My Valentine Mantel

On our way to the cheery sights of Spring, I'm glad we have the cheery colors, sights, tastes, and celebrations of Valentine's Day to enjoy.  I had so much fun making and hanging the Valentine Bunting over the fireplace this week, that I had to go ahead and switch the mantel from January decor to Valentine Decor.  So...here we go!

The window is the anchor piece of my mantel display.  It was $2 at an antique store in Northern Indiana, and I love it!  The view 'out' the window changes with the seasons.  :)  Pretty raspberry colored berries help cheer up the view for this month.  I love to have a seasonal plate on the mantel, and this one came from Home Goods several years ago.  The old burgandy hymnal raises it up to the right height, and a pink and white tea cup goes well in the center.  The gorgeous teapot on the left was a gift from my neighbor when she was dividing up her relative's belongings before an estate sale.  It comes from England, as does the teacup.  My little almost-matching creamer is Bavarian...so beautiful, and from my Mom in law's china hutch.  Love it!

I used an old piece of sheet music from 1965 to make this bunting.  Petite Gavotte is French for Little Folk Dance.  So sweet.  The hearts are made with my Cricut machine and a punch.

The piece with the title of Petite Gavotte was supposed to be at the far left as the beginning of the muscial bunting.  But the best laid plans often go awry, and here is ended up at the end of the bunting.  Oh rats.

This Fire King plate is a Christmas gift from a dear friend.  I do love me some Fire King!  And that adorable little girl is my 6 year old Mama in 1947.  :)

Using my beautiful Pink Depression Glass is always a favorite for Valentine's Day.  This is a candlestick topped with a beautiful plate, and a little dessert dish on top of that with a candle.  See what's keeping the glass pieces steady?  A piece of white Sticky Tac bonds the candlestick to the plate temporarily.  Love that stuff.

The vintage book art I made for our son's rehearsal dinner nearly a year ago (HERE) continues to be one of my favorite pieces on the mantel.  It's been layered with a little fabric heart sachet for the season.

Thank you for coming over to see my Valentine Mantel.  :)  Wish we could have coffee or tea and some Scottish Shortbread together.  If you want to invite me to come see your Valentine Mantel, just leave me a comment with a link below.

Blessings and Hugs,

Donna

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My Romantic Home

Smitten, Again!

Yesterday I met my dear friend Lori half-way between her home in Florence, KY and my home in Evansville, IN for a Girls Day Out in Louisville, KY.  The weather was frigid but sunny, and alittle 'feels like -2' never stopped a girl from Flea Marketing or Lunching Out, right?
Lori found a string of Flea Markets in Louisville called Peddler Mall.  There are several locations...I see many shopping trips ahead for us!  :)  Anyway, as we strolled along through booth after booth of vintage goodies, we spied this interesting box up high.

I got it down and we oohed and aahed over how interesting it was.  Five little wooden cubbies, and a  slanted glass lid on hinges.  The little label holders in front were unique too.  

I put it back up on the shelf where we'd found it, and we went on on our way.  But within minutes, I decided that little cutie needed to come home with me.  I don't think it is vintage, but it is def. vintage-inspired.  And soooo unusual.  And soooo versatile.

I brought 'her' home with me with glee.  Vacuumed out the cobwebs inside, wiped her down, and then began the super fun work of styling her cubbies.  This little gal will surely live in different parts of my house over the years and be styled with seasonal vintage goodies that can easily be changed out.  For now she is on the old organ bench so I can prop the lid open against the wall.

She's alittle Valentine-y for the present and I am completely smitten.  Wonder what I should put in the little label placards on the front?  What would you put in her cubbies?

I'm like a kid in a candy shop at vintage flea markets...are you?!

Thanks for stopping by....Blessings, Donna

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Little Sweet Hearts

Time for a few sweet Valentine crafts!  January is a great time to start them...less pressure, which means more fun, knowing that Valentine's Day is still weeks away.  I decided to play around with some red and white fabric, embroidery floss, felt, and embellishments to make some sweet hearts that will be fun to give to friends with a card and to tuck into vignettes around the house.  So here we go...

I mostly used fabric for the fronts of the hearts, and felt for the backs.  But this polka dot felt was a must for the front of one of the hearts.  Just fold some scrap paper in half and cut out a heart about the size and shape you desire, to make a pattern.  Then cut out the fronts and backs to your hearts, using that pattern.

I used a woven fabric for the white heart, which had places for me to freehand a cross-stiched heart.  You could use aida cloth for that too.  Or even burlap!  Red felt worked great for the backs of the hearts.  Felt is so easy with which to work.  Use 2 strands of red, black, or white embroidery floss for stitching the heart fronts and backs together with a running stitch...leaving a little opening with your needle and thread still intact.

Using a small funnel stuck into the little opening, I filled each heart with some fragrant loose leaf tea.  Orange Cinnamon tea makes a great choice!  If you don't have loose tea, you can use fiberfill or dried lavender or even dry rice with a few dried herbs mixed in.  Yum!

Then finish stitching your heart together, knotting it on the back.  Give her a sniff...ahhh.  Not only cute as can be, but fragrant as well.

I embellished the front of each heart using buttons, felt hearts, stick on jewels, and ribbon.

Aren't they sweet tucked into a little white vintage berry bowl?

I am going to enjoy them in my sunny craft room for a week or two...then...

I

...give most of them as gifts.  I have one of them tucked into a shadow box too.  Cute little Valentine surprise peeking out from that unexpected place.

These are all hand cut, sewn, embellishments glued...so you can easily sit and do this in the evenings.  We are getting back in the swing of having one hour after supper most nights where we are 'unplugged' from electronics.  That one hour gave me a head start on creating these.  If you made these alittle bigger ( mine are 2 inches tall) and filled them with dry rice, they would make cute hand warmers!  Use your imagination and above all ENJOY!

Blessings,

Donna

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