"You Have The Key To My Heart!" Craft

Valentine's Day just cries out for some crafty giftmaking, doesn't it? :) This year, my family is doing something a little different. We always celebrate with a big fancy dinner, complete with candles and sparkling cider, but this year we kids picked each others' names out of a hat so we each have a "secret Valentine." Throughout the day we'll look for ways to make our Valentine's day special - leaving little gifts, cards, etc - then at dinner we'll have a big "reveal." Should be fun! Since she doesn't read my blog, I can admit that I got Lizzie! :) Some of the little things I have wrapped up for her are raspberry-chocolate candies, a headband with a little bow (as she's been into wearing her hair down lately), and chocolate-flavored lipbalm. :) I also have a nice card with plenty of blank space for a special note - I love getting cards with good notes inside!



I also made these cute little matching dresses for my two favorite little gals, Abby and Lilly! Loosely inspired by this tutorial, I created the applique panel and applied them to two pink store-bought Ts. Then I had leftover material, and I just HAD to attach little skirts and turn them into dresses. :) More picts will come on Tuesday, when the girls wear them to their class Valentine's Day party!

Last year a friend of mine's dad cleaned out a house and found coffee can upon coffee can of antique and skeleton keys. She graciously gave me a big keychain full, and I've been crafting with them ever since! (Remember this gift?) Here's my latest keyspiration:

Supplies: one picture frame from the dollar store, a short length of black ribbon, a skeleton key, gold spray paint, red tissue paper (not pictured), and mod podge.

First I disassembled the frame, tore the red tissue paper into pieces, and mod-podged them randomly to the back of the frame.

While that was drying, the key got a coat of gold paint.

Once it dried, I tied the ribbon in a bow.

The mod-podge dried nicely, and I had a nice textured background to my frame.

Using a thick needle and fine jewelery wire, I "wired" the key to the background, and reassembled the frame, and voila!

I love the punch of color and the elegance of the key. This is headed to someone special. :)