Be Mine Valentine Heart Wall Hanging

Back in 2001 I started making fun stuffed decorations with paper bags. I used to participate in a craft discussion list, and on that list was a woman who did some really amazing things with brown paper grocery bags. She was my inspiration for working with brown bags. This lovely Valentine's Heart was one of my first creations. The possibilities are endless, only limited by your imagination and creativity.

Be Mine Valentine Heart Wall Hanging
by Amanda Formaro

You will need

brown grocery bag
acrylic paint in red and pink
toothbrush
paintbrush
fine tip black marker
pinking shears (or other decorative scissors)
small material scrap in gingham or other pattern of your choice
heart shaped buttons, small pink, medium red
cotton batting (Fiberfil)
white craft glue (Tacky glue)
craft wire
pencil
raffia
hot glue gun

What you do

Lay brown paper bag on flat work surface. Cut out two large sections from the front and back of the bag. Stack those sections, one on top of the other, then fold them in half. Draw half a heart, with the fold being in the middle of the heart, then cut it out with the pinking shears. Or you can use this as a pattern.

Beginning at the bottom of the heart, use tacky glue to connect the two layers at the seams, stuffing the heart as you go with cotton batting (Fiberfil). Work your way around the edges, carefully stuffing (but not too much!) until heart is completely closed.

When the glue is dry, paint the heart red, leaving the decorative edges plain as seen in the photo. When the red paint is dry, dip the bristle tips of a toothbrush into the pink paint. Test your flecking ability on a piece of scrap paper before doing this on your heart. Hold toothbrush horizontally and drag your thumb across the bristles, causing the paint to fleck spots wherever you aim it. When you are comfortable with this method, go ahead and fleck some pink paint on your heart.

When pink paint is dry, use the black finetip marker to write BE MINE, placing decorative dots at the point of each letter. Use pinking shears to cut out a small heart from the gingham scrap material. Use white glue to adhere the material heart to the upper right hand corner of your brown bag heart. Use white glue to adhere a small pink heart shaped button to the material scrap.

Cut a piece of craft wire long enough to wrap completely around your heart. This should be enough for your hanger. Find the middle of craft wire, wrap the middle section of the wire around a pencil about 6 or 7 times. Pull the pencil out to create the curl at the top of your hanger. Curve the wire into a hanger shape and poke each end carefully through the sides of the heart as shown in the photo. Use the skinny end of a small paintbrush to curl the ends of the wire that you poked through.

Using raffia, tie a bow out onto the craft wire just before where the top curls begin. Using a hot glue gun, glue the medium sized red heart shaped button to the center of the raffia. Spray the entire heart with a coat of acrylic sealant.

Note: It is not necessary to paint the back of the heart, though you may if you like.

Paint Stick Snowmen

I needed a simple winter themed craft project that I could easily do with 25 5th graders in 15 minutes. I knew right away what that craft would be. Paint Stick Snowmen!

My youngest son's teacher sent out a note to all parents regarding their winter party that would take place the last day of school before winter break. One of the activities she was requesting help for was a craft project. I emailed her and told her I would be happy to help, and I set to work.

It was important to keep this project within a winter theme, rather than Christmas or Hanukkah, so what better than snowmen? :) These cuties are made from paint stir sticks, the free ones that they give you in the paint department when you buy paint. I stopped by WalMart and told the guy in the paint department that we were doing a class project and he gave me 35 paint sticks, no questions asked. :)

Knowing we only had about 15 minutes to get this done, I decided to paint the sticks ahead of time. I actually painted two layers on each side and sprayed them all with a clear acrylic sealer. I didn't want the sticks flaking or getting scratched when I placed them all in the bag together, hence the sealer. You can certainly skip that step and just do one coat of paint if you like.

I also cut all the material to be used for scarves and hats, and I put together a variety of buttons and beads, and broke all the orange toothpicks in half for the noses. The only thing I would do different next time is instead of black paint and toothpicks, I would opt for black markers to make the faces. While it wasn't really messy, I think it would have been easier.

All in all, the kids had a fabulous time and it was really amazing seeing how many different ways you can make a snowman!

Here are some pictures of the class as well as a picture of my son, Dominic, with his snowman. :)

(instructions below)

Paint Stick Snowmen
[printable version ]

You Will Need

wooden paint stir stick painted white
3" x 3" piece of felt for hat
8" x 1" strip of material or felt
3 buttons or pony beads
1/2 of a orange toothpick
6" piece of yarn
white craft glue
scissors
black marker or black paint
hot glue gun

What You Do

Wrap 3"x3" fabric around the top of the stick and hot glue together in the back. If you have more time, you can use white craft glue or felt glue and attach a wooden clothespin to the stick and hat to hold it in place while it dries. Tie yarn around the top of the hat and trim ends. Fringe the top of the hat with scissors if you like.

