Hubby's Valentine's Day Gift: a day late

Every year since my son's birth my husband and I have made it a rule to stick with a simple Valentine's Day and to keep gifts $5 or less.  The first year I made him a snicker's candy bar bouquet, the 2nd year I made him his favorite strawberry cheesecake, last year I bought his favorite candies, Smarties and Sweetarts, and put them in upcycled Starbucks Frappacino bottles that I painted and wrapped in scrapbook paper.  This year I drove myself nuts for a good 3 weeks trying to come up with something different and simple and 2 days before V-day I realized I had no good DIY ideas and wasn't finding anything online that jumped out at me either so it was time to go to plan B, store bought.

I know I know, store bought gift for the hubs, what kind of DIY chick am I?

The answer is a very pregnant one with a loss for unique gift ideas.  What else can I say?  Sometimes you have to give in and take the easier way out.  I decided to post this because I thought maybe next year someone will be on the search for a last minute idea that's not necessarily DIY or homemade but just cute and easy to grab at the store.

We got a blue-ray player for Christmas this year so we have been slowly finding inexpensive Blue-ray discs here and there.  Let me tell ya it's a lot harder to find cheap blue-ray discs than it is to find cheap dvd's.  We've lucked out finding some for $5 and I thought maybe I'd get lucky, that the Valentine's Day God's would smile down on me but no such luck.  Instead I found the Hulk movie, which we had actually been wanting to see anyway, and added his favorite kind of soda that we never buy because it's a little pricey, Cream Soda.

I was so lazy this year I didn't even go the extra mile to make him a card.  Nope, instead he got a pink piece of cardstock with the note:

Sit back and relax with a six pack!

Happy Valentine's Day

The funny thing is, he ended up turning the card over and writing his message to me on the other side, haha.  Can you tell neither of us planned ahead this year?  Some wives might of been upset by this, I got a good laugh out of it and thought, this is what  almost 5 years of marriage, 2 kids, and an extra long work week does to ya.

Red Velvet Heart Cookies

I have had it in my mind to make Red Velvet cookies for awhile now and I figured with Valentines day being this week it was the perfect time to give it a whirl.  I don't even really know when the idea came to me but I saw it first here.  She used Red Velvet Emulsion and one of the things that's kept me from making red velvet cupcakes and cookies is that I didn't want to have to buy large amounts of red food coloring.  Not to mention it's difficult to get a deep red color in frosting let alone in cookie and cake batter.  The emulsion seemed like the perfect solution and I immediately bought mine at Walmart.

While I originally saw this recipe for Red Velvet cut outs I didn't want to buy the dry buttermilk the recipe called for because I figured it would expire before I could use it all since I don't have any other recipes that call for it.  I searched around and came across this recipe and decided to give it a try with a couple changes.

I only made half a recipe since it was the first time I've made them and didn't know how they would taste and I didn't want a crap load of cookies sitting around for me to eat.  Here is the half recipe with the addition of the Red Velvet Emulsion and baking powder since the original recipe didn't call for any and I thought that was a little weird.  I also used margarine sticks instead of real butter because they are less expensive and it's what I use in all my other cookie recipes.

Red Velvet Heart Cookies

1 stick margarine at room temp

1c sugar

2T cocoa powder

1 egg

1 1/2t vanilla

1/4t salt

1 3/4c flour

1/4t baking powder

1/2t Red Velvet Emulsion

Cream butter, sugar, and salt.  Add egg, vanilla, and Red Velvet Emulsion.  Mix until combined.  Add flour, cocoa, and baking powder.  Beat until dough is forming a ball and coming away from the sides of the mixer bowl.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or over night.  Roll  and cut into shapes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. 

Grant had so much fun helping mix the dough together and then putting sprinkles on the frosted cookies.

 I had intended to make homemade cream cheese frosting but didn't have enough cream cheese so instead I used a store bought can of frosting.  Grant doesn't like frosting on his cakes or cookies so I left half of them unfrosted.  They are tasty either way.

Valentine's Day Chair Pouch

I made my son a Valentine's day chair pouch before he could sit up on his own. 

