Old New Borrowed Cool February and a Giveaway!

Hello! It’s time once again for another edition of OLD NEW BORROWED COOL! I’m so excited it’s FEBRUARY and the season of LOVE. I have to tell you, I’m a huge romantic. I am a sappy movie freak. I cry at anything remotely sentimental and to say this is one of my favorite holidays would just not even begin to do it justice! I just LOVE “love.”

Once the Christmas holidays are over, I’m always eagerly awaiting the next decorating theme and it makes me infinitely happy that it’s VALENTINE’S DAY! To be truthful, I have décor galore for this holiday, but the one thing that has always eluded me is the “perfect” wreath for my front door. Everything premade I’ve ever found hasn’t been substantial enough or the right color or some something wasn’t quite right. So I set on a hunt of my beloved Pinterest (no, folks, she still hasn’t tired of Pinterest yet!) to find one I liked that I could possibly replicate. There were plenty of beautiful ones, but the one I fell in love with was THIS ONE. It made me swoon and judging by the number of people that have pinned it, it isn’t just me! The bonus was, it looked (fairly) easy to do myself! And that’s just what I did. Follow along with me and I’ll show you just how to make one for your own, too!

Source:  http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2012/02/valentine-wreath.html

But as always before I get into the heart of this post (Hee. “Heart” – get it?!), I want to briefly recap the premise for this blog series. Each month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's just that easy. 

First I started gathering what supplies I had on hand and then made a list of what I needed. So from my stash I pulled:

OLD: A mixture of crazy felt in lovely (hee, I did it again!) Valentine colors. Those aquas are my faves! Some pretty satin ribbon, also in aqua, and a bit of baker’s twine from My Mind’s Eye.

Then I could tell I would need some of this:

NEW: A styrofoam wreath form and a bit of raffia. Do you remember when we used raffia in scrapbooking ALL the time? It’s been so long, I had to get more!

BORROWED: The idea of the “perfect” wreath as well as my friend Jen’s pinking shears. She sews. I don’t! Oh! And I snagged a little trick from our friends in the stamping community, too – stay tuned for that!

And now we’re going to create something COOL!

COOL: This absolutely gorgeous, beautifully colored, full of love and happy VALENTINE’S DAY WREATH!!

Now I know that some of this wreath is pretty simple or self explanatory but I want to show you a few things that might make it easier for you as you create your own.

The first thing I ran into was that the foam wreath form that I found wasn’t round. Well that was okay with me as I really did prefer for it to have a flat back to hang better. But I did want a bit of a curve on the front to make it more “wreath-like.” Here’s where that stamping technique comes in – sorta! Stampers love to take Styrofoam and make it into gorgeous accents for their flower stamps and the like. And they can create that by “shaving” the Styrofoam. I did that with my wreath, but I just didn’t use the shavings – but you could if you wanted! I simply took this hand-held cheese grater and ran it along the outside and inside edges of my wreath to remove the sharp edge. You can do this as much or as little as you like.

Once I had that done, I wrapped my wreath in satin ribbon. You can use any ribbon of a decent width, really, but I am sappy and like satin! Just a word of warning, it takes close to TWELVE yards of ribbon to do a 16” wreath form! Simply secure the ends with your trusty glue gun and you’re good to go!

Then it was time to make my roses. Roses might look complicated, but truly they are quite easy, pretty quick and here’s your warning: They can be ADDICTIVE! Just follow along with this diagram and you’ll be making your own roses in no time!

1. Cut a rough felt square.

2. Remove the corners to create a sort of circle (perfection is not necessary here – the more irregular, the better the flowers look usually!)

3. Cut circle into a spiral.

4. Wrap spiral onto itself starting with the thin outside edge.

5. Roll until you get to the center.

6. Secure the center tab under the rose with hot glue to secure.

Now you’re ready to make oodles of these and glue them onto your wreath any way you desire!

Add a bit of raffia through the roses and tie a pretty ribbon at the top. You’re almost there!

All we need to do now is to make those sweet hearts.