Wrap 8"x1" strip of material around the neck, tie in a knot. Fringe the ends with scissors.

Use white craft glue to attach 3 buttons or beads below the scarf and glue the orange toothpick on for the nose. Use black marker, or a toothpick dipped in black paint to create the mouth and eyes.

Let everything dry. All done!

Message in a Bottle Craft

This is truly a universal gift idea. Whether it be romantic, for Valentine's Day or an anniversary, a message for a dear friend, or even words of encouragement, this project can be tailored to fit just about any occasion.

This was the brain child of my 16 year old daughter. Being the frugal young lady I have raised her to be, she was trying to come up with a heartfelt gift for her boyfriend that would A) not cost a lot, B) be straight from the heart, and most of all C) be appreciated. She asked me if I would help her turn this idea into a reality, so here's what we did.

[full instructions at the end of this post]

She typed up a lovely note on her computer in a pretty font (no she didn't offer to let me read it, and I didn't ask). She printed the letter on an antique looking piece of paper I found at the craft store. We used an empty wine bottle, some sugar and a few doo dads for decoration, finishing it off with SnoTex paint. We used sugar instead of sand for this because she wanted it to be more of a snow scene than a beach scene. More Christmas-like. Because I had most of these things on hand, this craft only cost us about $1.00 (for the paper).

Did he like it? YES. He loved it. it went over very well and I was really proud of her for being so creative this year!

My gears really started turning on this one, the ideas just kept coming! Here are some alterations you could easily make to this craft to fit different occasions:

Traditional: use sand and small sea shells; antiqued paper for the note; jute to tie the note; and burlap around the neck of the bottle.

New Baby: use white sugar; pastel colored buttons dropped into the sugar; pastel colored paper for the note (a note from a dear friend, parent, sister, etc - great way to include a gift check!); white or sheer ribbon to tie the note; pastel or white wide ribbon for the neck, maybe with little baby booties hanging from center of bow.

Valentine's Day - Mixture of red and white sugar, or even turbinado sugar; confetti hearts sprinkled inside; white or pink paper or a heart themed stationary; red or pink ribbon to tie note; gold, red or white wide ribbon for bottle neck.

Anniversary - Color scheme could be based off of your wedding colors or your spouse's favorite colors; sand or sugar, depending on the gift (especially if there's plane tickets to a tropical paradise! LOL); matching ribbons and confetti.

Teen Girl Birthday - White and colored sugar; white paper - tape money or gift check to paper; purple yarn or ribbon to tie paper; purple and yellow confetti or buttons in sugar; yellow bow for outside; use acrylic paint to add purple and yellow polka dots to outside of bottle.

There are so very many different ways that this could be used. Definitely a great gift idea!


Message in a Bottle
(instructions are for winter/Christmas themed bottle listed, but you could adapt this however you please)
by Amanda Formaro

[printable version]

empty wine bottle with cork (you can buy corks at the craft store if you need one)
thumbtack
24" thin red ribbon
sheet of antiqued stationary paper
1 cup granulated sugar
red and green craft jewels, beads, or confetti
18" wide red or silver ribbon
SnoTex paint

Remove all labels from bottle, wash and dry. Print note or letter on to antiqued paper. If you are going to include a monetary gift, attach it to the letter with a small piece of tape. Roll up letter tight enough to fit inside the opening of the bottle. Tie the letter with the thin red ribbon, leaving one end of the ribbon long, trimming the other end. Attach the long end of the ribbon to the bottom of the cork with the thumbtack. Set aside.

Pour enough sugar into the bottle to about 2 inches deep, or deep enough so that when the letter is placed inside the neck of the bottle, the top portion of the letter will remain in the neck. This way the letter can easily be removed.

Drop confetti, beads or craft jewels into the sugar. Note: if using craft jewels, they may end up upside down. To avoid this, glue craft jewels together, back to back, so that no matter what side it lands on, the jewel will show.

Insert the rolled letter into the neck of the bottle, make sure the long end of the ribbon is in the neck as well, and insert cork. Tie red or silver ribbon around the neck of the bottle into a bow, trim ends. Use SnoTex paint to decorate the outside of the bottle. Let dry.