Industrial Bar Cart I Valentine's Day

I'm popping in today to quickly share our bar cart all decked out for Valentine's Day! After seeing cute little carts all over the web I was eager to get one. After looking at prices, that enthusiasm quickly became disappointment. Some carts can be down right pricey! As you can see that didn't stop this lover of DIY! After some searches I came across this DIY version using a cart intended for the garage and tools. It came from Harbor Freight and started out red! I gave it several coats of spray paint and we added a wood base to cover the nuts and bolts. I just love how industrial it turned out!  

I love decorating it for birthdays and different holidays. I think it adds an element of fun, excitement and makes any occasion seem even more special! Let's back up to last night though. I was kicking myself when I realized I didn't decorate the cart. After about 20 minutes in my craft room I came up with these quick and easy banners, grabbed some paper flowers that were on my craft desk and added the goodies I had already made for my family to the cart. My husband had picked up the cookies on his way home from work. Who doesn't love heart shaped cookies loaded with red sprinkles?

Making a day even more special doesn't have to be time consuming or even expensive. These few little touches were all our cart needed and you should have seen the smile and excitement on our kids faces when they saw it this morning. Well worth the 20 minutes and hey, I got to craft a little before bed!

One last look at our sweet industrial bar cart before I go! Happy Valentine's Day! Now go eat some chocolate! Oh, and I apologize for the blurry photos. On top of taking them on my somewhat old phone, I was had a baby on my hip as well! That's life!

Hello Love I A Valentine's Card

Every year I love making Valentine's cards for my kids and husband. I always look forward to Stampin' Up!'s latest Valentine's themed designer series paper. They truly have the best. When I pick out new stamp sets and dies I like to make sure I can see myself using them well past the intended occasion. With that said, I usually don't buy season specific stamps such as Valentine's or Halloween. Christmas is my exception although I try to stretch my creativity and reuse past stamps to come up with something fresh and new without buying something new. When I first saw this set I thought it was just so cute and so me! I didn't purchase it right away but it didn't take me long to realized how much I loved it and all of the different occasion that I can use it for. I love how so many of the stamps can be used on the envelope, too, for nearly any occasion.

 

This card as well as the other 8 that I made all use little bits of this and that, scraps of paper and odds and ends embellishments. What they all have in common is that I started off with a whisper white card base and used scraps from the Sending Love Designer Series Paper Stack and Pool Party card stock as an accent color. 

Similar Top, Nail Polish, Card Supplies

I finished off the inside of the card with this cute "kiss" stamp. I just love how adorable it is!

I have one more project that I'm working on and really hope to have time to get it up on the blog before the 14th. Fingers crossed. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Valentine's Treat Bag

One of my favorite things to make are little treat bags and boxes. Who doesn't love pretty gift wrap? Our kids get so excited when I surprise them with something like this and I find it so relaxing to sit down for a bit and create something so special. All of the products used are from Stampin' Up!. 

After assembling the baggies, I die cut and stamped a bunch of little embellishments to decorate the front of the bags. As I was putting the first one together I didn't really know where I was going with this so just kept rearranging until I liked it...then made 8 more!

I made this little drawing to help you make your own bags, if you'd like!

1. Cut two pieces of paper to make a 6x6 inch square. 

2. Score one side (on each sheet of paper) at 1-1/2".

3. Score two opposite sides at 3/4" and then 1-1/2". The 3/4" score line helps the bag fold in on the sides.

4. Cut little slits up to the bottom 1-1/2" score line.

5. Fold the two little "tabs" you cut at the bottom of your paper in and glue to the bottom of your paper (the part labeled 1-1/2" on my drawing). Once you do that you will see it already start to form a half of a bag. Glue the other piece of paper to this "half a bag" to form the complete bag!

This is a little hard to explain considering it is so easy to make. I think once you start folding your paper and watching it transform into a bag it will become more clear if it wasn't already. 

I finished off my bags by punching a hole in the top and tying a bow with ribbon....after filling it with candy, of course!

Valentine's Day is just 9 days away and I have a few more projects and cards left to share. Until then have a wonderful week!