Valentine Mantel

I am sharing my Valentine mantel today.  I am so happy that February has arrived.  It’s a short month and since we are already 4 days in, I’m feeling like we.can.do.this.  The next decorations going up will be Spring inspired!! So come on in, and take a look at what I’m looking at on my mantel right now. . .


Inspiration began with some small pieces of pallet wood left over from our Insulated Fireplace Cover (you  can get the details by clicking on the colored words).  I Wanted to create something with wood and wire, and this seemed to be the answer.


I just glued the boards together and then formed the words with some gold wire.  The heart is lined with a gold mesh on clearance from Christmas.  A few dabs of E6000 hold the letters in place.  I didn’t even bother to do anything with the wood, so it’s quite natural and raw looking.

Reusing the sticks from my Winter/Christmas mantel, I attached some cute hearts from DCWV which I found on clearance at Target.  They are actually supposed to go on the wall. I wrapped a glass vase in the same gold mesh I used on the pallet sign and added some letters, and a burlap wrap.  The  2 14 numbers are from last year. 




A burlap bow, some greens, and a strand of glittery hearts dress up the mirror.  Good thing my kitchen was actually clean when I took these!

Hope your Valentine’s Day is filled with love!

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Coffee Filter Snowman

I’ve seen a lot of coffee filter wreaths in blog world, and always love them.  They are so full and fluffy.  I thought they looked hard and time consuming, but the more I saw them, the more I really wanted to try using coffee filters on a project.  My version uses 2 embroidery hoops in two different sizes.  I found mine at a thrift store for a couple of bucks each.  The first thing I did was opened the hoops and put a paper grocery bag (cut open) inside.  Then I trimmed the paper to fit the hoop with an exacto knife.  This gave me a good flat surface to work with.



Then using the coffee filters, I opened them up, one at a time, and pinched the filter in the middle of the circle and twisted.  This formed a flower sort of shape.  I then folded down the pinched end and glued that part to the paper with Alenees glue.  Aleene’s is strong enough to hold them in place, so you can continue to add the flowers one at a time.  You continue this process until the form is completely filled.  After it dried I went back and added any additional fill needed, and fluffed up the filters.  Use scissors to even up any high spots.  At this point I used a bit of wire to connect the two hoops. 
The next step was adding some buttons for eyes, nose, mouth and buttons on the body.

An old scarf and some sticks from the yard added the finishing touches.   I was surprised how easily it came together.  It really didn’t take that long to fill in the forms.   I didn’t add a hat because I was afraid of the weight on the filters, although I think I am going to add a felt hat.  I don’t think that will weigh it down, but I need to figure out how to make it stand up from the back.  Some trial and error and I’m sure I can figure it out. 

I think he’s pretty cute, and is a decoration I can leave up all winter.  This is a pretty big piece of wall art, since he is about 2  feet high.  He makes a nice statement.  With a foot of snow in the forecast for this weekend, I can probably build a real snowman soon!   

Thank you for stopping by.

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