I had found so many fun decorations to make on Pinterest that I couldn’t resist! I knew my mom wouldn’t be decorating for Valentine’s Day anyways, so I decided to do it for her.

I got some really cute paper from Paper Source and made this really fun heart garland. It was really simple and so easy to make…I just used card stock paper, patterned paper, and ribbon:

Then, I just printed some really cute printables that I found on Pinterest and put them in cute frames I found at Home Goods. These are super fun because they look fancy but were beyond simple! I love the bumble bee one…totally adorbs!:

Then I just added some small candles with conversation hearts around them and here’s the finished product:

Just a little bit of Valentine’s spirit to decorate the mantel! What do you think? How do you decorate for Heart Day if at all?

Rashi and I are back for another round of Write & Wrap! This time, we’re featuring some pretty awesome Valentine’s Day cards. When Rashi sent me her design, I knew right away that I wanted to make a cute little stationery package with it. How great are the details in this card??! Not to mention, I’m kind of a big JT fan, just saying.

For me, Valentine’s Day is a great time to get creative with stationery. Something so simple can be so meaningful for your significant other or your best friends. It’s a chance for you to say how much they mean to you with good old fashioned snail mail. We never do big gifts around here, so I thought packaging together some instax minis and other heart themed things is just the perfect way to say I love you.

A lot of these items I already had in my ever-growing stationery collection, but Paper Source is a great place to find goodies like this. Another favorite of mine is Mignon Kitchen, Rachel has the best assortment of little heart themed gifts – that’s where I got the balloons!

First I stamped the Kraft envelope with a white stamp pad. Make sure you allow time for it to dry before flipping it over! I’ve made that mistake too many times. Next, I used the heart paper clip to attach the pictures to the inside of the card, along with a couple heart-shaped balloons. Finally, I sealed off the back of the envelope with festive washi-tape and stamped one more heart on the back flap.

You can download Rashi’s amazing card RIGHT HERE.

Be sure to check back tomorrow and find out how Rashi styled my card!

But on to Valentine’s Day, as the days are counting down. I have had a new obsession with stationary & cards, & for this all-about-the-love holiday, there are some spunky ones out there – I love you more than BACON says it all.  Here is my mix of paper goods.

[From Left to Right] . a . I Love You More Than Bacon Sign . b . Cupids Arrow Card . c . California Love . d . Executive Notebook . e . Watercolor Tulip . f . Macaron Napkins . g . I’m Owl Yours Card . h . Paper Straws . i . Salt & Pepper Card . j . Lobster Card . k . Love Poems . l . Heart Garland . m . Heart Watercolor .

Unfortunately I could not highlight the items that I am using for my own special Valentines (as they read the blog – I hope!), but I hope you can find some inspiration or peruse these websites for the other inventory they carry as well. And even if you aren’t into the Valentine’s Day thing – I mean, how cute are those macaron napkins? They would be good for anytime of year.

Indulge my friends! And happy Monday!

XO -

Jodi

Here’s another gift tag I made from my Paper Source calendar, in that lovely ikat pattern. It’s fun and warm and I like it!

1.

This Paris Hilton Perfume called Fairy Dust is only $25. So, what is stopping you from giving your BFF a little Fairy Dust??

2.

What more do you need than to share some of Lauren Conrad’s Beauty Project to your BFF for only $18.23 from Indigo??

3.

Spread the Paris Amour with the Bath and Body Work’s body Lotion for the cheap price of $11.00 to your BFF. Bring them Paris because you can’t bring them to Paris.

4.

Let your BFF bring Valentine’s Day with them every where all the time with this small rose stamp from Paper Source for $5.95. Let them stamp Valentine’s Day with a rose.

5.

For 10 dollars from LuLu’s, give your BFF a bracelet and a heart with a sprinkle of mint love. Freshen up their heart with this gold piece of jewelery.

6.

Give your BFF some Sweetheart Candy that will last forever because they are 5 rings from Claire’s for only $12.00 in total. Add some sweet candy jewelery to their heart.

7.

Candy pink headphone are only $14.95 at Future Shop. These headphones are perfect for your music loving BFF with a pretty pink colour to remind them that love is close by and so are you if they need you.

8.

Let your BFF’s heart shined with this Multi Rhinestone Heart Necklace from AMIclubwear for only $20.99. The more love and hearts, the better.

9.

Add a melody to your BFF’s Valentine Day with Now! 20 from HMV for only $14.99. Turn your beat up with all the latest tumes that make you dance your heart out.

10.

Let your BFF keep pics of you and them in a magnetic photo album from Amazon for only $17.59. And the love colour, red, add some Valentine Day cheer to all your love filled memories.

V-Day is only a week away and while I agree that we shouldn’t be forcing ourselves to make some grand declaration of love on one designated day, a little thoughtful gift or two wouldn’t hurt.  (Are you reading this James?).  Anyways — I’ve rounded up some sweet little tokens that would brighten up any girls’ day, whether they’re a treat from a secret admirer, a long-time love, or yourself!