I simply cut a heart template from paper – the old school way by folding it in half and cutting until I got one I liked! Place it onto two layers of felt and cut out. I wanted a decorative edge so I used pinking shears. Stitch around the perimeter of the heart and then stuff with cotton balls before you close it up. It’s that easy! Finish buy stringing them with twine and across the middle of your wreath and you’re done! Don’t you love it!?! It already graces my front door and I’m so ready for Valentine’s Day now!

May your Valentine’s Day be full of love and lots of fun crafty projects! I’d love to see whatever you make! Link me up here and have a wonderful FEBRUARY!

Now, even though we had a surprise giveaway yesterday, that does not mean that we have forgotten that today is Friday ... So, we have another giveaway for you!  Yup, that's how we roll around here!

Can you guess what this week's giveaway is?  We gave you a bit of a teaser earlier this week. 

You guessed it!  This week's giveaway is Doodlebug Design's Lovebirds cardstock paper pack.  What a perfect collection of paper to create cards for Valentine's day!

If you would like to win this fun prize package, just leave a comment below before Thursday, February  7th at 6:00 p.m. EST!  Good luck my friends!

See you back here tomorrow where we will announce the winner of the iPad Mini Giveaway!

Have a fabulous Friday!

~ Jen

Director of Customer Happiness

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Comments

[Adriana A]

Hi! What a nice giveaway! I really hope I win this one, the lovebird collection is beautiful.

[Jingle]

The wreath is so neat! Thanks for the chance to win this great prize, too!

[Naomi Armenta]

Great idea on the wreath...need to get mine done and hung!

[Chitra]

Great idea.. Thanks for the awesome giveaway.. I really need some papers..

[Brenda]

That wreath is so cute - thanks for the directions! I love Doodlebug - thanks for the chance to win some of their cute collection.

[Diane H]

Okay LOVE your wreath...have to make one...how haven't I seen that on Pinterest is beyind me, I have over 22,000 pins....and proud of it...lol.....oh and got sidetracked...thanks for the chance to win, too....I also love Valentines Day.....!!!

[julie e]

That doodlebug paper is so cute - thanks for the chance to win.

[Kim]

Very cute papers!!

[Lisa Henderson]

I love the wreath! It's gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing

[Veronica]

That wreath is gorgeous thanks for the inspiration and easy to follow instructions. Oh and can't forget that Doodlebug line. It is my fave for valentines and other Just can't get enough of looking at it. Too cute.

You are truly spoiling us all with these giveaways. SCT ROCKS!!!!!

[Cindy deRosier]

I would have NEVER thought to shave/grate the styrofoam. Stampers make accents out of styrofoam? How have I never heard of this! Off to ask my good friend, Google. :)

[Tricia]

Your wreath is so lovely, Kelly! Great giveaway!

[Mary J]

Oh my what a collection fully of total sweetness!! Love this!

[Margie Visnick]

Love Doodlebug, what a great collection!

[Kathy P]

Oh, Kelly, you never cease to amaze! What an awesome 'lift' of the wreath....like how you used the felt, and old fabric...and that the instructions are fairly simple! Must try this out...because the wreathes in the store were YUCK! Not cute like yours!

[HazelQ]

Beautiful creations!! I will definitely try to make something like this, the wreath looks beautiful. Thank you for the chance to win an amazing collection :)

[Mai]

Pretty wreath! And the Love Bird collection is adorable! I LOVE the bird theme!!!

[Janet Zeppa]

The wreath is gorgeous!!
Love the Doodlebug too!

[Stacie P]

I like the wreath. It never ceases to amaze me how creative people are. Thanks for sharing. And I absolutely love the Doodlebug Love Bird collection. Too cute!!!

[Sue Alg]

Another wonderful giveway....Now if I could just win one of these.

[Brenda B.]

Fantastic wreath. I love the cheese grater tip!

[Tiffany M.]

Love doodle bug! Thanks for the chance!

[Denise]

Love the wreath... It's gorgeous! Felt always looks so full and colour filled! Great paper pack! Sign me up!

[Stephanie Bonin]

Love your wreath. Love the Doodlebug paper pack.

[Buffy Esser]

I really love the wreath...I might just try that one! thanks for the chance to win the pretty papers! :o) have a wonderful day!