valentine bouquet

Looking for a simple but creative twist on Valentines Day cards? How about creating a bouquet of hearts!

Start by painting paper with lots of color- the messier the better!

Then add personalized messages, love notes or even drawings to the hearts. 

Glue the hearts to the top of a stick and add a few leaves.

The result is a bouquet of handmade LOVE! 

Looking for more Valentine's Day Inspiration?

handmade candy wrappers  moss hearts  wire hearts  rustic valentines  heart branches  valentine stones  heart art warmers  homemade marshmallows  award ribbon valentine  recycled heart wreath   healed hearts  valentine cards

clay valentines

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and this time of year I love finding unique ways to create all things hearts! A fun alternative to making paper valentines is actually using oven bake clay.

I started by sculpting little hearts out of polymer clay.

I used tooth picks to create arrows for my hearts so I pushed the tooth pick through each heart.

Next, I baked the clay hearts (according to the directions on the package).

Once the hearts cooled, I use permanent pens to doodle all over them! 

  

And last, I transformed those tooth picks into arrows by adding some paper details.

There you have it! Cute hearts that make a great little Valentine's Day gift!

valentine stones

Stones are one of my favorite surfaces to paint and alter. The best part is that I live across the street from a beach covered in stones- which means they are a free supply! This year I thought they would make a perfect alternative to traditional paper valentines. 

I decided to make a whole bunch of simple and pretty little valentine stones (for the residents in the extended care facility where my grandmother lives).I typically like to paint stones but since I was making a lot, I kept it simple with collage.

1. I started by painting plain white paper with watercolors- I wanted to create a very light wash of color. You could also use colorful or pattern paper!  2. Next I cut out A LOT of little heats- the fast way- folding the paper in half and cutting. 3. Then I doodled a little border on each heart. 4. Last, I added a word.

Using Mod Podge I added the hearts to the surface of colorful painted stones.

I let the stones dry and just like that I have some simple little valentines! A perfect expression of love and something that could be kept year round.

They are a great kid friendly project and really fun to personalize!

I couldn't resist creating a large version but instead of keeping it simple I spent a little time doodling all over my heart and then collaged it to the stone. This one is going to my studio as a doorstop

award ribbon valentines

Recently while browsing through my local party supply store (yes this is what I sometimes do for inspiration) I got caught up in the streamer aisle. I just couldn't resist all the pretty colors and all the fun polka dots! I bought a handful of streamers knowing that eventually I would come up with something fun to make.

Finally I came up with the idea to turn my streamers into miniature award ribbons to add to a my Valentine cards.

I started at one end folding the streamer, gluing it in between each fold.

(with my terrible chipped nail polish- so sorry!)

I kept folding and gluing

until I had a circular ruffle.

Next, I cut out two strips

and glued them to the back of the ruffle.

I cut out a small circle from pink paper and glued it to the center of the ruffle.

I added a message with pen.

Last I glued it to the surface of a blank card.

I just can't get over how darn cute they are!

homemade marshmallows

Watch out world (and waistline) I have discovered homemade marshmallows! The recipe has been on my to do list for the last year but I was afraid it would be way too messy and difficult to make. Surprising it was really easy and despite a spilled bag of powdered sugar and marshmallow in my hair, it wasn't as messy as I expected! It think homemade marshmallows would make a perfect sweet treat for Valentines Day!

The recipe I used was from the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) but I tweaked it just a little by adding orange extract and dipping them in chocolate.

Ingredients-

3 packages unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Start by combining the three packets of gelatin

with 1/2 cup of cold water. Set aside and let sit.

Combine 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of corn syrup, 1/4 teaspoon of salt

and 1/2 cup of water together in a sauce pan.

Cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 244 F degrees on a candy thermometer.

Pour the syrup into the gelatin mixture.

Mix on high and whip until the mixture is thick.

At this point I added about a teaspoon of orange extract

and continued to whip a little bit longer.

Next, grease a baking pan with vegetable oil

and dust a heavy layer of powered sugar (don't spill the bag of powdered sugar!)

This will keep everything from sticking to the pan.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan

Sprinkle another layer of powdered sugar on top.

Let it sit at room temperature over night.

You can remove the entire sheet of marshmallow from the pan and place on a cutting board to cut it up OR you can cut from the pan like I did (I found it was less messy).

I used little candy liners for each of my marshmallows.

I used a heart cookie cutter to cut out heart shaped marshmallows and used kitchen scissors to clean up the shape.

FYI- all the little scraps left over from cutting out the shapes can be used as little marshmallows for baking! Just package them up tuperware.

Add the large marshmallows to hot chocolate or a mocha.

Or even dip in chocolate! The combo of the orange flavored marshmallows and the chocolate is to DIE FOR!

Line up on a pretty tray and serve as Valentines Day treats or even package them up to give as gifts.

Now that I know how easy and TOTALLY delicious it is to make your own, I don't know if I will ever buy marshmallows from the store again!