Share the Love

Yesterday I had a problem.

I felt the urge to craft something Valentine-ish. Why is that a problem?

1. There's really no need of buying anything else for Valentines in the way of decorations. My home is already decorated far Velentines. (although I am not opposed to receiving it as a gift... ahem, hubby)
2. If I was going to make something, I didn't want to spend a penny on it. That's hard when a newly discovered craft store is calling your name all day and night.

So what's a girl to do?

Cave into the desire to craft - what else? 

But only within certain perameters:

1. It had to be simple.
2. Not very time consuming.
3. And no money was to be spent. All items had to be things found in the home.

With the rules clear in my mind, I set about the day pondering what to make. And then I remembered this mirror stored away in my linen closet.

I had purchased it some time ago at a Value Village in Oregon. Now I usually dive into my thrifted purchases the moment I get home from the store. But for some reason, this one was tucked away and never used.

See the date on the tag? 6/25/08.

2008!

Seriously, it was time to put this mirror to good use.

The frame was in good shape, but the mirror was all blotchy and stained. I had read somewhere that rubbing alcohol would take off those weird age marks, so I got some soft cotton squares and went to work. A few minutes of polishing, and it was a good as new. (disclaimer -try on an inconspicuous area first before ruining a perfectly good mirror)

Next came the fun part - Chosing how to decorate it! I have seen so many awesome banners around bloggy land and always wanted one. So after much deliberation, I settled on a small banner that spelled out LOVE (original, I know), hung on some cute checkerd ribbon.

After downloading a cute Valentine's font, I printed the letters out on regular printer paper, cut them down,and mounted them on red scrapbook paper punched into 1 1/2 squares. Then I whipped out my trusty glue gun, glued those red squares to the ribbon, tied a knot at both ends, and glued it to the frame. Viola! I love the

result.

Short. Simple. Sweet.

No money out of pocket.

A few minutes out of my day.

A fun new addition to my Valentine's decor.

Did you decorate this year for Valentines?

How about a Valentines Craft - for you, your home, or with your kids? If you did, please share!

This post is linked to ASPL-DIY Day. Don't forget to check out what other money saving, crafting gals are doing today!