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Valentine Emoji Pop Up Card

Valentine Emoji Pop-Up Card

Emojis are everywhere lately, and they are SO cool among the kids these days. We just had to do some kind of valentine emoji pop-up card for all the boys in my life…and in yours! I hope you had a chance to check out this year’s girl valentines using honeycomb balls to creating a pop-up effect. We thought it would be a good idea to staying with the honeycomb pop-up theme and create one for the boys. These emoji valentine cards create a fun wow factor. We decided to use the cool man emoji and a pirate emoji. It was hard a picking, but these designs worked best for big eyes.

Download the FREE VALENTINE EMOJI POP-Up Card after the jump.

If you need instructions on the how-to, please refer back over to the original honey-comb pop up card. The download for the Valentine Emoji Pop Up card is right below. Here is the link to the 2″ black honeycomb balls. Have so much fun putting these together!

>>>>>>>DOWNLOAD VALENTINE EMOJI POP UP CARD>>>>>>

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Heart Shape Flower Box

DIY Heart-Shape Flower Box

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and you know roses are the way to a girl’s heart and a sign of love and friendship. I’m such a sucker for flowers and always love receiving and giving them! So I was looking for something extra special to make to give to my love ones for Valentine’s Day. This DIY heart-shape flower box is just the one that I know my girls will love or even a friend who needs a little cheering up over the love holiday. If you are planning a Galentine’s breakfast or even just a romantic evening with your lover, these heart-shape flower box would also make a perfect centerpiece. So many fun ideas.

Supplies:

Heart Shape Box or Paper Mache box (spray paint for desired color)

floral wet foam

wax paper

fresh flowers

scissors

knife

Take your foam block, using your knife cut it about 1.5″ thick. Then use the bottom of the heart box to cut the foam in the shape of the heart. I had to use two 1.5″ foam blocks to get the entire shape of the heart. Don’t worry if it is not perfect. You just need a general heart shape.

2. Put your foam blocks in water and let it soak for a bit. While it is soaking, take wax paper and cut the width of the box. Gradually push it down to fully cover the bottom and the sides of the heart shape box, while making sure the paper doesn’t tear or rip. You may have some extra paper hanging over the sides. I just cut the paper with scissors around the shape.

3. Gently place the wet floral foam blocks in the heart-shape box, making sure the bottom is fully covered. You can add additional water in the box at this time.

4. Next is the fun part, adding the flowers. Simply trim and push the stems in the wet foam block. Start on the edge and work your way to the middle of the box. My boxes used about 10 stem roses. If you’d like put the top on the box, then make sure to cut the stems short so the flower heads are below the top of the box. I kept my longer because I am using them more for display and wanted the flower heads peeking out. If you are planning to give them away, add a ribbon around the box and flowers!

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Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-Up Cards

Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-Up Cards

There was this little grocery store near my house growing up that sold the cutest pop-up Victorian Valentine cards. They were so beautiful and intricate, and they had the honeycomb pom pom somewhere in the design. A small memory, but a happy lasting one. These Valentine’s printable honeycomb pop-up cards may not be as intricate and completely 3-D, but they have a happy pop that will bring a smile to a friend or classmate. I teamed up again with my girl Melissa, who is amazing at graphic design, and we came up with this cute design. Remember last year’s Valentine’s cards? One of my favorites, so we really had to up it this year with another fun concept. These Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-up cards are so easy to put together and perfect for your child to hand out at school or to give to a friend. The designs are fun even for older children. My teenage daughter is excited to give them to her friends. Using honeycomb balls to achieve the effect is so easy and time effective that you won’t have to spend a lot of time making these striking Valentines. In fact, I’m sure your child would want to get involved too.

Get the instructions and FREE printable after the jump.

Instructions for Valentine’s Honeycomb Pop-Up Cards:

Valentine’s Printable DOWNLOAD PDF

2″ Honeycomb Balls

Glue or adhesive dots (I prefer the dots)

Download the Valentine Honeycomb Pop-Up card printable (link above). Print on heavy cardstock paper. I printed mine at my local print shop so the color was bright. Cut down and then fold over with the words on the outside. The honeycomb balls will arrive flat. Unfold the ball and secure the honeycomb balls with glue or adhesive dots on the circle graphic on the printable. When delivering your card, use washi tape to secure the card to stay down and attach a fun lollipop or toy to it.

