The BEST Valentine Idea EVER!

I saw this on Nannygoat and knew it was the solution to all my Valentine woes!  It took only minutes to pull together, and I feel like it’s the best Valentine I’ll ever send to school with my children:

photo valentine

Adorable!  It’s personalized, and best of all, I don’t have to sit there while they write their names over and over and over again!

This project was so simple.  I took a picture of my daughters holding one fist out, making sure that the focus was on their faces and not on their hands.  Then I simply added text and had the pictures printed.

photo valentine



After printing the photos, simply punch a hole at the top and bottom of the outstretched fist and insert a dum-dum into the holes.  Done!

paper valentine

So I ask all of you moms out there with children in elementary school:  Is this not the cutest, easiest, fastest valentine ever?  My poor kids… they may never get to take a different one to school from now on!  Hurry, make some!  You’ve got plenty of time.

Hopeful Homemaker

Valentine Ribbon Pillow

My project for the May Arts Valentines challenge is completed!

ribbon embellished pillow

This project was fun to do, and I may have found a new favorite ribbon in the process.

The ribbons I used are all manufactured by May Arts.  Here’s how I did it.

I began by cutting a piece of unbleached cotton to the size of my pillow for the pillow top.  The pillow I made is 16 inches high by 24 inches long.  I liked this cotton because of it’s natural color, and because the fibers create a sense of texture that sort of offset the ribbon.  It looks a lot like linen, but was much less expensive.

blank cotton fabric

Next I laid the ribbon out on the fabric until I’d arranged it in a design I was happy with.  I was going for some fun stripes.  Then I pinned the ribbons in place.

ribbon pinned to fabric

I like this shot of the ribbons with ruffles on them.  This particular ribbon was SO fun to work with.  It’s 1.5 inches wide, and the center is a faux suede.  It’s really beautiful, and I loved using it.  It could be my new favorite.

ribbon pinned to fabric 2

Setting my sewing machine on it’s slowest speed, I carefully sewed each ribbon into place, changing threads as necessary to have them coordinate with the ribbon.  These ribbons were fairly wide, so I sewed down both edges of them.


Soon they were all sewn on, and it’s looking cute!

ribbons sewn to fabric

Next I went for a second layer of ribbon on top of the suede stripes.  I opted for the red velvet ric rac down the center of the white stripes.


Although I’d never tried it before, I cut a length of the white leaves ribbon and decided to see if I could successfully sew it on, too.


A bit tricky, but it worked!  I love it!

leaves ribbon on pillow

Now the pillow looked like this:

ribbon pillow

I felt like it needed something to help break up the stripes just a bit, so I toyed with several different shapes and decided at last to sketch a little bird (since I’m really loving bird images and a Valentine pillow could certainly have a little love bird on it, right?!).  I grabbed my favorite Valentines quilting fabric and went to work.

bird sketch

I added a single length of white velvet ric rac for the bird to sit on, but decided that I needed something more.  Then my eyes happened to fall on the length of suede leaves ribbon that I’d received in the mail, and I wondered if I could use some of it.  Isn’t it pretty?

suede leaves ribbon

I cut three individual leaves off and arranged them on the pillow.  Then I sewed across the tops of them, leaving the rest of the leaf free so that it adds some dimension.  ***Easter/Spring pillow idea bells start ringing in my brain at this time!  I also realized how versatile this suede leaves ribbon would be in so many altered art projects.  It’s neat stuff!

leaves on pillow

I traced my bird pattern on some interfacing and ironed it to the back of my fabric.  After cutting it out, I was ready to peel the backing off and iron the bird to my pillow.


After ironing it in place, I carefully stitched around the edge of the bird for stability.


I like the end result.

bird on pillow

It was time for the backing.  I chose to piece my back with a zipper near the bottom of it because I prefer to use my pillow inserts year round with different looks.   Lay the pieces with right sides together and carefully line them up.


Pin around the edges and sew it together!  If you choose to stuff your pillow, be sure to leave a hole to do it, and if you use a zipper, be sure you open it a little so you have a way to turn the pillow right side out.

pillow pinned together

After sewing around the edges, I trimmed the excess ribbon and also trimmed a bit at the corners.  Turn it right side out, and ta da!

ribbon pillow cover

I quickly grabbed my feather and down insert and stuffed it inside.  Finished!

valentine ribbon pillow

It looks great on the guest bed in my studio.

ribbon pillow on bed

I’m liking my little pillow.  This was a super fun project!  The possibilities for embellishment with ribbon are endless.  I enjoyed tinkering around with these.  Thanks May Arts!

Ribbon pillow with bird

Last Look at the Manger

It wasn’t very hard for me to say goodbye to Christmas and pack up the decorations… until it came to the manger.

empty manger

My heart lingered here, reluctant to carry it to the basement.  I realized that this was probably my last Christmas to lay my own baby in the manger for our annual re-enactment of the nativity.  The realization made my heart ache.

baby wrapped in white blanket

In an effort to appreciate the wonder of this stage in life while it is still mine, I dressed my infant in white and carefully laid her in our own little manger for some photos.

baby in white blanket

Gratefully, I was able to capture it in a way I feel pleased with.  I love the way the light was shining on her face.  It reminds me how much light is in her, how much light she has brought into my heart and into our family.


The words of a favorite song kept running through my mind, “dressed in white, filled with light, what wonder did I see?”


The next lyrics say, “What I feel, what I know, leads my heart to sing, ‘I will praise thy name, praise thy name from day to day.”  As my own heart was weeping a little at the idea of moving past this moment, it hit me how very blessed I am, to have experienced this wonder EIGHT times!  I realized that instead of weeping, I should joyfully praise my Heavenly Father for sharing this with me.


In the above picture, she is playing with her oldest brother.  How marvelous it is to watch your older children bask in the wonder of a baby.  In the photo below, I love the bokeh of the white lights on the tree behind her.

baby smiling in front of Christmas tree

Again, I LOVE the light.  The white is so white, her smile so pure, her eyes so clear.


Years ago I read a line in one of Sara Teasdale’s poems, which says “children’s faces looking up, holding wonder like a cup.”  For many years now I have wanted to capture the feeling of that line in a photograph of one of my children.  In this setting, I feel like I did, as my baby gazed up in wonder at all the world around her.


And because I’ve never been in love with a baby’s feet like I have with these little ones, I took a few of her toes for good measure.



baby feet


baby feet

Sigh.  How glad I am that I listened to my mother’s heart that morning, and captured a moment I don’t ever want to forget.   It made me think a little of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  I wonder how she felt when they left the stable, if her feelings were bittersweet.  I’ve never thought of it before.  We spend a month at Christmas celebrating the manger, yet it was a dirty place where animals lived.  Surely she was a little bit relieved to put it behind her, and somewhat overwhelmed by the many physical needs that both she and the baby had.  Yet if she realized that prophecy had been fulfilled in that dirty place, then part of her must have paused to mark the moment, to hold it in her heart for future reference.  I wonder how many mothers throughout history have stood on the threshold of time, anxious to move on but reluctant to leave.  I wonder what Mary thought as they left the stable.  I wonder if any of her feelings paralleled my own.

baby in manger

A stable moment.  My grateful heart sings.

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