cards and gift labels (stay tuned for these!), so she is the go-to gal for tips for homemade Valentines!

Mark and Michelle!

The materials needed can be found at scrapbooking stores such as Archiver's, craft stores such as JoAnn and Michael's, and your local Super Target and Walmart.  Michelle says one of the best places of all is any local dollar store!  Even better!  Everyone should have access to these materials pretty easily.  

BEWARE that even though the cost of each individual item, such as a piece of colorful paper, is relatively inexpensive, costs can add up quickly. Michelle suggests you make up a list, stick to it, and you can make AWESOME cards at nominal cost.  There are as many variations to cards like this as your imagination can think up, so I picked a design for Michelle to create and this is the example she'll show you here.

Materials Needed for this card:

Red pearl scrapbook paper ($3.49 for a pack of 25 - 8 x 11 sheets)

Set of Valentine's Day themed clear stamps ($5.99 a sheet)

Acrylic block ($2.99, size of block depends on cost)

Watermark stamp pad a/k/a clear stamp pad ($3.99)

Embossing powder ($3.99 per color)

Embossing iron ($20.00)

Heart punch ($3.99)

Pop-dots ($.99)

Yarn ($.99)

Glue that dries clear ($.99)


THRIFTY TIP:  A long while back Thrifty Nana was big into embossing on cardstock for various projects.  She did not have an embossing iron back then, so she followed the process that Michelle details below, but then held the back of the stamped, powdered cardstock over a burner (medium-low to medium setting) on our stove - IT DIDN'T TOUCH THE BURNER!  Once the embossing powder melts (you'll definitely know when this happens), remove from heat source immediately and allow to cool.

“Below is the step-by-step procedure for this card.  What is fun with this card, is that it has many textures: glittery paper, embossed stamping, popped-out hearts, and yarn.  

Step 1:  Decide on the size of the card you are going to make.  If using an envelope, measure the envelope you will be using, then cut the scrapbook paper to size.  Fold the paper to resemble a card that is opened bottom to top.

Fold in half!

Step 2:  Figure out a design for your card, and decide where you want to stamp.  Place the clear stamp you are going to use onto your acrylic block.  Push the stamp onto the watermark (clear ink) stamp pad, then stamp onto your card. 

The chosen heart

 

Step 3: Pour embossing powder over the watermark stamp, shaking off the excess onto a piece of blank paper (so you can put the unused powder back into its container for use again later).  Make sure to clear the area of all unwanted embossing powder granules.  Turn on your embossing iron and heat the stamped area until it turns shiny and raises from the paper.  The paper and stamped area will get hot, so let it cool down for a few minutes. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you are done fully stamping and embossing your card.

Tap on the embossing powder to the fresh ink
then shake off extra

Heat, cool and repeat (if you're adding more stamps)

Step 4:  Color in areas of your stamped/embossed heart with a metallic silver pen.  This adds contrast and eye appeal to your card.  Color in as many areas as you like.

Silver accenting

Step 5:  Use your heart paper punch to punch hearts in the same color as the card.  Place a pop-dot on the back of the punched heart and place in the middle of the embossed heart.  Place a silver sequin, or dot with a silver metallic pen, in the middle of the popped-out heart, as desired.  Repeat Step 5 until you are done adding 3-dimension to your card.   

Puffy foam sticker....

....makes pop-up dimension!

Step 6:  Decide where you would like to add yarn to card.  Then, measure yarn to fit the card.  Adhere with glue that will dry clear.

Perfect Valentine for a Hot Thrifty WOM!

TOTAL TIME spent making this card: 30 minutes.  As you continue to make these cards, the time spent will gradually decrease as you get a handle on all the tools are you are using.”

Happy Valentine making to our Blog Friends!

CRAFTS FOR KIDS: Valentines!



Day 2

 Posted by Ethne~

I will premise this post by saying it is far too late on a worknight to write this for you all, but I can’t manage to put the computer away.  Reminds me of the first time I read Twilight.  If you haven’t read the books yet, you’re either a stubborn fool or you’ve been living underground for the past 3+ years.  Just in time for Valentine’s Day – dear, sweet Edward.

!Te Amo!

I digress….

Today breaks down to two parts.  The first is an activity that kids of all ages can do.  The second is an activity that you can do for your kids (or husband, sister, friend, etc.).

KID CRAFT:  I think it’s great to have the girls do homemade cards.  They don’t write words yet, but they color like masters.  Usually I will write something like ‘Happy Birthday Uncle Scott’ on a piece of blank paper, then give it to KD and Easy Mac to decorate with crayons, markers and stickers.  We did this for family Valentines this year.

Shaun took blank printer paper, cut giant hearts out, and then we gave the hearts to the girls to color. 

Live action shot!

