Valentine Decor

Waiting For Spring.

From The Project File~

Something about Valentines Day makes me feel spring is just around the corner. Our local grocery store is already selling cut daffodils and tulips at the entrance, luring shoppers to the floral department. Flowers trick us into believing that months of gloom are behind us; sort of like everything's coming up roses (or crocus, or maybe hyacinth). Flowering bulbs are a harbinger of sunshine and brighter weather. The trick works, for me anyway. There's no better antidote to emotional fog than a vase of freshly cut tulips; white ones of course.

Retailers have stashed away the reds and evergreens for another year and replaced them with various shades of pink. Hearts are in windows, conversations are on candy, and countless numbers of greetings, professions of true love, dominate the shelves of the seasonal merchandise aisles.

Does this count as a Valentine?

I like Valentines Day in theory. I value the sentiment and as you would expect, I like having a reason to craft decorative touches for our home. Decorating with hearts and such does have some inherent challenges though. I don't like to sell out to "cutesy" and I'm not a real fan of pink in this particular house, given that I am a neutrals enthusiast.  

Because I'm prone to wander, I have to detour for a moment. We never really talked about Christmas, other than a bit of chat about the RV and all the signs I painted. We had a beautiful Christmas celebrated with our only child, John. I am the first to admit that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but I have to say that the gift to me of a Cricut Maker (from Larry and John) was nothing short of thrilling and a true blessing. Well, Larry and John are the blessing of course, but oh my gosh, how indulged I am to have this cutting machine! It has and will continue to propel my creativity to new heights.

Here is my first project with the new Cricut~

We have had this hanging in the kitchen for many years, although I photographed it in a brighter spot. It is an old kitchen cupboard door that some clever crafter converted to a chalkboard. It was very pink when I bought it, but I loved it anyway. When I got it home I whitewashed it. I left some of the pink because I didn't want to paint over all of the door's history. Then we added the hooks, which make the chalkboard very functional as a message center and a key rack.

With my new machine, I was able to create and cut a vinyl stencil. I applied the stencil to the chalkboard and used a dry brush technique to paint the words, It's so good to be home. It is supposed to look like I hand lettered it with chalk. I hope it does.

This idea was inspired by a project I saw on the Cricut website. I did not create the image, it was premade and legally available to use. But I did teach myself how to manipulate the image, cut it as a stencil and transfer the stencil to the chalkboard. Although it took me the better part of a day, start to finish, I was and am proud of this result. It was quite a zealous undertaking as a first project.

So, in actuality, I do have a touch of pink in the house. Once a year, in February, I hang this LOVE ornament. It's a comfortable fit. And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm revealing to you this very pink wall hanging that is atop the chalkboard year round~

I made this for Larry many, many years ago when we lived in a historic house in small-town MidAmerica. That was house pink-appropriate. Some houses just are.

Despite the frilliness of my little cross stitched sentiment, it's important to me to have it on the wall. But this is just about the extent of pastels in my house.

I have a few more fun Valentine projects to share with you soon. Plan a return trip to Remnant for a little DIY inspiration. If you are interested, you can learn a little more about Cricut and the Cricut Maker by clicking on a link I've included in this post.

Thank you for dropping by.

       ~Dana