Stay tune for next week! I’ll be posting another similar Valentine’s for boys! Also head to the sidebar to see other FREE Valentine’s Printables.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath

Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath

Wreath making is one of my favorite Christmas crafts for decorating the home. You really can’t go wrong and the outcome is so beautiful. I can’t wait to show you the wreaths and garland I’ve been putting together. I’m hoping to get my Christmas holiday post up either tomorrow or Monday (fingers crossed). If you remember last month for Thanksgiving, I made these Modern Harvest Wreaths out of wire hangers and clippings from my yard. I love the fun wreath shapes you can make of circles, triangles and squares. It really puts a geometric, modern look on a simple wreath. Well, I just updated my modern harvest wreaths with a modern wire evergreen wreath so they look a little more holiday and goes with my Christmas tree and ornaments. This craft is so easy! Don’t throw out those wire hangers, craft them into something beautiful that can be used year after year.

Supplies for the Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath:

Wire hangers
Follow the instructions for the Modern Harvest Wreath for making the wire wreath.
floral wire
wire cutters
wire pliers
Christmas ribbon
leaves–magnolia, eucalyptus, boxwood, any kind of ever green leaves
Cotton stem
holiday berries from any craft store

Instructions for the Modern Wire Evergreen Wreath:

After you make the wire wreath, go out to your yard or a neighbors or even the woods or a park and clip evergreen plants. An evergreen plant is a plant that stays green all year round for example boxwood, cedar fir, Fraser fir, eucalyptus, magnolia. There are so many evergreen variety but I tend for find branches that remind me of a Christmas tree. You don’t need a lot but enough to cover the bottom half of the wreath. Then arrange the evergreen clips with the large, bushier branches behind and the thinner smaller leaves in front. Take your floral wire and wrap around the wire wreath. Once everything is secure, add your holiday berry branches under the floral wire. Pull out the cotton heads from the stem and place them also in floral wire. Add some ribbon and you are ready to hang.

These simple modern wire evergreen wreaths are best placed over a mirror or over the back of a chair. I also love the look over a fireplace mantle or switching out a picture over a console with one of these modern wire evergreen wreaths.

Modern Harvest Wreath

Modern Harvest Wreath

I don’t know about you, but it is hard to feel like it’s Fall when the weather outside is hot and steamy. Halfway through September, and I’m trying really hard to get into the mood of Fall so the best way to do so is with crafting Fall home decor. I love how these modern harvest wreaths came out, and they are the perfect crafting idea to get into Fall. These modern harvest wreaths are perfect to place over a mirror, hang off the back of a chair or decorate above a console table. Did I mention budget friendly? Except for a few berry branches, I pulled almost everything from my flower garden and around the house. And how can you not get over the geometric wreath style? It the best part of the modern harvest wreath! You may have seen similar modern harvest wreath styles on Pinterest, but these ones are made out of wire hangers!

A few of the items I used were magnolia leaves, eucalyptus leaves, wheat grasses, decorative berry branches and dyed dried natural berry branches. These modern harvest wreaths are made with real, natural flowers and leaves but using items that will completely dry beautifully and not wilt. They should be good the whole fall season!

Here’s the easy breakdown for the modern harvest wreath.

Materials for Modern Harvest Wreath

Three wire hangers to make a circle, square, triangle
metallic spray paint
floral wire
wire cutters
wire pliers
ribbon
leaves–magnolia, eucalyptus, boxwood, any kind of ever green leaves
natural dried dyed branches like wheat or berries
real flowers or berries that does not discolor or welt when dried

Instructions for Modern Harvest Wreath

To make the modern wire wreaths, I used a wire hanger and snipped off the hook part with wire cutters. Then I manipulated the wire into a geometric shape. You will need arm strength to bent and twist the wire ends around each other to hold the geometric shape. Use pliers to assist in the twisting and maybe another set of hands. Once the shape is secure with the wire hanger, don’t be surprised if the wire ends are pointing out. You will be covering that part with your flowers. Just make sure they aren’t pointing out too much that there is a concern with scratching a door or mirror. After you are happy with the shape of the wreath, spray paint both sides of the wreath with metallic spray paint. Let it dry.