Valentine’s-themed and other stickers were applied as only KD and Easy Mac would see fit, and then I wrote out the ‘Tos’ and ‘Froms’ in the spaces left sticker free.  We counted to make sure we had enough for each of our family members.  The activity was finished in enough time for the girls’ attention span to last.  Bless their hearts.

We love you Mur-Man!

I’ll drop them in the mail to everyone – homemade is way better than storebought!

ADULT FOR-KIDS CRAFT:  Lori and I saw loads of great Valentine’s ideas on one of our fave blogs suttongrace.com.  This envelope that hangs on the back of a chair was a must-have.  Naturally I was going to make it, not buy it, and though it was a Saturday-Sunday activity, I did not want to leave the house for the craft store if I could avoid it.  Fortunately, I had all I needed out of scraps left over from past crafts I’ve done.

MATERIALS: I dug these things out of my craft bins:

White, red and pink felt – a couple of squares of each color are more than enough

White and red embroidery floss; thread

Elmer’s glue

Scissors and pinking shears

Clear sew-on snaps

The size of a piece of felt is roughly the same size as a sheet of printer paper, around 8 ½ x 11”.  That’s the size I went with to keep it simple.

Easy Mac helping cut out felt!

Before sewing the front and back pieces together, I sewed an ‘E’ and ‘K’ onto the lower right corner, as these were going to be for the girls.

K-time!

I sewed the front and back pieces together with my sewing machine 1/2 “ in from the edge – I sewed the two short sides and one long side, leaving the other end open to be the envelope.  I cut the edges of the felt with pinking shears to make it look finished, and then I hand-stitched a decorative stitching in red (with embroidery floss) on top of the sewing lines.

Time to floss!

I cut out the triangular piece to be the flap of the envelope, and sewed that to the back piece of the envelope, on the open-ended side.  While I was sewing the triangle flap on, I also sewed red straps into the seam to use in hanging the envelope on a chair.

I sewed a red heart to the point of the envelope flap; the flap got the red decorative stitching and the heart got white decorative stitching.  I added a few smaller pink hearts as I saw fit, and outlined those in red decorative stitching too.

Stitch-a-roo - freestyle!

The last, slightly tedious step was to sew small snaps on to the envelope back and the hanging straps to hold it onto a chair.  I have clear iron-safe plastic snaps that I used when I made little Cabbage Patch Christmas dresses for the girls last year.  I sewed those on, and then, naturally, I found that the straps were too long for the chairs I used, so I ended up pinning the straps in the right position with safety pins.  It’s ok though – if I use the envelopes on chairs that have a taller back and frame, the straps will work there too.

Teensy snap, you little devil!

The girls think the envelopes are cool, inasmuch as they think anything is cool when there is a little treat waiting for you in it when you get up in the morning.  Today, it was 3 Sweet Tart hearts for being nice, courtesy of Lyle the Elf (fabulous future post!).

Sweet Baby T-Rex modeling for you!

Thanks for giving me pink, Mommy!
Sure thing, Easy Mac!

I will admit, friends, that this project took longer than I anticipated.  Partly it was because I was making 2 of them at once; partly because the hand-stitching is tedious.  Not hard, just tedious.  Doubly-so, in my case.  Including kid interruptions aplenty, I spent a good part of Saturday afternoon and the better part of Sunday morning doing these (in-between baking my homemade cinnamon rolls – future post – yum!)

That's right, from scratch.

If you can fit one or both of these for-kid crafts in this Valentine’s season, I’d say you’re just marvelous!  Now, I best go grab a few Sweet Tarts….and Edward, I mean, Shaun.

FOOD = LOVE



Day 1

Posted by Lori and Ethne~


To kick off our first theme week, we thought the first post should involve food – and love stories.  Fortunately, we and our guys like food, so there are ‘Food = Love’ stories to tell.

LORI ~ RANCH DRESSING:

Lori and Steve--SO IN LOVE!

To premise this tale, it is important to know that Lori doesn’t just love ranch dressing, she L.O.V.E.-LOVES ranch dressing; homemade ranch dressing being the ultimate.  Lori judges the quality of a restaurant thusly:  if it has good ranch dressing and fresh-brewed iced tea it gets her stamp of approval.  I like to equate Lori’s love of ranch dressing into terms of if Lori got to pick her last meal on Earth, it would certainly involve copious amounts of ranch dressing.  Her husband, Steve, knows this….

Before they were officially dating in grad school, Lori was playing very hard to get with Steve.  She literally put him through the ringer.  I am not kidding when I say that Steve has loved Lori since the moment he met her, but he had to work overtime to prove it to Lori.  During Lori’s hard-to-get phase, Steve went over the top in courtship on numerous occasions – ranch dressing being one of the tricks up his sleeve.

What did Steve do?  Having observed Lori’s love of ranch dressing first-hand, he made it his business to learn how to make homemade ranch dressing.  On several occasions, Lori would get a knock on her apartment door, and when she opened it, no one was there, excepting a tub of fresh ranch dressing from Steve.

