Another Valentine Topiary

The arrangements I made for our work bathrooms in December that you can see here were still in the bathrooms all dried up looking.  I though it was time to revamp them for Valentines.  I had so much fun making my valentine topiary you can see here, that I decided to make a little one using the same glass vase I used for the Christmas arrangement. 

This arrangement cost me about a dollar to make since the styrofoam balls come in a package of 6 for a dollar and I only used half a bag of rose petals that also cost a dollar.  I used some cupcake liners to fill  in the top.  I typed in some valentine words at http://www.wordle.net/ to create a word cloud that I could use to hide the green foam.  Wordle is so much fun, you have to try it. I covered the wood dowel in crepe paper (Birthday streamer) since I was too lazy to paint it.

This little topiary brings a little life to our ugly work bathroom, it hardly cost anything and it makes me happy to see it when I wash my hands :)  Stay tuned for cupcake liner topiary---my last valentine topiary!

Valentine Topiary

I wanted to make a valentine craft for my mantle this year using a colour I never decorate with...pink!  I figured with a house full of boys it was time to add some feminine flare for this years valentines.

I purchased 2 packs of 250 fake rose petals, a feather boa and a package of wooden dowels at the dollar store.  I already had a container, ribbon, sewing pins, fake pearls and hairpins at home.

I started by taking three petals and folding them in half.  I than folded them in half again and stuck a sewing pin through it and poked it into the styrofoam ball.

I kept sticking these little rose buds into the styrofoam ball for about an hour and a half.   I used a larger styrofoam ball than the one shown above so it took almost the whole episode of watching the bachelor.  I was pretty satisfied on how it turned out but I remembered I had these pearls and hairpins leftover from my wedding day in my craft box and I thought they would look pretty.  I just strung the pearls onto the hairpins and pushed them into the styrofoam ball.  

I than stuck the wood dowel into the ball and filled a pot I had on hand with styrofoam.  I used a piece of the feather boa to cover the styrofoam and tied a ribbon to the dowel.  I still need to paint my dowel white.

 I like my snowy owl next to my topiary, I think its the feathered boa that brings them together.  This topiary would also look so cute in a little girls room.

Linking to: 

http://todayscreativeblog.net/get-your-craft-on-39/

http://gigglesglitzandglam.blogspot.com/2011/01/glam-party-12.html

http://www.thegirlcreative.com/2011/01/just-something-i-whipped-up-with.html

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/01/24/made-by-you-monday-36/

1st Birthday Decor

I have not had much time to craft anything lately being back at work full-time but I did want to create something special for my little guy's 1st Birthday.  I decided to do a puppy dog theme as he loves dogs.  A quick search at  a few stores proved unsuccessful in finding anything party-dog related.  I received a silhouette electronic cutter for Christmas from my husband and decide it would be my first project to make a few little decorations for his Birthday. 

I started with a banner for the mantle spelling out his name. I bought two graphics at the silhouette online store for 0.99 cent each and used 4 sheets of different colour card stock.  I wanted to use mini clothespins to attach the flags to the gift ribbon but I didn't have any so I used paper clips. I had a green bone in between the R and E but it seems to be missing.  

I also made these little dogs to hang on my china cabinet (sorry these are not the greatest photos).

For a frugal centrepiece I bought 2 packs of doggy paw tennis balls at the dollar store and put them into a clear glass vase.

I ordered the cake from our neighbour that does them on the side and I used doggy gift wrap for a table cloth and since it did not get dirty I rolled it back up and will use it again for gift wrap:)

I wish I would have had more time to play with theme as there is so much I could have done.  I was supposed to make dog bone shaped cookies but I just ran out of time.  I also would have liked to have had everyone bring a donation to our local animal shelter whether it be a used towel, blanket or food etc

DVD Jacket Artwork

I have been looking for some Thomas the Train artwork for my son's room as it is his favourite thing right now.  I could not find anything with Thomas so I decided to be resourceful.  I had these old frames from his nursery that he had grown out of.  I pulled the backing off and untaped the artwork that was in the frame.

This is currently his favourite movie...it has played in our house everyday since Christmas.  I used the extra cardboard jacket that came with the DVD to frame as artwork.  I simply cut the front of the jacket and taped it to the frame.

My son loves these in his room as they are his two favourite movies.  I like them because they took me 5 minutes to do, cost me nothing and I can change these up whenever he is into something new.