Start with the leaves and then add three decorative flowers or berries. Cut the stems an inch from base. Wrap floral wire around the base of the flowers, then wrap the floral bunch around the base of the wire wreath, making sure it covers where the twist is located. Repeat about three more times. Hang the wire wreath with ribbon.

I love the look of hanging the wreath in other places other than a door. Get creative and have fun decorating your home with these modern harvest wreaths.

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DIY Copper Hat Rack

DIY Copper Hat Rack

DIY Copper Hat Rack: Summer time is usually when I rock a hat..almost everyday. Protection from the sun and blocking harmful UV rays makes me all about wearing a hat when I head outside. So, my hat collection, specifically my straw hat collection, has become a little out of control, and I have been in desperation of organizing the collection. I have wanted to buy a hat rack, but most of the hat racks on the market weren’t quite what I was looking for. But after DIYing the copper clothing rack, I was leaning toward a DIY copper hat rack because I had left over copper supplies and thought it would be a great way to use up my copper inventory. All said and done, this DIY copper hat rack what SO easy and took about five minutes to put together with total supplies of about $15. Of course, not including the cost of the hats!

Find a spot in your closet to set up your hat collection. Or this DIY copper hat rack is so chic and stylish you could use your hats as display over a headboard or dresser. I recommend using parts from Tradefix Direct as the price and quality are both very good!

Supplies for DIY Copper Hat Rack

All these materials are available at Home Depot or your local hardware store. Or you can buy with the links below, but prices will be higher.

1/2″ in diameter and anywhere from 5 ft – 10ft copper pipe depending on how wide you need. You can also buy long and cut down the copper. See the how to.
2 copper end caps (1/2″ diameter)
2 copper pipe strap (3/4″ wide)
Curtain rod ring with clips
Hammer
Nails or screws
Leveler (optional)

Instructions for DIY Copper Hat Rack

Figure out where you want to hang your hat rack. Think about how wide your hats are and make sure to leave room from the end of the hat to what it will be near. Also think about how many hats you want to hang. You can double similar hats together to maximize space. Also if space permits, you can hang from the clips rope or string and then attach hats with clothing clips to the ropes. Lots of different options!

Once if you figure out where you want to display your hats, take your hammer and pound in one of the pipe straps to the wall with a nail. Use screws for a stronger connection or if you are planning to hang quite a bit of hats on it. Make sure you get 3/4″ pipe strap, NOT 1/2″. That way you can slide your copper pipe in and out of the pipe strap to add or remove ring clips without marking your walls too much.
Add the end caps to the ends of the copper pipe and then slide your curtain rod rings on it and keep them in the middle of the pipe. Then slide your copper pipe into the pipe strap.
Use your leveler, or if you have a good eye, to make sure the pipe is straight against the wall. Then take your other pipe strap and place one the other end of the copper pipe. Secure in place with either nails or screws.
Grab your hats and clip them onto the curtain rings. Then enjoy!

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Check out these other COPPER DIY projects

COPPER Plant Stand

How to Make a Maypole

How To Make a Maypole

May Day is just around the corner (May 1st), and is a traditional Spring holiday in many European countries in celebration of Spring through dance. Learn how to make a Maypole for your May Day festivities. Usually we go around on May Day and hang a bouquet of flowers on neighbors’ door knobs. And this year, I thought it would be fun to dance around a maypole! The maypole dance is not just for May Day. It can be celebrated all throughout spring and into summer. How fun would it be to have a maypole at a Mother’s Day tea party or a summer picnic or a little girl’s garden birthday party? Children (or mamas) can dance around the pole, braiding the ribbon by going under each other, over each other or cross each other’s path. I will show you an easy way on how to make a maypole that will last for many summer parties to come.

Supplies for How to Make a Maypole

Two wooden dowels-1 1/4″ x 72 ”

Drill

Afloral assorted silk flowers–the flowers I used were mini silk ranunculus bush, magnolia silk bush in blush, waxflower spray in white and mauve pin and 25″ ranunculus spray pink

1 x dowel screw

Round wooden rosette with blunt screw

12 rolls of assortment of silk ribbon 1″

staple gun

wood glue

hot glue

hand saw

Instructions for How to Make a Maypole

1. Take your wooden dowels and drill a hole, slightly less than the diameter of your dowel screw, through the center of the top of the dowel on one side of each wooden dowel.

