Make a Valentine's Cupcake Wrapper Flower Bouquet

You can make a Valentine's Cupcake Wrapper Flower Bouquet in a flash!  It's super simple to turn printed cupcake wrappers into a whimsical bouquet with a few quick steps and Aleene's Dry Adhesives!  These also make a do ra ble pins and card embellishments.  Make a whole bouquet or hand them out instead of Valentine cards this year!  Cheap and Easy Crafts?  I've got you covered!

Make a Valentine's Cupcake Wrapper Flower Bouquet
Margot Potter for iLoveTo Create
You will need red and white polka dot cupcake wrappers (72 large, 72 small, each flower is made of two stacks of six in alternating colors and coordinating prints. I scored mine at Michaels) Cut petals from matching cupcake wrappers, four for each flower. Red cardstock makes the center of each flower, two for each. Green bamboo or painted wooden sticks for stems. Print "i love you" in Sweetie Pie font size 12 in various languages, four phrases per flower.

The small flowers are stapled into two stacks of six. The larger are two six stacks back to back for a total of 12 wrappers, you need to staple the larger wrappers twice, leaving just enough room for the stem to slide inside.

Each flower has a punched red tag in the center, on both sides!

Cut 4 leaf shapes per flower.

Write 'i love you' in Sweetie Pie font in several languages. I used English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Italian.Cut out words leaving a small border.

Cut fringe around edge of wrappers, make sure it isn't so thin it's fragile or so thick it's clunky.

Use Aleene's Tacky Dot Runner to attach two leaves at top left on both sides of each flower.

Use Aleene's Tacky Dot Runner again to adhere the smaller cupcake layer on both sides.

Now attach your punched center and printed "i love you's"with the Tacky Dot Runner.

Insert your sticks in between staples in flower centers, fluff fringe using fingers to bend it. Take your time so you don't rip the fringe!

Now make a half dozen, tie with a ribbon and...
SHAZAM!

Whoooo Loves You? Owl Themed Box of Valentine's Candy Tutorial

You can't think of Valentine's Day without a box of chocolates coming to mind. Too bad the boxes these days ain't got nuthin on the frilly boxes of yesteryear. I love the look of vintage Valentine candy boxes, so much so today for I Love to Create I decided to make my own.

SUPPLIES

Craft felt

Heart shaped boxes of chocolate

Scissors

Craft Paper

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Paint brush

Valentine's stickers

Carnival tickets

This project is inspired by some felt owl ornaments that Karen of Midwest Maude fame made for Issue #2 of Kids Crafts 1-2-3. Sure issue #3 of Kids Crafts 1-2-3 is out at Walmart and chocked full of fun Valentine projects, but I never got a chance to make these owl ornaments. Whoooo loves you? The owl Valentine greetings are endless.

The first thing I did was cover my box. I traced the lid on a piece of paper, cut it out and glued it to the top of my box. I applied Tacky Glue all over the lid and spread it evenly with a paint brush.

If you can eyeball the owl image good for you. I cropped the picture and blew my owl up and printed it out to use as a template. Using said template I cut out two owls in pink and red.

Using Tacky Glue I attached my owls to the chocolate box. I used some fun felt flower stickers for the eyes. Sure they were stickers, but I went ahead and added some Tacky Glue for good measure.

Tacky Glue and a few strategic gem stones gave my owl a little sparkle.

Using a hot glue gun I added some foil trim around the edge of my box.

I must admit I dumped all the candy out and glued my boxes shut. A) The candy had peanuts and I can't have that around with Baxter's allergy. B) I'm on a diet. I love the way they turned out. Check out another version of the box on BlogHer.

Learn new crafting techniques! Cool2Craft TV - Monday February 6, 2012

Cool2Craft TV for February 6, 2012: Be My Valentine - Join Tiffany Windsor, EcoHeidi Borchers, Candace Jedrowicz, Savannah Starr and Heather Valentine for this week's Valentine's show. EcoHeidi will be sharing a Plastic Cup Heart Garland made with doilies and Aleene's Tacky Dot Singles, Tiffany is transforming a jewelry organizer into a L-O-V-E Shadow Box, Candace Jedrowicz is crafting a Polymer Clay Heart Bracelet, Savannah Starr is making a Valentines Bread Dough Rose with Aleene's Original Tacky Glue and Heather Valentine is sewing a Valentine's Love Letter. It's a terrifically tacky and creatively cool show!

