Crafty Valentines Gifts for You and Him

Hello lovelies!

I wrote a little valentines piece as a guest blogger the other week and thought I'd share it with you too!  I thought I’d go all out, and since valentines is coming up soon, have a bit of a romantic DIY extravaganza. 

Around this time of year I panic a little – it’s alright for the guys, they have chocolate and roses to fall back on, but what do we buy them??  Are we even supposed to buy them something?  Even if I’m not supposed to, will I feel bad when he has given me a present and I have nothing to return?

As ever, the answer is of course to get crafty.  If it’s not much, at least its handmade and comes from the heart, right?

Also, we need to treat ourselves at this time of year!  Bath, candles, new dress anyone?  So here are a few little crafty ideas with a valentines theme which caught my eye,  some valentines gifts for you and him.

The Card:

Crayon card - how cute are these?!  They are definitely on my 'to make' list for this year, though I'll need to wait until the other half is out the house to go melting all the crayons!

The Wrapping:

Foxy gift bag - who needs valentines wrapping paper when you can have a foxy gift bag?!  In fact, who needs wrapping paper ever again?

Paper Roses - it's the little touches which often finish off a gift, so if you are gift wrapping, why not top it off with some string and paper roses?  What the heck, why not top off the fox gift bag with them too.  They're quick and easy, and look more difficult than they are.

The Gift:

You light up my life - This has to be one of my favourite crafty finds and I've been waiting for ages to use it!  Paperweight or shelf ornament, this little cutie makes me smile :)  So will hopefully make him grin too!

Valentines Scratch Cards - oh the possibilities for what you could hide behind these little silver windows!!!  I shall leave that up to you...

For You:

Valentines Heart Puff Garland - quick and easy to make, I have one of these garlands on my fireplace and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside (awww).   You can also make them into keyrings!  If you don't knit yourself, you can find the garland and keyring in my etsy store too :)

The Food:

Sweetie Pie Pops - I've never laid eyes on anything like this before!  Definitely on the to-do list for next month! 

What are your knitting/crafting plans this week?  Anything romantic on the way?

Amanda :) x

DIY: Paper Roses

Hello Lovelies!!

And so here I am, cross legged on the rug in front of the coffee table as though I were at school doing my homework again.  It has to be the glue stick - it brings out the child in everyone.

The snow is falling again and after spending the morning having photos taken for the graduation yearbook, and preparing for a dinner party with the neighbours tonight (how refined - though I think I want to cook burritos, which is less so), it's time for a quiet crafty afternoon in :)

After making the little valentines heart puff garland last week, I'm really getting into the valentines mood! 

I love these little paper roses, they're great for gift wrap, and I thought that they would be very cute as part of valentines gifts, so the time just seemed right!

All you need is paper, glue, scissors and a pen.

Just draw and cut out a large spiral onto your paper.  You can mess around with the width of your spirals to see which kinds of flowers you like best!

Roll the spiral tightly at the beginning, letting it get a little bit looser as you work your way around.  As you wrap the paper, squash the bottom of the flower paper together to keep it tight and make a lovely wiggly petal shape rather than just a paper roll.

Add a dab of glue to the spiral at the end to glue the end of the paper on.  You could also have put a little glue intermittently around the inside of the spiral before wrapping.

Once wrapped and glued, pinch the bottom of the flower and give it a squeeze to make the 'petals' pop out and spread slightly (watch the middle of your flower doesn't spring out like a slinky!).

Stick them to presents for a lovely little finishing touch!  I imagine they would look amazing attached to pipe cleaners for stems, but sadly I don't have any at the moment :(  Could knit little leaves for them and everything!!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend,  are you crafting much?

Amanda :) x

p.s. in the background here you can see the little knitted heart puff garland - why not make one yourself??