The Young Family: I {heart} Crafts

One of my favorite things to do is create.

I love to craft and decorate...

although you might not think so walking into our home.

We have empty walls everywhere!

Because we moved into our house one week before Ethan was born... we've been a bit slow on the decorating.

Taking down Christmas is always a sad day.

Not only do I have to work to take it down, but I can't help but feel like I'm working to make my walls bare.

This year after Christmas, I decorated an empty wall AND made some Valentine's Day Decorations

(I know... replacing old holiday decorations with new ones... well, it's something!)

Oooooh it felt soooo good! :)

Here is a "Happy Valentine's Day" banner I created with my trusty Cricut.

I bought the black and white paper (on sale for 29 cents each!) and heart stickers at Michaels... everything else I already had!

The thicker, long, sateeny silver ribbon was - believe it or not! - ribbon from one of my bridal showers!

Talk about up-using something!!

And actually... it's kind of appropriate.

7 1/2 years later, our love is still holdin' it together ;)

{Praise Jesus!}

The candle is a reused Christmas Candle... I turned the label around to the wall, put some left over silver ribbon around it and a heart sticker to top...

Instant Valentine's Day Candle!

The photo box was something I made when we first got married.

The picture is taken right after Mark proposed at the Kensington Palace Gardens in London... we were 20 years old!!... and the flowers I had dried and saved from our very first (dating) anniversary - pre-engagement.

Mark had 2 dozen roses scattered around the room with poems attached to each rose.

I saved one of the poems, cut it up and put it in the box.

It says...

"All the love that history knows is said to be in every rose.

Yet all that could be found in two is less than what I feel for you."

Can you blame me for saying "Yes!" to his proposal 4 months later??

This was an "extra" banner I made out of the negatives from the first banner...

all I did was cut out enough hearts with the Cricut to back the letters.

But I DID actually decorate a wall that can and will stay up year round!

This is our new and improved hallway:

I bought the Y at Joann's for $9 and decorated it with moss which cost about $12.

The Y is just a paper mache, 3 dimensional letter that measures approx. 2 feet by 1 foot depending on the letter. The moss comes rolled up in a package. Magic revealed!

They sell similar letters on etsy for around $50 each, so I was happy to make it myself.

The secret is hot glue... that's it! Now go make your own :)

The frames are from Michael's and Hobby Lobby, the shelves are from Target (left over from a pack of 4 where I used the 2 larger ones in Ethan's play room).

This is how I mapped out the wall:

I measured the dimensions, roped it out on our floor, and played!

This is what I came up with...