Paper Hearts

There is something so sweet about a garland of something. Anything cute seems to look cuter when there are a bunch of them in a row draping over your mantle.

Since I really don't need a single thing to decorate for valentines day but my little heart really wanted to add something, I issued myself this challenge: anything new is fine as long as it does not cost a cent.

So I started off with my old stand by, copied sheet music. It all belonged to my Grandma and I love to copy it and use it when crafting. Not only does it satisfy my love of vintage sheet music it also holds a special memory of her, seeing as much of it has her handwriting in the margins. The end result was this cute paper heart garland.

Sweet, simple, rustic elegance.

Just what I needed.

Here's how to make it:

Start with three sheets of vintage sheet music or copies of a piece that you already own. I started off with three copies of a song titled "The Wedding Prayer." My Grandma played it at our wedding 8 years ago, and the title seemed fitting for Valentines day.

After folding in half and then in half again, you will be left with this chunky accordion fold.

{Ok so this was the best picture I could get one handed.

Sorry for the flash washout

and the temporary blindness it may have caused.}

While still folded, free hand four hearts out of each folded piece of paper. That will make two identical hearts per cut.

 Keep each two together since you will be gluing them back to back later on.  

If you like, distress the edges with your favorite distress medium. I chose Rusty Hinge distress ink. {one of 5 different colors my mom gave me for Christmas. Let's just say my little DIY heart skipped a beat when I opened that box!}

Some people use a sponge to get the ink off but I just rub it right on the corners of the paper straight from the ink pad.

Easy Peasy.

Don't forget to open the heart up and distress the other side.

Next, take your glue gun and run a very thin bead of glue along the edge of a folded heart. {note: you could probably use a glue stick or other crafting glue as well if you don't want to work with hot glue in such a small quantity.}

Quickly match up the corresponding heart and press together.

Before the glue completely dries open it up and press your four fingers around the inside to form a sort of 3-d heart.

So pretty!

Once your hearts are all glued together, hold the heart open from below like so.

Take a piece of jute twine {or ribbon, string, etc.} and place a small dab of glue in the top of your opened heart and nestle the twine in that crevice.

It helped to tie the twine to the end of my tray to anchor it down while I glued the hearts.

Keep gluing till you run out of hearts.

Use as a garland or drape over twigs for a romantic-rustic effect. These little ones have lights, but any twigs from your yard would work just fine.

Stand back and admire.

They kind of remind me of Orange Lantern tree blossoms.

{Source}

Have you started your Valentine decorating yet?

All photos taken by yours truly.

Want to party? Join these Valentine Linky Parties! I'll be there :)

The Inspired Housewife


We are THAT family

Summer to Fall and DAY 1 OF GIVEAWAY

Fall is truly my favorite season. And although I miss the long summer days, picnics and garage sales.... once the air becomes crisp and leaves start to turn I get all giddy inside.

And while I love decorating for the seasons, for some strange reason I usually wait till last minute to get out my fall decor... Like beginning of November. What's my deal?!? At that point it's almost not even worth it. So this year I resolved to get out my fall pretties as soon as it felt like fall.

Once I opened the 2 bins of fall decor, I realized that there was one problem - although I was ready for the warm cozy feeling of fall I was not ready to have turkeys and pilgrims everywhere. It wasn't that fall yet. That meant that I need to mix the summer items with fall to create what I now call "The Summer Easing Into Fall But Not Quite Turkey Day Look." Catchy, huh? I'm thinking of marketing the name to Pottery Barn :)

If you have been wanting a touch of fall in your home, but like me you're not ready for all out Turkey Day here are some simple tips for cozy-ing up your home:

Remove all Spring/Summer accessories. Anything that is bright... or that you are just plain ready to change out till next year.

Keep out the neutrals - white, creams, browns, blacks.

Keep out meaningful pieces - your grandfather's Bible, a family photo, a saying that is meaningful, your grandmothers tea set, etc. As we approach the winter months there will be more and more family coming to our homes for the holidays. How wonderful to have a piece of meaningful history surrounding you as you pass on family stories to the next generation.

Shop the house for other items that aren't necessarily "fall" but that will tie in seamlessly: typeset letters, dishes, baskets, candles, etc.

Take a cue from nature and gather some twigs, leaves, pine cones, acorns, etc. Things that are already in your back yard and best of all they are free!

Gather up any accessories that make you feel all warm and cozy. To some that means dark colors like garnet, golden wheat, chocolate, pumpkin spice and cinnamon. To others is may be gray, charcoal, whites, and blacks. What ever floats your boat. If it makes you feel like fall has arrives, use it.

Personally I fall in the garnet, pumpkin spice color group. So out come the leaves, mums, and sugared fruit.

Cozy-ing up your house does not mean a whole revamp and dozens of tubs for one season stored away in the garage. It is just a few simple touches. Ok ready to see how easy this is?

This table is the first thing you see when you walk in the house.

Before - simple, uncluttered for summer.

Remove the summery fluff and items you you are ready to rotate.

Get ready to add and layer. After shopping the house all I added in was the white N.

From the seasonal group, all I used was this basket of faux sugared fruit and a mum/leaf garland. That's it! And inexpensive: the fruit was collected over the years from the Boutique {Goodwill} and much of it was brand new. The garland was a gift from my Mom... but I know she got it at a 75% off sale years ago.

First I added in the mum garland with the existing ivy leaf garland. The green added some poof and filled in the gaps of the Autumn strand.

Then it was time to start layering the fruit. Start with larger ones in the back and size down towards the front. Find color combos that look pleasing to the eye.

For the square dish I kept the lantern, jute ball and ribbon ball {which, by the way, were made with a wiffle ball like this one here}. They added texture and filled in the bowl. The smaller sugared fruit just filled in the gaps.

Once again Before:

After:

Ta-da! Instant fall!

And I love that this is the first thing that I see when I walk in - it just makes me smile!

So today I am wanting to know, have you started to decorate for fall? Is this your first year tackling fall decor or is it a tradition? Are you trying out any new fall decor ideas this year?  

Tell me in the comments below what your plans are and your name will be entered in the first day of the GIVEAWAY! That's right all you have to do is comment on your fall decor and you have one entry.

Want another entry? Here you go!

Blog about this giveaway = 1 more entry
Follow "too Blessed to Stress" on Facebook  = 1 more entry
Follow "too Blessed to Stress" on Twitter = 1 more entry
{Click on the Facebook and Twitter buttons on the right hand side}

That's 4 ways to enter. You can do as many or as few of these as you want, but please leave a separate comment for each one so that I know how many time to enter your name.

Just like last time this will be a 7 day giveaway. Every day there will be a new way to enter and one more item will be added to the giveaway. In the end one lucky winner will get all the loot! So check back often for new ways to get your name in.

Today's prize:

Your very own Flower Poof, made by yours truly! See more about them here.

Choose one of these three colors pictured above.

Whew! That was a lot of info all in one post... thanks for joining in on the fun of the GIVEAWAY. I'm excited to read your fall ideas.

All photos taken by yours truly.