Homecoming Countdown

My husband and I are getting ready to leave for a four night stay in the Bahamas!!  It has been a really cold winter here and we're counting down the hours until we've got our "toes in the water, (butt) in the sand" as the Zac Brown Band would say (er..sing)!!  As a matter of fact I should be packing right now and not blogging, but that's neither here nor there! I just wanted to share this quick project with you all before we left.

My in-laws will be watching our son while we're in the islands (Yes, this is a real vacation.......no runny nose to wipe, no diapers to change, no getting up with the sun......ahhhhhh!!  Don't get me wrong, I love my little guy, but it is nice to be able to escape for a few days just the two of us and have some grown up time.)  To countdown the days until mommy & daddy come home, I've assembled little goodie bags (one for each day) for him to open while we're gone.

Using my Silhouette I cut out five rounded rectangles (3"x6") from white cardstock and the numbers 0-4 out of different patterned/colored scrapbook paper.  I folded the rectangles in half, creating a card, and glued the numbers to the front.

Inside I wrote ".....more day(s) until we come back!"  With the exception of the zero card and inside it I wrote "We'll see you very soon!  Love, Mommy & Daddy"

I searched through the dollar bin at Target as well as the Dollar Tree to find five small gifts to put inside each bag.  Nothing crazy, just your run of the mill coloring book & crayons, bubbles, book, etc....

I put each surprise in a bag, added some tissue paper & tied each card to a bag with some scrap ribbon.  Now my little guy will have a little something fun to open each day that we're gone!

What's black & white & red all over?

My Valentine's decor (and first ever blog post!!!)! 

First things first, WELCOME TO DUCT TAPE & HOT GLUE!!!  I hope you like what you see and come back regularly!! 

Now, about my Valentine decorations. I wanted to keep things simple and inexpensive.  Everything shown I either 1) already had or 2) purchased on sale and/or with a coupon.  The love sign shown above I found in the dollar bin at Target!!  I can't count the number of items I've found in that section of the store.  I always stop and look at what they've got anytime I make a trip to Target (which sometimes feels like once a week especially since those are the brand of diapers that we use).  The candles, ribbon & candle holders shown above were all things that I already had on hand.

I then rummaged around my bookshelf and found two books that had the word "love" in the title.  I removed the paper book covers and {bonus!} found that one book was red and the other was black!  The small, square frame was purchased at Michael's with a 40% off coupon.  I already had the houndstooth scrapbook paper which I used to cover the mat.  Michael's is also where I found the red, glitter heart that's in the frame.  It was in a pack of six (for $1.50!!) and they were actually ornaments.  I cut off the ribbon loop, hot glued it to the middle of the frame and TA-DA!  Cute, right???  The picture is of my wonderful hubs and I sharing a little smooch on our wedding day (have a cavity yet??) ;o)

For my cupid art, I again raided my own closet and found these two black frames (as well as the one I used for our wedding day kiss picture), the damask tissue paper (yes, tissue paper!) and the red & black cardstock.  A quick note on the tissue paper.  I am a notorious neat freak and don't like a lot of clutter which means I typically throw a lot of things away.  Tissue paper & ribbons are one exception.  Any holiday/birthday, I make sure to save the bags, tissue paper & ribbons.  I've lost count of how many times the "scraps" have come in handy for one reason or another.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the cupid shape.  Another side note: the Silhouette was the only thing that I wanted for Christmas this past year and my wonderful mom made sure I was unwrapping it come Christmas morning.  WOO HOO!!  I actually knew I was getting it, so I was able to tell my BIL (who drew my name for Christmas) to get me a gift certificate to their on-line store.  I've been finding every excuse possible to try it out.  Lucky for me, we've got several January birthdays & of course Valentine's Day.  It is an amazing tool to have in your craft kit and I highly recommend purchasing one, if you can.  They regularly have special promotions where you get the machine and several products at a discounted price.  You won't be sorry - I promise!!!

All in all, I was really pleased with how my entry way decor turned out.  I was also very happy that I was able to create this look for a whopping $5!!!  CHA-CHING!  Again, thanks for stopping by and checking me out.  I hope you'll come back!!