2. Squeeze wooden glue in one of the drilled holes. Then take the dowel screw and screw it in the dowel all the way. Let it dry for a few hours so the screw will be firm in the dowel, preferably 24 hours. When you assemble to poles, you will screw the dowel with the screw into the other drilled hole on the other dowel. Once assembled, the pole will be about 12 feet tall. This will make it easy to transport the maypole and take your maypole dancing to the park, friend’s backyard or any open grassy area.

3. Take the other wooden dowel that does not have the dowel screw in it. The opposite end of the drilled hole, use your saw to shave down the edges to make it have a point or a V-shape so it will be easy to hammer the pole into the ground.

3. Now take the other wooden dowel that does have the dowel screw in it and drill another hole on the opposite side. Put wood glue in it and screw in the round wooden rosette with the blunt screw in the dowel. Let it dry.

4. If you’d like, you can spray paint your maypole. Or keep it natural.

5. Take your ribbon and staple gun and staple one end of each ribbon at the top of the round wooden rosette. Unravel the ribbons and then gently wrap the ribbon around the pole.

6. Grab your Afloral.com silk flowers and pull the flower buds off the stems. Hot glue the larger flower heads on the top of the round wooden rosette and then the smaller flowers.

7. With any of your leftover silk flowers, make flower crowns for your dancers.

You are just about ready to dance around the maypole! Before you head out, grab a hammer. You will need it to hammer the bottom pole in the ground. Hammer it in a few inches in the ground to make sure it’s secure. Then screw the top dowel into the bottoms dowel. Unravel the ribbons. Each dancer holds onto a ribbon and then dances around the maypole!

Thank you Afloral.com for sponsoring this post!

Styled Photography: Melissa Udall Photography

Thank you to these cute mamas and their babies for helping out on How to Make a Maypole post–Melissa Erickson, Candice Munk, Lizzy Nielsen

Round Leather Bag Tutorial

DIY Round Leather Bag Tutorial

A recent obsession and current trend is the round leather bag clutch. It’s a modern take on the classic bag styles you would see in the 1960s. Retro vibe but it still has a simple look, the round leather bag is a fun accessory to incorporate in your summer style. Another trend is the metal round handle. I’ve been seeing many European bag with that style and it will definitely be making it’s way to the States. With all these new trends, I thought it would be a good idea to do a round leather bag tutorial that is easy and simple for a novice, which I am in the leather-making category. This round leather bag tutorial is also a quick tutorial and took me about 30 minutes to make. So if you are in the need of a new going-out bag that is budget friendly, this is the one for you!

Supplies for Round Leather Bag Tutorial

a plate or something that is round

pencil

Ruler

Scissors

Sewing Machine

Instructions for Round Leather Bag Tutorial

Roll out your leather and fold in half, putting the wrong-sides together. Place a large plate face-side down on the leather. Use it as a template to draw a circle. Then cut out the circle. You should have two circles.
Place a ruler on the upper side of the circle about two inches down from the top. With a pencil, lightly mark a line on each side and mark the middle of the ruler. The move the ruler up a little, centering the ruler on the mark lines, then do mark another line all the way across on the bag.
Pull out your sewing machine and set it up to be able to sew on leather. Make sure you have upholestrey thread. Sew the two circles together starting and ending at the short lines marked from the ruler.
Cut out two squares in the leather that are about 2.5 inches in width and height
Take your leather hole puncher and punch where you marked the center of the bag. Then using your scissors, cut where you marked the line all the way across. That will remove the excess leather, and the round circle will now be flat on top.
Take each square and fold. Using the ruler, mark the center just a few centimeters from the edge of the square. Then punch out with the leather puncher.
Grab your rivets. Place the metal ring behind the round sewn leather and take the small square and feed the rivet through and secure with the other side of the square’s hole. Hammer in place so the rivet can’t be separated.
Repeat on the other side, and then enjoy your new bag!