Why you ask?
Because I thought they were so stinkin cute I couldn't wait a whole year to make one. 

Fast forward 2 years and 3 moves later and I havn't got the slightest clue where its at.  I take that back, I know exactly where it is.  It's in a box in the room in the basement.  Of course so is just about everything I own so in reality I just have no idea which box it's in.

Rather than being annoyed with this reality (as I am with so many other things I have had to remake or rebuy for lack of wanting to search through boxes that are stacked higher than my head) I decided it was a great opportunity to make a newer, cuter V-day pouch.  This year I think Grant will actually be excited to wake up from naptime and see a few little surprises waiting at his high chair. 

So as I do any time I get the idea to do something I googled valentine's day chair pouch to get ideas on the shape I wanted and how I wanted it to be embellished.  Then as I also always do I threw all that out the window and started cutting and sewing. 

I don't advise this if it is late at night and you have spent way too much time fighting with your 2 year old to not dump the entire contents of his toy box on the floor, clear off all the shelves in the living room, or trying to figure out why in the world they are standing in front of you mouth wide open screaming out of the blue as if you should know what in the heck they want.  In the crafting world, or at least in my crafting world, this results in ripping out seams, recutting fabric, and my sewing machine being subjected to dirty looks and name calling.

Don't judge, I know you have secretly done the same.

I had grand plans of a beautifully written and photographed post of this wonderful V-day pouch I was making, however as you can guess from the name calling I referenced earlier all the pictures didn't get taken and after looking back through them I can tell you I was confused so I knew I wouldn't be able to acurately write a great tutorial.

Yes I know if I was a top knotch blogger I would have that tutorial regardless but I had no desire to remake this pouch.  Even though it was actually super easy to make.  I'm really happy with how it turned out and can't wait to fill it with a couple treasures.

 

I made mine to fit on the bar stools we have our highchair sitting on.  I've seen some made with backpack like straps but I thought the one single wrap around strap would make it easier for Grant to get into it himself.  It's just at his height.

 

I stitched the stap to the back of the pouch and used velcro as a closure.

 

There are a ton of different ways you could design your pouch, I liked the messenger bag type look so that's how I did mine.

 

Since it's for Valentine's day I had to put a heart somewhere so I cut a white and red from felt and stitched it on the flap to cover where I stitched the velcro on.

 

I used the basics of making a messenger bag and you can find those tutorials everywhere.  Just change the measurements to make them the size you need. Here is a great one.  I think mine ended up being 10 inches wide and 6-8inches tall (not including the flap).  It was very easy to make and I used interfacing on all the pieces to give it a sturdier shape so hopefully it will hold up over the years and I won't have to make my little Nutty Buddy a new one.





 

 

 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

This post is a little belated but hey, better late than never.  Every year for Valentine's Day I make my husband chocolate covered strawberries.  The first year I made them I didn't have a clue and messed up most of my batch, so I thought I would post how I make them in case there is someone else who doesn't have a clue about dipping fruit in chocolate haha.

Supplies I used:

Strawberries-rinse and pat dried

Vanilla Almond Bark

Gulf Wax

foil

I shred some of the gulf wax  with a vegetable peeler before I get started so it's ready.  Break off a few squares of the almond bark and melt it in a small saucepan on low heat.  Once it's melted add the gulf wax, this will prevent the chocolate from getting clumpy and make it shiny once the strawberries are dipped and dried.  When the gulf wax is stirred in you're ready to start dipping the strawberries.  Place them on the foil to harden, and you're done!

Valentine's Card

I had planned on posting my Valentine projects yesterday but as I logged into my computer and started typing my posts my internet connection went out and then my son got his 15 minute power nap and started screaming with a tummy ache, so much for me getting my post done.  So it's a day late but better late than not at all right?

I used to be a Hallmark card girl.  I worked there in high school and loved it and since then I had been buying all my holiday and birthday cards there.  Yes I have probably spent a small fortune in cards from that store.  While I still love Hallmark, when I bought my Cricut I was telling my husband all that I could make with it, cards being one of those things, and now I just can't bring myself to spend $3-$5 a card when I can make them for free.