1. C. Wonder Initial Necklace — $38
2. Coach Legacy Leather Large Wristlet — $108
3. Paper Source XOXO Sticky Notes — $3.95
4. BaubleBar Rose Bow Link Bracelet — $24
5. Kate Spade Lenticular iPhone 5 Case — $40
6. Kate Spade Deborah Dot Notebook — $28
7. L’Occitane Rose des Champs Hand Cream — $10
8. C. Wonder Screw Stud Snake Cuff — $38
9. Paper Source Hedgehog Valentine’s Cards (Set of 10) — $12.50

V-Day is only a week away and while I agree that we shouldn’t be forcing ourselves to make some grand declaration of love on one designated day, a little thoughtful gift or two wouldn’t hurt.  (Are you reading this James?).  Anyways — I’ve rounded up some sweet little tokens that would brighten up any girls’ day, whether they’re a treat from a secret admirer, a long-time love, or yourself!

1. C. Wonder Initial Necklace — $38
2. Coach Legacy Leather Large Wristlet — $108
3. Paper Source XOXO Sticky Notes — $3.95
4. BaubleBar Rose Bow Link Bracelet — $24
5. Kate Spade Lenticular iPhone 5 Case — $40
6. Kate Spade Deborah Dot Notebook — $28
7. L’Occitane Rose des Champs Hand Cream — $10
8. C. Wonder Screw Stud Snake Cuff — $38
9. Paper Source Hedgehog Valentine’s Cards (Set of 10) — $12.50

V-Day is only a week away and while I agree that we shouldn’t be forcing ourselves to make some grand declaration of love on one designated day, a little thoughtful gift or two wouldn’t hurt.  (Are you reading this James?).  Anyways — I’ve rounded up some sweet little tokens that would brighten up any girls’ day, whether they’re a treat from a secret admirer, a long-time love, or yourself!

1. C. Wonder Initial Necklace — $38
2. Coach Legacy Leather Large Wristlet — $108
3. Paper Source XOXO Sticky Notes — $3.95
4. BaubleBar Rose Bow Link Bracelet — $24
5. Kate Spade Lenticular iPhone 5 Case — $40
6. Kate Spade Deborah Dot Notebook — $28
7. L’Occitane Rose des Champs Hand Cream — $10
8. C. Wonder Screw Stud Snake Cuff — $38
9. Paper Source Hedgehog Valentine’s Cards (Set of 10) — $12.50

Here’s another gift tag I made from my Paper Source calendar! It makes me think of places that are warmer than Seattle.

For some reason, I have always liked Valentines Day.  While I can definitely see the perspective of those who think it’s a ridiculous commercial holiday, I still think there is something very sweet about it.  First of all, I love the color red so I think the decorations are pretty!  Secondly, I kind of like the idea of a day dedicated to telling people how much you love and appreciate them.  To be honest, these days I can’t think of a better holiday for people to celebrate…especially kids!  So this year I’m every excited to be making valentines for my son to hand out to his friends at school.  Here are some of my top picks for DIY valentines:

How adorable is this bubble card idea from The Mother Huddle? 

Do you have a little one that loves bugs?  If so, these love bug valentines from LilSugar would be ideal!

I love this guitar valentine kit from Paper Source.  They have a ton of other kits to choose from as well.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on Valentines.  Just look around your house!  Inhabitots have some great ideas for homemade Valentines like making heart stamps from potatoes!

Dagmar Bleasdale has a ton of great DIY Valentine ideas, but my favorite is her idea for using broken crayons to make pretty crayon hearts!

I love you spoon

Love pillow

Heart bowls

Love you more frame

XOXO Ring Dish

Here’s a tiny gift card I made from my Paper Source calendar!

Photo Credit: Taylor Henning

To celebrate Thank a Mailman Day, I decided to round up some of the cutest thank you note cards on the web! I’m a big fan of hand-written thank you notes, so naturally I’m also a huge stationery nerd. That said, this is probably my favorite post I’ve ever put together. Grab a pen!

{1} Zazzle Aqua Simple Chevron Thank You Note Cards, $1.70 {2} Tiny Prints Grow Happiness: Bay (Set of 10), $15.90 {3} Minted barn party! thank you cards (Set of 25), $76 {4} Peter Pauper Press Laser Cut Thank You Notes (Set of 10), $12.99 {5} Paper Source Vintage Thank You Notes (set of 8), $12.50 {6} Kate’s Paperie Letterpress Thank You Notes (Set of 6), $22.50 {7} Barnes & Noble Jonathan Adler Words Blue/Green Thank You Note Cards Set of 20, $12.95 {8} Papyrus Eiffel Tower Merci, $5.95 {9} Gartner Studios Black & White Thank You (Set of 40), $9.99 {10} Target Greenroom Thank You Cards with Envelopes 10-ct., $3.99

Another little (itty bitty) project from my Paper Source calendar. I do love a woodsy, faux-bois design! Speaking of which, we’ve had the most beautiful, haunting weather in Seattle. Freezing fog that swirls in the night under street-lamps and makes all the tree branches white. It’s like living in my very own Wuthering Heights.