To go along with the round leather bag tutorial, here are some other round leather bag options:

DIY Bike Basket

DIY Bike Basket

Every beach cruiser needs a basket! I learned that last summer when I took my bike on many beach trips and had to carry all my beach items and it was quite tricky when you’ve got quite a ways to go. Last time we were in Seaside, one of the beach vendors was selling these gorgeous wicker bike baskets. They were so pretty, but so expensive. I knew that I could DIY bike basket with one of my old baskets from home. And now that spring is right around the corner, I decided I best get that project done so my bike is ready to go. So, if you have an old basket laying around and need a bike basket, this is a perfect project to tackle this spring. Reuse those old baskets in a productive way. Or you can stop by your local thrift store and find a basket for a couple buckles. Make sure the basket has structure and strength to hold many different items. You’d also want to think about the size of the basket and hold it up to your bike handles to see if it fits okay. This DIY Bike basket project works best with wicker baskets for the leather straps that can slide between the wicker. Also, get creative if you have painted Peruvian wicker baskets. That would be so pretty on a bike.

DIY Bike Basket

Supplies

old wicker basket

2 old leather belts (thrift store OR two of these leather kits–if you get these kits then you will only need rotary cutter and mallet)

Rivets

Ruler

Exacto Knife

Leather Rotary Punch

Wood Mallet or Rivet Setter

Needle-nose pliers

Nipper Tool

Directions: Take your leather belt and exacto knife. Measure about 10″ and cut with the knife. Take the buckle portion of the belt and disassemble the rivets by gently pulling apart with your needle-nose pliers. When there is an opening between the leather, then cut the connected rivet with the nipper tool. Do not cut the leather. Then reassemble the belt portion with the D-ring and the roller bucket and leather strip. Mark your new holes on the cut portion of the leather strip. Using your rotary punch to make new holes in the leather. Then take your rivets and attach and secure with a wood mallet or rivet setter. Your bike basket leather strips should be about 10″ long. Slide in between the wicker and attach to the front of your bike.

Load your DIY bike basket with flowers, blanket, picnic. Or if you have a well-behaved dog, take him for a fun ride.

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Here are some other bike-related products!

DIY Copper Round Plant Stand

DIY Copper Round Plant Stand

DIY Copper Round Plant Stand: Truth. I kill houseplants. Not by choice. I mean…I follow all the basic rules about taking care of a houseplant. But I guess I’m not the best at it, or maybe I missed a step, because in the end the houseplant dies. When it comes to outside plants, I’m pretty awesome at taking care of them…most of the time. But it comes more natural, and nature obviously helps me out. Inside houseplants not so much! So, I’m replacing my dead, wilting house plants with new live ones, and lets see if I can keep them alive at least longer than the last time. In the meantime, I needed a cute plant stand for my new house plants. I had left over copper pipes from my previous copper DIY projects so I decided to make a DIY copper round plant stand for my new plants. These copper round plant stands have a cute modern, mid-century style, and I’m loving how they look in the corner of my living room.

This DIY copper round plant stand takes about 30 minutes to put together. And then you will need to glue it and let it dry overnight so it sets and will be able to hold the planter pots. The results are a modern, mid-century plant stand that has an expensive look for the fraction of the cost.

DIY Copper Round Plant Stand Supply List

4 x Copper Tee part

Black sharpie

Tape Measure

plant pot with plant

Instructions: When making this DIY copper round plant stand, you can really get whatever diameter you’d like for the copper pipes and coil. I had left over 3/4″ and 1/2″ copper pipes and copper tees so I bought 1/2″ diameter of copper coil to fit the Tee’s and pipes that I had leftover. It was the same thing with the height of my plant stand. I just accommodated with my supplies and cut the pipes exactly in half. You can see how to cut copper on here, and you will need to take your sharpie and tape measure to when you cut pipes. You don’t want to make a mistake! Copper can get expensive quickly. My taller plant stand is 25″ tall. I cut those pipes at 24″. The smaller plant stand is 20″ tall, and I cut those pipes at 19″. But again, you can cut them at however height you’d like. If I had extra pipes, I would of made smaller plant stand for a trio look.

After you cut your pipes for the sides of the plant stand, you will need to cut the copper coil. Then measure the diameter of your pot. I used plastic pots instead of ceramic so it would conform better to the oval shape of the plant stand. If you want a more rounder plant stand, than your coil would need to be longer and pot wider, which I didn’t have at the time. I cut my coil at 16″ lengths, which worked good for my pots.

Once you have your coil cut, then you can assemble and add your Tee’s. Glue the ends together with the E6000. You may need to manipulate the coil so the shape forms together. Then you let it sit over night for the glue to set. Meantime, clean you copper plant stand with nail polish remover (to get any red ink on it) and copper cleaner. The next day, put your plant pots in it and enjoy!

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