So here's the card I made my husband this year.

Here's what you will need to make this card, just in case there is anyone out there wanting to know.  I used a blank plain black card, thin red ribbon, the word love cut with my Cricut and my aqua glue.

 Here's a close up of the love word I cut out.  It has a red shadow and the white over top.

Add the ribbon to the front of the card overlapping to the inside.  I put a dot of glue on both ends and in the middle on the front to make sure the ribbon didn't move out of place.  Then glued Love to the front at an angle and viola, done. 

I like to keep my cards simple, you could easily dress this card up a little more.  My husband couldn't care less about little jewels and such on his cards.  Actually he could probably care less about cards in general but I like to write words of love to him every now and again.

Valentine's Day Candy Bar Bouquet

I had planned on making all my husband's favorite goodies for V-day but decided with his birthday around the corner and our $10 spending limit I needed a different idea.  I had seen many different candy bar bouquets and they all looked so cute, so I thought that would be easy and inexpensive.  I had grand plans to buy all these different candy bars until I started talking to my husband and found out the only candy bar he really likes is Snickers, so much for my plan. 

It didn't turn out as cute as I would have liked but it's not the only thing I'm making.

First I took a formula can and tore off the label to measure black cardstock to I could wrap it around the can.

As you can see the only black cardstock I had on hand was 8 1/2 x 11 inches, so it was a little smaller than I needed.  I just cut an extra little piece of cardstock to finish covering the can.

You can also measure the can if you don't want to peal off the label.

I used E6000 glue to make sure the paper would stick to the can and glued it at the seam, top and bottom.  Then put rubber bands around to hold the paper in place until the glue dried.

I added red ribbon to the bottom and top of the can.

Put foam in the bottom of your can.

 I already had wooden skewers in my kitchen so I broke them in half and taped them to the back of each of the 6 candy bars I purchased.

 Using my cricut I cut out a bunch of words and heart images to decorate with.  Then of course I only used a couple.

 

  I used this glue to attach my images and letters to the outside of the can.  It drys clear and is easy to apply.

Here is my finished product.  I stuck each of the candy bars into the foam and then added some red tissue paper to cover in the holes so you couldn't see the foam.

Like I said it's not spectacular but my husband is a simple guy and he will love it.

Valentine Pouch Finished

I finished Grant's Valentine pouch and I'm actually really excited with how it turned out.  I did all of it by hand (probably would have finished it faster had I used my machine), this way I could stay in the living room while Grant slept in his swing.

Here is the front:

Here is the back:

I've seen many other crafters use buttons but I didn't have any I liked so I chose velcro (no point in spending money when you don't have to).  I hot glued the velcro tabs on the straps and the front flap.  This pouch was so simple to make and even doing it all by hand it would have only taken me a couple of hours had I not been interrupted multiple times.  If by chance there is someone out there reading this wanting to make one similar or just needing measurements so you can create your own unique pouch let me know.

I can't wait until next year when I can put little treats in this pouch and start a new Valentine's Day tradition. 

What I'm Working On Now

I have been wanting to make a Valentine pouch ever since I saw them on John and Kate Plus 8.  Back then I didn't have any children of my own to make them for, so when my son was born in October I knew I needed to make him one.  I realize he will only be 3 months old on Valentine's Day this year so he won't be able to enjoy it but I still wanted to make one.  Here is what I have so far...

Ive seen these pouches made from a bunch of different materials like fun foam, fabric, etc.  I didn't have anything of those materials in my stash and I had no intentions of spending money, so I decided to go with what I did had on hand, felt.  My husband is big on things I make for Grant not being too feminine (which he says I have a tendency to do), so I did his in black with only touches of red and white, no pink.  I'm not finished with it yet.  I still have to applique the G and hearts on, right now they are just sticking on there by themselves, put straps on the back, and add velcro to the front flap.  I used a blanket stitch around the whole pouch and it has red felt on the inside.  I didn't really used any measurements or a pattern, I just started cutting and came up with this, I think its the perfect size.
When I'm completely finished I will post more pictures.  I wanted anyone who may see this to have another Valentine pouch to see.