...love-ly little things...

...hello my sweet friends!

today is all about creating love-ly delights from the heart

mind you, there are just soooo many pretties

a girl can make,

sometimes it is hard to narrow it down!

so be for-warned, this is a long post

 because these all spoke to my heart :)

first up,

is this easy diy flutter heart garland

for this garland you will need a large heart shaped paper punch,

pretty tissue paper, coordinating ribbon and your sewing machine

 ~

start by punching out your paper hearts

i found that 4 layers at a time worked perfectly

   

  

next, simply start sewing a pair of them together

two by two

(that's the "fluttery" part!)

two hearts beating as one :)

i like my hearts to go in the same direction...

  

  

  

keep sewing your hearts until you are pleased with the length

i made mine about two yards long...

  

   

  

  

when you are finished,

attach a length of ribbon on each end for ties

and your flutter heart garland is complete!!

now, wasn't that easy, peasy?!

make a few for your friends ~

wrap them around a sheet of card stock and slip it into a cello bag,

add a pretty tag to the front and you are now ready to share the love :)

  

  

  

 speaking of pretty packages,

think outside of the box, so to speak!

instead wrapping with paper, tuck your gift into a pretty floral box ~

(like the kind you can find at Tuesday Mornings)

and whip up a lace sleeve by sewing

 the bottom and two sides of some pretty lace,

then slide your pretty box in,

tie on a wide ribbon

and embellish away!!

for wouldn't YOU love a package that makes your heart sigh?!?

back in college,

i would always seek jobs that taught me something i wanted to learn

i figured, hey, why not try this

and get paid for it too!!

one of those jobs was in a floral shop...

i hardly ever brought home a paycheck ~ lol!!

sooooo many pretty things to be done with flowers

in one of my earlier tutorials,

i showed you how to make this ~ heart shaped floral arrangement ~

below are a few variations of that tutorial, using the same technique...

 this one is in a round vase,

i simply stuck the roses in a heart shape 

and then surrounded them with cream roses...

    

wouldn't that be a most love-ly bridal bouquet concept?!?

i added a satin ribbon around the vase for two reasons,

one ~ because it looks pretty!

and two, because it hides the green floral foam

 (hint: use a few pieces of carpet tape to secure your ribbon to the glass vase!)

  

for this next centerpiece, 

i made it the same way as in my original tutorial

only this time, i added the leaves to the outer edge,

   

and secured a wide satin ribbon around the base.

a pretty touch to my front entrance table

  

see the flutter heart garland too??

  

  

 and at the top of my mirror,

i simply added two strands of my

 ~ pink heart fairy lights ~

they look so pretty when lit up on these cold winter nights!

  

are you ready for more?

or

am i smothering you with too much love?!

 you can't stop now!

read on to learn how to make

this heart shaped wreath

trust me! 

it will look most fabulous on YOUR front door!!

  

for this tutorial, you will need to gather a few things

* flowers of your choice - 18 bouquet stems 

* heart shaped wreath form

* any embellishments you desire to add

* tulle ribbon

* glue gun/sticks

  

your flowers need to have at least 4 roses per stem for this wreath size

if they have more flower on each stem,

you will need less stems

and vise verse for less roses.

  

hhhmmm...

where oh where have i seen this before?!

  

i looked all over for a ready made blank wreath form

in the heart shape

but couldn't find one

soooo

i had to improvise!

this form actually had red heart tinsel garland

wrapped around it

which after i purchased it

i took off!

i found this at "Five Below" and later saw them at "Big Lots" stores too.

the heart form is a red plastic

and normally i would have spray painted it white

 to match my white washed home

but it has been below freezing here and i wasn't going to attempt it!

so i painted it with craft paint.

craft paint will scratch off so i recommend that, if you can,

to spray paint it first with a paint made for plastic.

embellishments...

  

satin and tulle ribbon...

 begin by wrapping your heart with the tulle ribbon

  

  

this will make it easier to hot glue your flowers on 

as it gives them something to grab on to...

  

continue wrapping all the way around

and tie off to your start end.

 then ripe off all of your flower heads

(sounds so wrong, doesn't it??)

lol!!

  

and start hot gluing your flowers to the the tulle wrapped heart 

  

keep going all the way around...

  

tada!

but wait,

your not done yet...

  

my flowers came with glittery white hearts nestled within a tulle collar

so i incorporated them into my wreath

as it IS for Valentine's!

then, i added all my other embellishments

securing them with hot glue

and tied on a pink satin ribbon to hang it from...

see how pretty??

now aren't you glad you stayed??!!

  

but wait!! ~ before you flutter away...

   

i have one more pretty to squeeze in...

come on

you. can. do it!

this is for love-ly tea bags!

when you are finished with all this creating,

you can reward yourself with a pretty cup of tea :)

   

 for this valentine pretty, you will need:

* white coffee filters

* your favorite tea bags

*sewing machine

* small funnel

* a sheet of love-ly tea labels

*scissors

* glue

  

  

pick up two coffee filters and align them.

begin by folding your coffee filters in half,

then again into quarters,

cut out a heart shape.

 you should end up with four hearts.

you will need two hearts per tea bag.

repeat this step for as many heart shaped tea bags you wish to make.

~ sewing your tea bags ~

with two of those hearts aligned,

carefully begin sewing around  the edge of your heart. 

stopping before you reach the beginning to allow room for the funnel

  

now the fun part!

cut open your favorite tea bag.

reserving the top where the tag is attached.

 

if you wish to add any thing

like culinary lavender or rose petals ~

add now.

be creative with your flavors... 

pour into a small, spouted measuring cup

to make it easier to pour into your funnel.

(hint: if you don't have a funnel, roll a piece of printer paper up into a cone,

use a piece of tape to hold your "cone" in place,

 snip a little off of the point side edge and voila! instant funnel) 

   

now put your funnel into the opening of your tea bag

and pour in your tea leaves...

  

take the reserved tag edge that you snipped off of your tea bag

and tuck it into the opening.

now sew up the opening...

  

now all that is left to do is to attach a tea tag!

  

take two tea tags and glue one on each side of your old tea tag

(hint: place a straight edge ruler down on your tags while they dry to keep them from curling up)

  

   

 and that,

my dears

is how you create one mighty fine cup of love-ly tea!!

 wouldn't you agree?

  

personalized script mugs are super easy to do

and add a special touch to any morning or tea date with a friend.

write your sentiments on your mug

and place in a cold oven on a cookie sheet.

turn oven on to 425 degrees for 50 minutes.

then turn off oven but leave mugs in oven until cool.

  

 send your beloved friend home with your handmade delights

of these heart shaped tea bags

and perhaps a couture wrapped chocolate bar...

  

  

  

  

packaged in their lovely wrappings

she is sure to think of your friendship with every last sip!!

and that concludes today's delights

i hope you enjoyed them 

and will perhaps find a little time to create some for your very own!

with open arms

i'm sending out all my love 

to all my fabulous readers!

  

sharing this post with:

common ground's: be inspired friday

french country cottage's: feathered nest friday

shabby art boutique's: shabbilicious friday

...here's to love-ly little things!

ps. my bonus gift to you:

ozma's love-ly little tea tags

for your personal use

 ~ enjoy! ~