Easy Valentine's Day Craft

Today I am going to show you how I made those awesome glitter hearts that I have hanging on my kitchen windows.

Aren't those cute!

Here is how it is done:

First, gather your supplies.

You will need:

Foam hearts

Various colors of glitter

White Glue

Paintbrush

Ribbon

Scissors

Two blank sheets of paper

(all supplies found at my local Michaels)

First, you brush one side of the foam hearts with the white glue. It doesn't need to be too thick- just enough to hold the glitter.

Next, pour some of the glitter directly onto the heart.

Then, tip the heart to try and get the excess glitter to stick to all the glue painted on the heart.

You should have a piece of paper under the heart to catch the falling glitter.

Don't worry, you are about to use that excess glitter

When all the extra glitter has fallen off the heart, pick up the paper that has all the excess and slowly pour it onto any unglittered spaces on your heart. Then shake it off onto the second piece of paper.

Once you have the first heart fully glittered, go on and glitter the rest. It gets easier as you go along. Place them on newspaper to dry- preferably overnight, but 2-3 hours should do.

Once the hearts are dry, cut the ribbon into the length you want and just glue it onto the back of the heart. You could also punch a hole in the heart and string the ribbon through it.

And there is the finished heart! So sparkly.

And there they are hanging from my windows.

This is really the easiest project ever, and it really adds some glamour to your Valentines decorations.

Retro-Modern Valentines Day Decorations

I spent my Sunday decorating the kitchen with Valentines Day cheer. I love the color pink, and I use any excuse to show it off. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, especially around the table, so that is where I stared. Here is a snap of the whole area:

Isn't that festive!

This is a closer look at the nook.

As you can see, I have been trying to get bigger pictures to post, but I uploaded them with a very low resolution. I think it might be too low! Please be patient as I experiment with the picture size and resolution on the blog.

Here are some close-up snaps of the shelves:

I always have the vintage food containers in little vignettes on the shelves, and then I fill them in with flowers and other tsotchkes. My husband and I have been collecting them for years. The large 'candy' hearts are actually made out of ceramic and I bought them ages ago. Aren't they cute?

This is a close up of the glitter hearts I made to hang on the windows. I will post about how to make them (so easy) tomorrow.

So have you decorated for Valentines Day?

My Martha Fail

So I decided to organize my pantry the other day- you know, January organization and all- and I found this on Martha Stewart:

Aren't those glass jars just adorable? I thought they were a little slice of perfection, so I decided to go ahead and make them. After reading through some of the comments, I learned I could get the jars at Target, so off I went.

Sure enough, Target had them in 3 different sizes so I literally bought every single one on the shelf. Then it was off to Michael's to get the stickers and etching cream.

Here is where things took a turn for the worse.

They were completely sold out of etching cream at Michael's, and I couldn't find any vinyl stickers. So I just bought some 'normal' stickers and decided to try JoAnne's for the etching cream.

Guess what? JoAnne's was also out of etching cream. So my mother mentioned SHE was going to the Michael's by her, and would look out for the cream. Sure enough, she found some. But it was the tiniest bottle you ever saw. However, I was on a mission and by goodness I was going to make those wonderful jars.

Now, as you may recall, I didn't have any vinyl stickers- just the regular ones. I thought the project would work with those. So I stuck them down and proceeded to glop the etching cream on top. Then, after waiting a minute or two, I washed it off. Here was the result:

Um, it doesn't exactly look like Martha's. But I figured it looked horrible because I didn't exactly follow the directions. So off I went to find vinyl stickers. Turns out they are also known as 'rub off' letters, so I went back to Michael's and sure enough- there they were! And on sale!

So I started again. I made sure each letter was on perfectly (took almost half of an hour) and then made sure the etching cream was laid on thick. Here is the result:

So not cute.

So I decided to scratch the entire plan and just use some stamps to create labels. And to be honest, I think they came out pretty good. Wanna see?

Isn't that cute?

Here is how I did it

First, I got out my materials:

letter stamps

stamp ink

tags

twine

scissors

Then I just picked a color (turquoise of course) and then stamped whatever was going into the jar onto the label:

Then I tied the tag onto the jar with some twine:

and voila! Adorableness!

Isn't that cute? And soooo easy. It isn't as sophisticated as Martha's, but it sure was easier.

Setting A Table 202

For those of you kittens who are looking for a little bit more on table settings, here is what I would purchase if I was starting out as a hostess (or getting married and needed to register for gifts).

First, I would start with 12 glass dinnerware sets.



Why glass and not white? I just prefer the look of glass. I think it is timeless, classic, and sparkly. It has no season and it is usually inexpensive. Plus, it looks amazing mixed with other place settings.

Next, I would get some table linens. I would start with a plain white cotton tablecloth and 13 plain white cotton napkins. Don't spend too much on these because they WILL get stained. But don't get cheep polyester. It feels gross and looks worse.



Remember these glass vases from flower arranging 101? Well go get two of them. I tried to find them online at Target, but they dont sell them. However, I have seen them in the stores for under $10. If you must, just go get two fishbowls. Or look in the floral section of your grocery store. I have seen them there as well.

