just Sweet and Simple: January 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Valentine's Day Decorations and Projects

I love Valentine's Day!

And since the day the Christmas Decorations came down, Valentine's Day started going up.

This year I went with a more vintage feel.

My husband first thought the red, white, and black theme was vampire"ish",

but once it was all put together he came around.

These decorations were inexpensive and made from things on hand.

I tore off the covers of some old books and tied them with a ribbon.

Used several pages sliced in half, crunched, and stitched/gathered into a garland. (dyi: here.)

Pages were also used to fan into hearts and circles.

Left over tea-dyed coffee filters from this project, were used to make the big puff balls. (diy: here.)

And scraps of paper for this cute Valentines Day Advent Calendar from Creative Juices (diy: here.)

I printed off some cute vintage images from The Graphic Fairy.

Painted some wood block 4x4's and stenciled LOVE on them. (diy: here.)

And used some marshmallows and candy to fill my jars.

The Letters for my banner and other banners are printable below.

All super simple and super inexpensive.

Images for these are all printable below, just glue onto scrapbook paper.

Banners for "LOVE", "VALENTINE", and "XOXO" free printables below:

And Printable Sheet with Images from The Graphic Fairy.

Click to enlarge then save or print.

Linked to: Tip Junkie

Valentine's Day Advent Calendar

This Advent Calendar is made using a cupcake pan. I found the idea over at Your Creative Juices.

What I really like about it...the little squares of paper have magnets on the back.

So when the holiday is over, you pull them off and they take no room to store.

And it can be used year after year.

Your Creative Juices also provides a free printable for the numbers, but since I have a black, white, and red theme this year I didn't want any pink. So I ended up make my own. You can print them off below. Or go over to her site and print off her cute numbers.

Printable Valentine's Day Advent Calendar Numbers:

click to enlarge and print

Book Pages into Garland

Valentine's Day Garland

This project is pretty self explanatory.

I ripped out some old pages from a book and cut them in half the long way.

Then using 2 or 3 stacked, I gathered/folded them as I stitched.

Then separate the layers and crunch as you go. They may tear a bit, but it doesn't matter.

Simple and inexpensive.

LOVE Wood Blocks

More Valentine's Day Decorations...

Materials:

4x4 wood board

Black Paint

White Paint

Sponge Brush

Sand Paper

Stencils (Printable Below)

I made these with scrap pieces of wood from some previous projects.

But it is just made from a 4x4 cut in increments of 6",7", 8" & 9". They do not have to be exact or straight.

(And, if you don't have a saw to cut wood, Home Depot and Lowes will cut it for free.)

Then paint black. Let dry.

Using printable "LOVE" stencil below,sponge/paint on white lettering. Let Dry.

Sand and Distress corners.

Printable LOVE Lettering: here

linked to: Tip Junkie

Coffee Filter Puff Balls

I have been working on my Valentine's Day decorations...and these are one of my favorite.

I actually made these will left over dyed coffee filters from my wreath project found: here.

Materials:

20-30 coffee filters (per puff ball)

Water and Tea bags

Nail

Brad (one per puff ball)

Ribbon

Make a pot of tea, soak coffee filters in them, then dry out.

Then stack 20-30 filters. Push a nail through the center of all, creating a hole.

Insert a brad to secure. Pinch and crunch each filter one at a time, working your way to the center.

Repeat on opposite side. And add some ribbon to hang and you're done!

Linked to: Tip Junkie

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Printable Children's Book of Christ

Another Children's Church Book to help teach and keep kids be reverent at Church.

This book tells a simple version of Christ's Life.

The pictures in this book came from ldsclipart.com

(the site has tons of free LDS clipart, perfect for other project, Family Home Evening, Sunday School Lessons, etc.)

The backgrounds came from kevinandamanda.com

(free scrapbook kit download and lots of fonts!)

Here are all the free printables and downloads to make your own.

Click below each picture to download.

I printed mine as 4x6 pictures and put them in a S1.00 photo book.

click here

Printable Reverent Book

I compiled a Reverent Book to help encourage my boys to be reverent during Church.

The Clipart is all from ldsclipart.com

(the site has tons of free lds clipart, perfect for other project, Family Home Evening, Sunday School Lessons, etc.)

*Another good site for free lds clipart: primaryclipart.com

The Backgrounds from KevinandAmanda

(free scrapbook kit download and lots of fonts!)

Here are all the free printables and downloads to make your own.

Click below each picture to download.

Just add some pictures of your child or add more clipart into the frames.

I printed mine as 4x6 and put them in a $1.00 photo book.

click here

* This image was found at freenaturepictures.com

click here

*This image has been updated and edited (6/13): click here

click here

Free Printable LDS Reverent Book, Church book, Primary Book