The Valentines I Couldn't Show Until Now... part 2

I love celebrating the holidays with our close family friends and their kids.  I'm the honorary aunt to my BFF Heather's kids, and I always enjoy putting together some small treats for her kids, my nieces Mariah and Lily and my nephew Anthony.

Here's Anthony's Valentines.  He got more candy than the girls... because he's harder to shop for!  I do love the little M&M guy, though!  He also got a sun catcher and some of those crazy little things you put in water and they grow?  Those even amuse ME!  : )

 

You probably remember me showing you on of the fabric drawstring bags I made for the girls...

 

Mariah is quickly heading towards her teenage years, so it's really fun to pick out things for her.  Notice the little LOVE earrings and buttons, and the sparkly stickers.  She is really into all things peace-sign related (what goes around comes around, right?!) so I picked up an iron-on tee-shirt transfer for her that's a peace sign made of hearts.  And of course, you probably remember that little notepad?

  

Because kids shouldn't have all the fun, I made Heather (their mom, my BFF... are you following this?!) a goody bag too.  I filled it with some cupcake accessories since she's my partner in baking crime, some heavenly chocolates, and you can't see well in the picture but the packaged notepad and pen says something along the lines of "I'm only as strong as the coffee I drink and the hairspray I use"  Love it!

  

Lily's bag was the biggest.  She's (almost) two, and I'm hoping she can use it as a toy sack or something afterwards.  I picked her up this cute Valentines-y, cupcake tee from Old Navy.  Adorable!

  

The bag HAD to be big so that it could hold this friend... remember Ruby Bear?  (I love how I titled that post "Ruby Bear Part 1" and part 2 never came!!!)

  

Yup, I finally finished Ruby!  She's not perfect - but she's one of the ONLY things I've ever knit that isn't a scarf!  And although her features aren't perfect, and my increases are too loose, and she's a little fuzzy because the yarn has some acrylic in it... I think she has a certain charm, don't you agree?

 

And finally... I received a little gift of my own in the mail this weekend.  I won a contest last week over at Marie's place (I never win anything!  Yikes!) and got this little bundle of love sent to me.  Thanks, Marie!  And check out the darling stamped tag... a woman after my own heart I swear!  : )

 

Happy Valentines Day, friends!  

The Valentines I Couldn't Show Until Now... part 1

The funny thing about all of this Valentines-y stuff, is that I used to HATE Valentines Day.  Now that I'm married though as silly as the actual concept of Valentines Day may actually be, I find it all quite endearing.  Plus I think it's just one more day to show your loved ones you care.

  I wanted to share with you the Valentines card I made for hubs.  I'll be completely honest here, I'm terrible at hand-making "masculine" cards - and nine times out of ten I actually BUY cards for the men in my life rather than make them (gasp!)  But this year for Valentines Day I had an idea...

Simple on the outside...

  

Party on the inside!  

  

Sensitive, lovely party that is!

The photo on your far left is from Halloween last year... we went trick or treating with some close friends and their kids.  The close up shot is from our wedding anniversary trip to Mackinac Island.  The second photo from your right was taken on my birthday last year.  And the photo on the far right is us at the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk that we participate in each year.

How did you tell your other half that you love them this Valentines Day?

 

(early) Week in Review: Valentines Edition

Happy Friday, friends!  I usually do my "Week in Review" post on Saturday's, but wanted to share my (Valentines-y) finds a day early this week for a couple of reasons:

1)  So that you have time to whip up some of these creative last minute Valentines ideas if you choose

and...

2)  Because the big craft studio reveal has been pushed back a little (I know I know, AGAIN!) due to my IKEA trip to pick up the final few essentials being pushed back a few days with all the snow.  I'm hoping to finish up and post pics this weekend... I truly am! (it just builds the suspense... right?!)

So, without further ado.  Here are my weekly finds for this week, the Valentines edition!  Enjoy!

