Valentine, Oh Valentine

Valentine's Day passed me by a bit . . . the Man of the House and I exchanged cards and he included the requisite chocolate, so all was good. Snow in the forecast postponed the "going out to dinner"  but a crackling fireplace and a warm throw after a simple supper were just the ticket.

 
There was a Valentine feel around the homestead  . . .

Silhouettes of my boys hand cut by an artist at the Norwich Rose Arts craft show many years ago - I think they were 8 and 4 then (now 36 and 32 - how did that happen?)  They flank the mirror above the buffet with a framed heart greeting card and a computer-printed cupid.

On the buffet is the Christmas snowman updated for Valentine's day with a heart on his stick and surrounded with stuffed hearts stitched from fabric scraps.  On top of the vintage cupboard is a styrofoam cone wrapped with red Homespun yarn and accented with heart quilt pins.  The white bag is a merchant bag from Godiva - upcycled styrofoam block packaging holds some hearts on sticks and tissue fills the spaces.  The logo on the bag is covered with an embellishment from the craft stash and it's good to go. 

The first primitive-style doll I made as an adult brings some Valentine whimsy to the dining room corner. She stands with a vintage Christmas tree topped with a cross-stitched heart ornament made many years ago.

The top of the china cupboard was updated  from its Christmas look - still winter with red accents and pinecones.

And the view from the kitchen window hasn't changed much but there's more of that white stuff!

It's pretty chilly today - 11 degrees and more snow on the way tomorrow.  Keep warm!

Cheers!

A Giraffe of a Different Color

The #1 son keeps company with a little gal who has a "thing" for giraffes. Everyone has their favorite non-human creature, but Becci is the first person I've met who favors giraffes. 

So I was walking into the Dollar Store a couple of weeks before Christmas and smack dab in the middle of the entryway was a bin filled with plastic zoo animals.  Including giraffes. Without hesitation I grabbed two (two is always better than one) not knowing exactly what I would do with them, but confident I would. Do something or other with them. They came home and sat in the bag in the closet waiting for inspiration to strike me.

I was looking through one of the " too many" catalogs that flood the mailbox before Christmas and came across some funky ornaments. Animals accessorized with hats, purses, & shoes jumped off the page at me. It was time to begin. 

Spray paint was the first step - well, more like a dozen steps - those brown giraffe spots didn't want to stay under cover. And hitting all those hidden parts was a challenge. Then I decided I preferred a matte to a glossy surface so that was a bit more spraying. 

Now what? I had a cylinder of five rolls of coordinated red tape so decided to play around with that.  Decorated the neck, legs, and torso with tape, added a bit of red nail polish for the feet and horns (actually called "ossicones" and both males and females have them), some red glitter glue on the mane and tail and . . . Voila!  A Christmas (and possible Valentine's Day) giraffe. 

It elicited an "I love it!" from the giraffe fan, so all was good. 

And I have a spare that can be embellished with a different color for that green beer day in March!

Have a sparkling day!