Crab Felt Finger Puppets

Just clawin' over to wish you a 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy Valentines Day!

Best wishes to you on this day of LOVE!  

Woodstock Valentine Puppets

Make some bear-y special memories today!

Have a beary special Valentine's Day!

Splat the Cat Finger Puppets

Love, Splat, by Rob Scotton, is my very favoritest kid Valentine book!  A rain cloud forms over Splat's head when things don't go right with his Valentine's Day plans, but Kitten saves the day! She finds his discarded Valentine anyway, and puts an umbrella over Splat!  We like you, too, Kitten!

I made Splat puppets by folding over a 6" piece of fuzzy black faux fur trim.  The arms, legs, and tail are double thick (glued together) pieces of black felt.  I hand sewed the tail on after sewing the body, legs, and arms with the machine. Ears and face pieces are glued on, with fabric paint details. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lion Felt Finger Puppets

 Happy Valentine's Day, Wild Thing!

(don't forget to add the tail on back!)

(the pattern gives a circle tummy as well as the heart shown here)

Lion Felt Finger Puppets

For a beautifully (award winning!) illustrated, wordless version of a classic tale perfect with these puppets, try The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney.

Valentine Cutie Neighbor Gifts

Valentine's Day can be a fun little holiday when you have someone special to share it with, including family.  But what if you don't?  We turned some of our Valentine cupid cuties into neighbor gifts to share some love...

First we made some tags from colorful paper.

Then we looped some ribbon through and added a cutie.

The really fun part was slipping them onto our neighbor's doors without being detected-- Ninja moves!-- then watching out the window to see if we could catch anyone discovering their surprises!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you cuties, too!

Heart Eggs

A Valentine breakfast idea from pinterest... Heart Eggs! 

The best thing about these heart shaped hard boiled eggs... they are super easy, even at the last minute!

You just need a container with a square edge, some rubber bands, and a chopstick. Milk or juice boxes were recommended, but I didn't have either. I used the long edge of a plastic tomato container (cut so I just had one long edge piece). Worked fine! Just peel the egg while warm, place it lengthwise against the edge, and use rubber bands to secure a chopstick over the top of it. After the egg cools (fridge), cut it in half to see the egg shape. Magic!  Great directions and more photos at Anna the Red.

Valentine's Heart Garland

This romantic heart garland was posted on Better Homes and Gardens.  Sure looked simple enough!  The craft store I went to had NO selection of red papers, so I had to go with pinks instead. 

I like a rustic sort of look so used twine instead of ribbon, except where the garland attaches to the bed.

 

Oh dear, this bed just doesn't have the same romance as the BGH one, but look at all that love! Six hearts for a full size frame.

It also adds festivity to a the mantel...

The only thing that could make this project easier is a template! 

So here ya go... two of the bigger hearts will fit on one 12x12 scrapbookpaper page.

Heart Garland Pattern

Rustic Paper Heart Wreath

This simple and sweet Valentine's Heart wreath was a pinterest find. I fell in love with it and searched my heart out (bad pun intended) for the original poster and directions. Alas, I spent a couple of hours searching and never did find the original post. Along the reposts though, I had a great time enjoying new crafty inspiration. So, I'd have to figure this one out myself or not at all. This post is to share what I learned in case any of you want to try it, too!

First I gathered a handful of green twigs.  Line them up to match similar sizes and colors, then trim to similar lengths.

Use thin gauge wire to wrap two of the stems together.

Bend the other end of the stems down toward the bottom to make the heart shape and wire together.

Take a length of wire and attach it to the bottom end of the heart. Loop the other end over the top notch of the heart and tighten, wrapping around the notch when the desired shape is reached.

I added two side wires to get the heart to lay flat. The original heart wreath doesn't have any wires, but I'm still satisfied with this look, the wires are so thin they're hardly visible. Maybe the wood will dry out this way and the wires can be removed later?

Now it is time for the mini paper heart decorations!

I cut out a bunch of hearts from scraps I had.  I'll post a template if anyone else doesn't have a heart punch...  :)

I cut white backs for the hearts...

Then glued the wire stems between the backs and colored fronts.

Finally, bend the paper hearts along the midline and twist the wire stems onto the twig heart.

Happy Heart Day!  Can you feel the love?

Rustic Cupid Valentine Cuties

Little love dispersal agents for Valentine's... rustic cupid cuties!

(The perfect antidote to all the Ninja mayhem that's been goin' on around here...)

  

I saw angels posted by ArtMind, and they went straight to my heart, literally! I had to make a dozen! 

Here's how easy they are: 

  

Cut lengths of twine or jute into 15 inch and 6 inch segments.

Make some itsy bitsy arrows from toothpicks, snips of ribbon, and the hearts from a specialty hole punch.

( I used tacky glue to put them together, which dries clear, but got impatient for photographing them so you can still see the white).

Grab some wooden beads and draw faces on them. I used this Sharpie paint pen but recommend the finest point you can find.

Bend the larger (15 inch) piece of twine in two, slip on the bead, knot the end and feet.  Two knots at the end of each makes an even cuter foot.  On the six inch twine, knot just one side, then grab an arrow and knot the other.

Tie the arms around the body.

Glue the felt wings to the back of the dress felt, add the body, then cover with the other dress piece.  I used a paisely printed red felt for the wings for the fancy texture.  Patterin is below if you'd like...

Rustic Cupid Pattern

Happy Valentine's Day!

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