Heartbreaker Valentines at MADE (via UCreate)

 These are just the neatest little Valentines - and not too sappy for the little boys to enjoy making!

 Fabric Window Valentines at The Purl Bee  

These are simply perfect.  So simple and darling.

Valentines Day Robot at Sew Green (via Whip Up)

What's not to love about this guy?  He's a Valentines Robot for heaven's sakes!

Valentine Ornament at The Creative Place 

This reminds me a little of Angie's Christmas ornaments... remember her guest post?  Sew cute!

Fabric Hanging Heart Flag Garland at Sassy Priscilla's Craft and Life Journal

The musician in me loves the manuscript-paper style fabric she used in this garland!  So creative!

Happy Friday everyone... we made it!  : )

It's a Wrap! Creative Valentines Gift-Wrap...

Now don't get me wrong... I LOVE gift wrap.  I love all the fancy paper stores with beautifully designed paper, luxurious bows and colorful sprinkles and tags.  What I DON'T love, however, is the price of these things.

I mean let's be realistic... if you plan on buying gift wrap or bags plus tissue and ribbon from even a major chain store, you've got to add another $10-$15 onto your original budget for the gift you're buying and wrapping.  That's $10-$15 more you could be spending on... whoever!

I'm not suggesting that I don't succumb to all of those beautiful store-bought gift wrap options sometimes, because I most certainly do.  This Valentines day however, I tried to get a little more creative... and sustainable, too!

I've sewn several of these bags from 1/4 yards of fabric to make gift bags.  I used satin ribbon as the draw string pull.  Cute, no?  They are mostly going to be given to little girls... so I am hoping they can re-use them for something?

And here's how I wrapped hubby's Valentines.  I simply stamped some newspaper and pulled out some red ribbon from my stash for the bows.  Since hubby in particular cares very little for wrapping, I figured that this was especially cost effective and appropriate!  Not to mention I think it looks quite pretty!

I don't have photos yet because I'm still finishing things up... but I'll also be using these to wrap some gifts for little boys.  Plain red paper, nothing too fancy or girly.  Keepin' Valentines as macho as possible, you know what I'm sayin'!?


Thanks for stopping by Ready, Set, Craft!  Have a beautiful day!

Last Minute Valentines Cards

I'm sharing a few last-minute Valentines card ideas with you today.  I hope that you enjoy!

This is the card I sent out to my friends and family, and some of my Stampin' Up! customers.  I think it's super cute, but boy was it time consuming when I sat down to make 15 of them!  LOTS of punching and sticking!  Note to self... always remember to keep it simple when making cards in large quantities!

 

Stampin' Up! supplies used:  Sending Love Specialty Designer Series Paper, Chocolate Chip Cardstock, Very Vanilla Cardstock, Real Red Cardstock, Pretty in Pink Cardstock, Chocolate Chip Ink, Pretty in Pink Ink, Love You Much Stamp Set, Heart to Heart Punch, Picture This Stamp Set (Occasions Mini Hostess 2010)

 Here's another idea for a Valentine card... think pink!

Stampin' Up! supplies used:  Melon Mambo cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Pretty in Pink cardstock, Pretty in Pink satin ribbon, Melon Mambo ink, Pretty in Pink ink, Love You Much stamp set, Picture This stamp set, Aqua Painter

I'm lovin' the simplicity of this card.  Maybe this is what I should have made en masse?!

Stampin' Up! supplies used:  Very Vanilla cardstock, Real Red cardstock, Real Red satin ribbon, 1 3/8 circle punch, scallop circle punch, Real Red ink, Love You Much stamp set, Picture This stamp set, Heart to Heart punch.

And a side note about organization, before I leave you for the day.  I purchased this little tote recently from my local Hobby Lobby for $1.99 (regular price!) and it has been the single most useful thing I think I've ever bought.  I can pack it full of whatever project I'm working on and take it up and down the stairs, or as was the case in this picture, bring it in the car over to a friend's house to work on some cards.  Love it!