happy valentines day.!

today is valentine's day! a day for celebrating love. i enjoy this day - and it's not just because i'm a newlywed! i like to celebrate all the love in my life! the love for my husband, my family, friends, and most importantly my savior! i am reminded of this verse when i think about love and valentine's day.

"we love, because he first loved us." 1 john 4:19

if it wasn't for the Lord's love for me i wouldn't be able to reflect that love into the other relationships in my life. so thankful for love!

in action of my love for this holiday, i made some fun goodies for my co-workers! i can't take credit for the saying, my mom actually came up with that idea herself. but i thought they would be a nice encouragement and treat for them :)

i took some mason jars left over from our wedding and spray painted (with my husbands help because i was getting too fumed up!). 

then i made the hearts out of this fabric i found at the fabric store. i sewed the majority of it, stuffed it and then sewed the rest. i have been having so much fun with my sewing machine lately!! i even used the machine to put the stitching on the paper around the message. a hole was punched through the top of the heart and then put twine through it to tie it around the jar.

i scrapped these little fun papers that say 'it's so sweet working with you!' - again, props to my wonderful mother who thought of the idea and i copied her :) i wrote most of it but then stamped the sweet onto some fabric and attached it with brads. i filled the jars with lots of sweet goodies and treats for them! 

 and there they are! i can't wait to give these to my co-workers! :) i hope they like them as much as i liked making them!!

one other thing i made for our home was this fun subway art. i saw this saying and decided i wanted to make subway art out of it..

hope you have a great valentine's day! much love to you!!

- jennifer -

valentine fun.

here is a tutorial for a fun wreath i made for valentine's day!

it was super easy and a lot of fun :) i found the wreath on pinterest - i love that website, it's very addicting AND beneficial ;)

supplies: (i found all of my supplies at joann's)

- styrofoam heart

- red felt (i got 3/4 yard.. but you really only need about 1/2 a yard)

- flat push pins

- 3" circle template to cut out the circles (i used a paper plate and a cup i found that was 3" in diameter)

- i used a red sharpie so you couldn't see the outline of the circles i was making and it blended in well!

- sissors

here is the tutorial:

i made a lot of circles and cut them out. i didn't count how many circles though... but i can tell you it was a lot!

then i took the felt circles and folded them in half.. and then in half again like this...

after that i took the pins and pushed them through the felt and then again into the styrofoam. i did them at all different angles and directions to get a more 'ruffled' and textured look.

i love how it turned out! i did this on the front and sides, but didn't need to do it on the back. 

on the back i took a piece of ribbon and made a loop and put a couple pins in that to hang it. now it's hanging nicely on our front door! i would love to hang it somewhere else.. but since we still don't have anything on the walls or any extra table space, it's going to stay on the door this year :)

hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have the chance to make this fun and simple wreath for your home!

- jennifer -