It’s easy to watch the Cool2Craft TV Channel right from your computer. Airing Monday February 6, 2012 9am Pacific/10am Mountain/ 11 am Central/ Noon Eastern. Go to http://cool2craft.com and find the Livestream player and chat box. See you Monday!

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Ahh Shucks You Painted Me Chucks for Valentines Day

I'm one of those mother's that lives to dress my kids in theme. Valentine's Day is no exception. Novelty Valentines T-shirts are a dime a dozen, but shoes cute enough for Cupid are something special. Here is how to make your own.


SUPPLIES
Tulip Soft Fabric Paint
Paint Brush
Canvas Tennis Shoes


The first thing I did was paint the purple shoes pink. If you already have a pair of canvas shoes in the color you want you can skip this step. However, with just two coats of Tulip Fabric Paint the purple was gone and it was all about the pink.


I could have left the shoe laces white, but why when they look so much cuter red. I know, I know this picture implies that I painted them striped with a red fabric marker. I did at first, but then later went back and used red spray paint.


Next I painted the toes of my shoes red and while the paint was wet I coated them with red glitter. I also added a little heart to the back of each shoe.


Now Tallulah can celebrate Valentines Day in style. Heck they were so easy to whip up I might make the whole family a pair.

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iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts: I Heart U Valentine by Avalon Potter

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iLovetoCreate Teen Crafts
I Heart U Valentine
Avalon Potter
"Teen crafted, Mom approved."

My mom has been making super cute Valentine's lately, so I decided to make one of my own! I love this pretty pink patterned paper and there were some left over scraps from the glittered gift bag she used for another project. You can use whatever papers you like, maybe even recycle some old Valentine's or use book pages...it's up to you. Aleene's adhesives make it easy to make wonderful projects super fast!

Materials
Patterned paper for heart
Gold glittery paper for arrow point and feathers (you can use gold paper and add Tulip glitter if you like!)
Pale pink cardstock
Black and white patterned paper for arrow staff
Small white doily for background
Aleene's Tacky Sticker Sheet
Aleene's Acid Free Tacky Glue

Tools
Fiskars Graduate Heart Shape Template System (Or hand cut a heart)
Paper friendly scissors
Craft knife
Ruler
Computer and printer to print out I (Heart Icon) U.

1. Print out I (Heart Icon) U on a computer. The heart icon is a less than symbol followed by the number 3.   I used a French Script MT and sized it at 48. 2. Cut out the large heart and small heart using the template and shape cutter. The large heart is the largest on the template and is 3.5"x3.75". The small heart is 1"x1". 3. Use scissors to cut the arrow shaft to 4"x1/4". Cut the arrow feathers to 3/4"x1 1/4". 4. Cut out words and cut a frame out of the pink paper as a background. 5. Cut a small slit a little bigger than 1/4" diagonally using the craft knife at the top and bottom center of heart. The distance between the two slits should be about 2.5". This is where your arrow will go.

6. Thread arrow into slits.

7. Attach doily to back of heart using sticker sheet.  Attach arrow point and feather with Aleene's Tacky Glue and allow to dry overnight.

8. Layer words and frame and attach to center of card.  (Write your sentiments on the back of the Valentine.)

iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts: No Kiddin' Around Upcycled Valentine

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No Kiddin' Around Upcycled Valentine Margot Potter for iLovetoCreate

iLoveToCreate Retrofabulous Crafts
No Kiddin' Around Upcycled Valentine
Margot Potter

Today's Retrofabulous Craft is another upcycled vintage Valentine idea. I took new scrapbook paper, a glittered gift bag from Christmas, red cardstock and combined them with a section of a vintage card. You can substitute any used Valentine here, it's a great way to re-purpose them! I had a blast making layered hearts with the Fiskars paper cutter and Aleene's dry adhesives made putting it all together a breeze! No waiting for glue to dry. I added some Tulip Beads in a Bottle gems for dimension using Aleene's Acid Free Tacky Glue (I recommend this for paper crafts.)