Dramatic Reeanactment of Steve's Ranch Dressing for Lori

The hard work paid off:  Lori and Steve have been happily married for over five years.

THRIFTY TIP – delicious homemade ranch dressing costs about $3.00 to make and you get much more quantity than a bottle of store-bought dressing.  See recipe below.

LORI ~ ORANGE JUICE:

This short story is another courtship tale.  Lori was once sick and complained to Steve over the phone that she was miserable and didn’t even have orange juice in the house.  Soon after the phone call, a florist delivered flowers, and a jug of orange juice, to Lori’s front door.  Steve paid extra for the delivery person to stop and pick up orange juice for Lori before delivering the flowers.

ETHNE ~ STEAK and CHOCOLATE CAKE:

Couldn't find an engagement photo:
Target Field will substitute!

Shaun and I love to cook, so we've had many wonderful and tasty meals together.  We particularly love a steak on the grill.  By far the very best steak we've ever had together was on the day we got engaged.  It was my birthday - I was suspicious that a proposal was coming soon because I had already picked out a ring sketch from a selection my goldsmith Uncle Peter had drawn.  What I didn't know was what the finished product would look like, and when I'd see the real thing....

Shaun took me out to one of the nicest restaurants in downtown Minneapolis, JD Hoyt, for my birthday.  About halfway through our meal, he got up to use the restroom.  When he came back, the waitress came over to ask how our meal was, and she was quite chatty - a diversion.  Just then, from behind my back came several other restaurant staff, carrying a slice of chocolate cake.  As they put it down in front of me, I saw a blue rhinestone ring in the center.

[Now, I recognized the rhinestone because it was the ring my Aunt Pam had given to Shaun a few months earlier because she wanted him to propose at my cousin, Nicole's, wedding.  He didn't.]  

Chocolate cake still in the prongs today!

As they put the cake down, I said, "What's that?"  I looked up and Shaun said, "Well, if that won't do, how about this one?" and he offered up my gorgeous ring and proposed.

As we left the restaurant, I gently chided Shaun that he hadn't proposed on his knee.  In the parking lot behind the restaurant, he got down on his knee and proposed again. The funniest part about that is that the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis where we were is really goofy.  JD Hoyt happens to share a parking lot with a strip club.  So we can say, in all honesty, that Shaun proposed in a strip club parking lot.  My Prince Charming.

THRIFTY TIP:  You don't need to buy an expensive cut of steak for it to be DELICIOUS, nor do you need to season it to death for flavor.  One of our favorite cuts of steak is flank steak.  It's one of the cheaper cuts of beef - you can get a large flank steak (enough to feed 2-4 people) for around $6.00 or even less if you watch your grocery store's ads.  Season the steak with salt and pepper, then grill or broil only a few minutes on each side until it is medium-rare to medium.  Juicy and delicious.


STEPH (SPECIAL GUEST!) ~ PIZZA:

Steph and future hubby, Circa 2001

“I’m one of the rare chicks out there who considers Valentine’s Day my favorite holiday.  When I was a kid, I loved creating a Valentine’s Day box to bring to school for students to place Valentine’s addressed to me.  I loved receiving flowers and candy from old boyfriends.  I still like picking out a card for my husband and one for my son that represents how much I love them.  Valentine’s Day is the day I load them up with candy and treats, too.

My husband and I don’t exchange gifts for Valentine’s Day anymore, but when we did, he could be very clever.  One year stands out as my favorite Valentine’s Day.

We were about a year and half into dating and we lived about 4 hours apart, so weekends spent together were special.  I was working on my graduate degree in Grand Forks and he was already back home in Bismarck holding a full time job.  He had come for a visit that weekend and brought with him two pepperoni pizzas.  Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right?   Actually he had called the owner of my favorite pizza joint in Bismarck and explained that he’d like to take a couple of ‘zas to Grand Forks with him that weekend.  I should note that this wasn’t a take and bake pizza place.  The owner made up the fresh pizzas, froze them and my sweet boyfriend, now husband, drow them to Grand Forks and baked them for a delicious Valentine’s Day dinner.  His gift to me was by no means anything fancy, but it sure warmed my heart.”


Steph and R have been married for 4 years!

THRIFTY RANCH RECIPE:  Found on the back of the Hidden Valley Ranch packet—follow it to a tea!  IT IS DELICIOUS!



Milk, mayo and ranch packet - simpler is better!



Ingredients:  See Step One.

Step One:  Mix 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch powdered dressing mix with 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of mayonnaise.



Seeking: One Metal Whisk



Step Two:  Stir.



Bowlful of Heaven.



Step Three:  Enjoy!



An American Classic



The homemade ranch dressing will keep in the refrigerator for about 4 weeks.

To our Blog Friends: lots of 'Food = Love' stories are wished for you by these WOM-MOMs.