Here are just a few of the things you can do with your round glass vases:






As for silverware, I say just use your everyday set. You don't really need a fancy set to start with.

For glasses, you probably already have a set of wine glasses and table glasses. Just use those! Or buy a nice set from Macys, Target, or Crate and Barrel. Don't do what I did and get a colored rim. I really regret getting silver on the rim of my wine glasses, because I feel it almost makes them too fancy.

And that my dears, is all you need to really get started! Just be careful, because once you start to entertain, it becomes addicting! You will start to drool over gorgeous china, and stunning serving dishes, and fine linens.

Setting A Table 101

I always try to set my table the day before my party. It makes the day of the party flow so much smoother. It also helps me get into the party spirit. And lastly, I like the way a fully set table looks, so I get to enjoy it for an extra day!

For this meal I knew I was going to start with a soup and then serve the salad and main course together, and then follow with dessert.

Here is a picture of the place setting:



I purchased these lovely dishes on EBay right before I moved, and then just kept them in their boxes for the past two years, so this was the first time I have ever used them! I placed the soup bowl on top of the plate, and then set the table.

The napkins are just plain white cotton napkins that I got for my wedding a hundred years ago, and the silverware is our everyday silver. I have a really nice set of silver that has been passed down in my husband's family for generations, but the meal was a fairly casual one and therefore I didn't want to break out the silver- or the silver polish!

The wine glasses and cut crystal glasses were also wedding gifts. I use the crystal as water glasses, but they are supposed to be low ball cocktail glasses. My next big purchase will be these or these. I just can't decide. Any opinions?

For those of you who are really just starting out, I would suggest using some paper plates. What?! Paper!! The horror! Except there are some really beautiful paper plates out there, especially at Target. I have been using paper for two years now because I never unpacked my fancy dishes when I was living in the rental home- plus I didn't want to do the dishes. And guess what? They looked great! So if you don't want to invest in a set of fine china, go ahead and use paper.

**Glamorous Housewife Time Tip**
You can always set the table days in advance of your party, just cover the table with a sheet after you have it set to keep the dust (and kids) out of your plates.

Pop Quiz

(via House of Turquoise and Design Sponge)

What do these pictures have in common? I will update later with the answer.

**Later..**

What, no takers? Or just boring?

The thing these photos have in common are the houseplants! I am kind of obsessed with houseplants these days. One of the things I love the most about Anthropologie stores is the way they incorporate plants into their decor. I have always wanted to have tons of plants, but never really had a house that worked very well with them. Well, the new house has tons of places for houseplants, and I have begun to decorate with them:






These are in my bathroom above my bathtub. I just find them so relaxing. The shapes the leaves make are are almost sculptural.

So if you are feeling like you need a little pick-me-up on a dreary winter day, just pick up a plant and hope for spring.

Flower Arranging 101

**Crap. This was supposed to be Wednesday's post but I accidentally posted it early. Sorry!**

Have you ever seen those mixed flower bouquets at the grocery store and wondered how anyone could make them look pretty in a vase? Well, I have a wonderful post today to teach you exactly how to make a generic bouquet look like something you bought at a florist!

First of all you need some flowers. I got mine at Trader Joes, but any grocery store will have them.

And from above:



Aren't those lovely?

Next we need a vase. I use a circle 'fishbowl' vase I got at Target for under 10 bucks. You can also use this method with a square vase. Make sure you have a bit of water in it, but not too full, because if you need to rearrange, things could get really messy very quickly.



Next take off the plastic wrappings from the bouquet and snip off any ribbon or rubber bands. If the flowers come with a package of flower food, add it to the vase water now.



Next, separate your bouquet by flowers:



Now, find the flowers in your bouquet that have many flowers on one stem such as daises, carnations, or mums. I used this funny chartreuse flower. Then cut them down so they are sticking out of the vase about 2 inches and place them around the inside of the rim of the vase as so:



From the top:


From the side:


The reason I start with these flowers is to create a natural base that will help support the other flowers. If you started with the roses, they would just fall to the sides of the vase- you could never get them to point up. But with a base of other flowers, you can weave the stem of larger flowers in the web created by these flowers to help give the arrangement structure.

Next I went with the hydrangea:



The hydrangea has a large head of flowers on it and should just rise above the top of the vase.

Next the roses:



To give the arrangement more of a casual feel, I placed all three roses together in a bunch. It looked odd, but I knew when I added the other flowers, it would all come together.

Next I added the fuchsia colored flowers- also in a bunch:



Then, to tie everything together, I added the carnations, in bunches, all over the rest of the arrangement:



As for the rest of the flowers that came with the bouquet, I just tossed the ones I didn't want to use, and put the others in their own vases grouped by flower.

Once you are satisfied with your arrangement, be sure to add more water. You can use the greens provided by the bouquet to hide the stems by stuffing them inside the vase, but it will dirty the water fairly quickly.

Here is the finished product on the table:



So the key is to cut the stems short, use one type of flower as the base to create a web on which the other flowers will use to help support them, and cluster your flowers within the arrangement. Oh, and remember, you DONT have to use the entire bouquet.

Good luck!

Be sure to send me pictures of your arrangements to : TheGlamorousHousewife@gmail.com