DIY Valentine Inspiration

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As a single gal I hated Valentine's Day, I think most people do.  But my sister would always give me a little treat.  When I lived a few doors down from her in Portland, I would find a Valentine's treat left outside my door.  It was always a surprise and always brought a smile to my face.   Valentine's Day doesn't just have to be about the romance.  And now that I have a little baby girl it's fun to create little valentine treats for her.

I was perusing around on Pinterest and found some great DIY Valentines you can make for a loved one in your life, and may be one for yourself too.  You do love your self right?

Click on each caption below the picture to take you to Pinterest and follow the link for instructions.  Do you make anything special for Valentine's Day? I would love to see it if you do.

I hope you found some inspiration! Have a crafty day!

Tracey 

http://traceytoole.blogspot.com/

https://www.etsy.com/shop/traceytoole

Valentine's Day isn't just for lovers....gifts from local Etsians

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For the cat lover. Card by DeborahJulian

I never liked Valentine's day as a single person. To me it was just a reminder of how single I was and all those thoughts of why am I alone...boo hoo.  Now that I am married there is pressure to do something on Valentine's Day.  And when we do celebrate I feel as though I am being obnoxious to those who don't have anyone. Ok obviously Valentine's doesn't work for me either way.  However coming from a family of 5 kids, my sisters and my parents would always send Valentine's to us.  As an adult living in the same city as one of my sisters, I would find a Valentine gift at my door that morning. It always made me smile or laugh and feel loved.  Valentines are for everyone, not just lovers.

Here are a few gift ideas for your friend, your sister, your brother, your child, your parent....all from members of Etsy New York.

for the friend who is always late, Vanilla Green Tea clock by Newyorkclocks

There are so many gifts to choose from the Etsy NY Team. Just go to etsy.com and in the search box type etsynyteam.

Get shopping, you have 7 days!

Tracey Toole

http://www.etsy.com/shop/traceytoole

http://traceytoole.blogspot.com/

Tutorial: I Love You Messenger Bag Pattern for Toddlers

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Last year, while coping with severe sleep deprivation due to the birth of my second daughter just a few months earlier, I came up with this Valentine-project-worthy pattern during the 3am feeding. This is a sweet, fast project that can serve as a fun gift for the little toddlers in your life.



I Love You Messenger Bag Pattern for Toddlers

© 2010 Windows of Agate


Materials

  • Outer fabric, enough for 2 hearts
  • Inner fabric, enough for 2 hearts
  • Interfacing, enough for 2 hearts
  • Button
  • Thin string or ribbon, 6 inches long
  • Thicker string or ribbon for shoulder strap, about 28 inches long


Instructions

  1. Draw a heart pattern on card stock or stiff cardboard and use the template to cut 2 hearts from outer fabric, 2 hearts from inner fabric, and 2 hearts from the interfacing.
  2. Iron interfacing onto the wrong side of the outer fabric.
  3. With wrong sides together, place one of the outer fabric hearts on top of one of the inner fabric hearts. Sew around the heart leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Leave 1 inch unsewn toward the bottom of the heart - this gap will allow you to turn it inside out.
  4. Repeat step #3 with the second set of hearts, only sew the thin string or ribbon in a loop at the top of one side of the heart (where you want the loop to fasten to the button). The loop should be sewn in between the two hearts with the loop on the inside of the two hearts.
  5. Cut notches along the curved part of the hearts, being careful not to cut into your sewing line.
  6. Turn both hearts inside out through the one inch gap and iron.
  7. With inner hearts facing each other, sew the two pieces together starting at the bottom of the two curves of the heart with a 1/4 seam allowance. Sew along the curved part of the heart that does not have the loop and insert one side of the thicker string or ribbon for the shoulder strap. Continue along the bottom and up along the other side of heart and stop where the heart starts to curve again.
  8. Sew on a button so that the loop can close over the button. This serves as a clasp for the bag.
  9. Sew the other shoulder strap on the inner heart that has the loop.
  10. Stick a fun gift from the {NewNew} team in the bag and give it to your favorite little friends! Type "newnewteam" in the search bar on the Etsy.com website to find a great variety of cards, toys, prints, jewelry, and other fantastic Valentine-themed items from your very own New York metro area artisans.