Materials
Red cardstock
Black and white striped or patterned papers
Small doily
Gold glittered gift bag (or just use Tulip Glitter on gold paper for the same effect.)
2 Red Tulip Beads in a Bottle Studs and Crystals
Aleene's Tacky Dot Runner
Aleene's Acid Free Tacky Glue

Tools
Fiskars Graduated Hearts Shape Template (or measure and hand cut graduated hearts)
Fiskars Interchangeable Scalloped Edge Punch
Bone folder
Paper cutter

1. Cut red cardstock to 7"x11".

2. Fold card in half to 7"l.x5.5"w. Use bone folder to make a sharp crease in edge.

3. Use edge punch on top edge of card.

4. Cut out layered hearts with papers.

5. Cut out your layered hearts. Before you cut, make sure you center the image you want to use! I stacked the 4" heart followed by the 3.5" heart and finally the 3" heart for the center heart. The top right heart stack is 1", 1.25", 1.5" and 2". The bottom left heart stack is 1", 1.5" and 2". For inside of the card stack 1.5", 1.25" and 1" hearts.

6. Print out your sentiments. I wrote "No kiddin' around, Valentine." and "I love you." using a vintage style font.

7. Layer a doily and the center hearts using Aleene's Tacky Dot Runner. Add the top right and bottom left heart stacks. Attach a faux gemstone using Aleene's Tacky Glue to the center of the top and bottom heart stacks. Allow to dry.

8. Cut out your sentiment and layer it on one of your papers, cut and adhere to bottom right of card front using Aleene's Tacky Glue Runner.

9. To make the inside of the card, stack your hearts and add the sentiment to the center.

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts: (P)upcycled Valentine's Card

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(P)upcycled Valentine Copyright Margot Potter for iLoveToCreate

iLoveToCreate Teen Crafts:
(P)Upcycled Valentine
Margot Potter for Avalon Potter
“Mom crafted, teen approved”

Avalon was buried in school work this week, so I’m stepping in for a little retrofabulous infused teen craft. This can be either a card or an invitation to a Valentine's Day party!  You can upcycle any old Valentine you may have in your collection. I had this adorable little vintage card in my coffers that was begging for a new life. Arf, arf. I loved the way the edge punch looked centered on each of the four sides of the pink square, gave the layer purrfect doily style appeal. Tulip Glam-it-Up Crystals and Beads in a Bottle gave it all a little dimension and Aleene’s glue made quick work of putting it all together. Nothing fishy about it, this is, as Avalon says, “Adorbs!”

Materials
Red Cardstock
Baby pink Cardstock
Tiny Heart Scrapbook Stickers
Fish Scrapbook Sticker
Printed Letter “u” in Campbell or similar vintage style font
Upcycled Valentine
Aleene’s Acid Free Tacky Glue
Aleene’s Tacky Dot Runner
Tulip Beads in a Bottle Pink Glitter
5 Tulip Glam-it-Up Crystals

Tools
Chain Nose Pliers, Tweezers or a Crayon to pick up and place crystals
Scalloped Border Punch
Ruler and Scissors 
Pinking Shears
Word Bubble Punch

A sampling of some of my collection of vintage Valentines.

1. Print a letter ‘u’ in Campbell or a vintage style font size 14.

2. Cut your cardstock to 5.5”x5.5” or dimensions that work with your Valentine.

3. Use pinking shears around edge of pink cardstock.

4. Center border punch and cut out scallops inside of all four edges of paper. (Don’t punch the edge off, this is just to add a little doily style window. Save punched dots to use with word bubbles.)

5. Punch or cut word bubbles, I cut the little talking tag from the bottom since these are thought bubbles in this card.

6. Use glue dot runner to attach pink layer on top of red background and card to center bottom of pink layer.

7. Attach heart sticker to card.

8. Use pliers, tweezers or crayon to lift crystals, dip into glue, tap off any excess and place on card. Crystals go in each of the four corners and in center of the small heart.

9. Attach word bubbles with tape runner. Add hearts, fish and ‘u’.

10. Punch one scallop out of the white paper you used for word bubbles and save the tiny punched out circles. Use a toothpick to dab a small amount of glue on card where you want your paper dots leading up to word bubbles to be placed and gently place dots on card.

11. Use Beads in a Bottle to add dimension to edges of the pink layer on your card.

12. This is a flat invitation style Valentine, you can opt to make a folding card if your prefer.