Karina Glaser

{NewNew} Valentine's Gift Ideas for Infants/Toddlers That Don't Involve Sugar

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Valentine's gifts for infants and toddlers can't really be a box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers. However, Valentine's Day gifts for the little ones don't have to just be worn or seen for one day of the year either. {NewNew} team members have created a wide variety of gifts that are appropriate for boys or girls, baby or toddler that are adorable, lovable, and will be cherished by child and parent. The above items from Smallest Friend, Lenny Mud, Burry Babies, Copa Bananas, Felt It, Panda with Cookie, Curious Urchin, Windows of Agate, NY Crochet, and Overall Baby are just some examples of the fabulous items to be found from the
{NewNew} team on etsy.com.



Anne
Felt It
www.muppetloon.etsy.com

Be-Your-Own Valentine

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Got the Valentine's Day blues? Don't worry if you don't have a romantic date. This is 2010. Get something nice for your friends, your family, or even better, yourself! My top ideas are: Go shopping at the new Better than Jam Co-op in Bushwick, a day at Spa Castle in College Point, curl up with a good book from Bluestockings, or take a yoga class near you.

Here are some handmade gifts with a little love from The {NewNew}:













designer: mshoelace
















designer: KimmChi
















designer: pulpsushi

by Andria newyorkclocks

Valentine How-To: "Mad Love" Game Book

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My partner and I love to do Mad Libs together, and we have gone through many of their books, including the romance one that inspired this Valentine's project.

This "Mad Love" book will be 5.5" x 8.5," so plan your paper accordingly. I made my inner pages in Photoshop, but would have been a little bit easier in a word processing program. For content, I drew from romantic things we both enjoy, such as movie plots with quotes, song lyrics, book passages and old blog posts. Here is an example page:
EternalSunshineExample

I found for movies it was straightforward to use plot synopsis from IMDB, and then include your favorite quote at the end. For song lyrics, don't forget the helpful word type of "rhymes with ...," since non-rhyming lyrics aren't as fun. In addition to your standard parts of speech (e.g. noun, verb, adverb), throw in some that are more specific such as "occupation," "silly word," "place," or "famous people." The ever classic "person in room" should not be overlooked.

For my book I did about 10 pages, but more or less would be cool considering how much time or interest you have.

Next the cover:
Day 5: "Mad Love" Valentine

This is a blank template for you to fill in as a cover. You can download it directly from my Flickr site here. For the Photoshop savvy, go ahead and use a close-up image (camera phone style super close-ups work great for this) into the green square. For the less computer inclined, try printing out a photo or photocopying one and cutting it to fit in the square and gluing it in place.

Day 5: "Mad Love" Valentine

Cover your eyeballs with the classic style googly eyes to make it look like the original store bought versions. You can download them on my Flickr, again. If you're only semi-experience with Photoshop, note that once you select the eyeballs and paste them into the image, EDIT > FREE TRANSFORM, is useful in this situation. Again, for the non-computer option, scale your eyeballs up or down and glue onto the faces.

Day 5: "Mad Love" Valentine

Here is my finished cover. I printed it out on card stock, but if you don't have any, print on regular paper and then glue to something stiffer. At this point I also got all of my interior pages cut down to 5.5" x 8.5," and cut a backing piece of cardboard the same dimensions.

madlovecollatepages

You've done all of the hard parts already, now we just staple the pieces together, like so.

madlovestaple

And I covered the staples and top edge with fabric tape to give it a more polished feel.

"Mad Love" game book

I'm really excited to give this to my Valentine, and I hope that you have fun making some too.

~Kari
http://ikyoto.etsy.com