It’s no secret that I am obsessed with Japanese Washi Tape- so when they started coming out with neon colors- It’s safe to say I pretty much lost my shit!

Last Summer Neon colors graced the fashion scene and this year it has taken over the paper world too! This easy DIY combines bright colored cards and envelopes and any- I repeat ANY colored tape that you can find.

I have found all sorts of tapes out there in places from Home Depot, Target and everywhere in between! I got this awesome neon tape from Paper Source.

Use the tape by cutting or tearing the tape onto the paper and making borders, shapes like hearts or spelling words. You will find that it is very easy to use and inexpensive.

In this DIY I used bright colors that matched to make a cohesive (neon) statement. Remember to match your colors!

THEN… as an homage to neon, I threw in a VERY EASY DIY- “The Post It Heart”

With Neon markers I wrote sweet notes on bright yellow post it’s and made them in a shape of a heart. Make the heart on a mirror, a large wall or any surface.

(BOOM) You just saved Valentines Day!

-David

I’ve been on their site a ton of times, but we just got one in the town next to us. Since I’m home this weekend I was so excited to go there. I got some stuff to do Valentine crafts with (stay tuned!) and loved just about everything in the store!

This definitely isn’t an ordinary stationery store as they have walls and walls of cards and also walls and walls of giant sheets of fine paper. There are tons of amazing patterns and colors from stripes to chevrons to florals to glittered to solids to zebra. I loved all of them! Here is what one of the beautiful paper walls looks like:

I also completely loved all the gift wrap they had! So many fun patterns and colors to make any gift look completely amazing.

Another great aspect of the store is that they have several walls of solid colored blank cards in different styles and sizes as well as envelopes for them. This is so useful for if you’re doing homemade cards! Amazing!

Yet another thing I loved was that they have a whole wall of fun stamps in letters, numbers, animals, words, and just about everything you could imagine and ever need! So cute and fun. How fun would it be to craft with those!

They also have tons of fun little knick-knacks, craft kits, gift bags, and a bunch of other things.

And not to mention the actual stationery. Oh em gee! They have awesome stationery sets, calendars, and gift cards. I couldn’t even look at them all because I was so overwhelmed by the amazingness of it all. I can’t wait to go back to look at it all again!

Here are some of my favorites: their macaroon pattern and nautical cards:

I signed up to be a part of a handmade valentine swap-what could be more fun than getting mail from other crafty pants people?! Lyndsey set it all up and my job was to create 4 valentines and to mail them out by the 7th of the month. since I couldn’t sleep tonight they’re all done! want a sneak peek? can’t wait to see what I get. I’ll post my goodies when they arrive. Happy Friday…or should I say Saturday?

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Lately I’ve been woefully obsessed with macaroons, and ever since I stumbled upon these adorable tea towels last week I can’t stop planning a chic kitchen design for my next apartment.

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I absolutely adore Golden Retrievers. And this makes me miss my puppy more than ever!

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My favorite part of the Super Bowl is easily the commercials – or this time the Beyonce halftime show – and this early Budweiser release is already making me tear up.

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This woman blogs about reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” and it’s absolutely hilarious. Trust me – you’ll be hooked.

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A Beautiful Mess’ DIY constellation scarf just shot straight to the top of my craft to-do list.

Here’s another project I made out of a Paper Source calendar page, and I know just whom to give it to. The secretary at my school always brings in the most amazing cakes for us to eat, and what better way to thank her? If only it were her birthday, since then a cake file folder would make a little more sense. Maybe I can do some investigating and find out when that may be.

Personalized gifts are super pawsome. After she was rescued, my little friend Kay enjoyed the teddy bear I customized for her. They have matching ear tips and went to a forever home together.

I’ve started using my Instagram photos to create personalized cards that are easy to make.  Here are some of my favorite creations:

This photo of my sweet dog is the perfect way to send a love note. A tag inside the envelope holds a handwritten message.

This is my pal Amy.  I love this image of her working behind the adoption desk and spending quality time with a cat named Stripes.  This card represents what a pawsome shelter volunteer she is.

These two troublemakers were foster kittens of mine. I made this card for the people who adopted them. It was my way to say thank you for giving Toby and Keith a loving forever home. It also shows that they were cute at buttons as little kids.

Here is a list of the items I used to make these cards:

4×6 Photo Paper
Scallop Fiskars Scissors
Double Sided Permanent Tape
Card Stock (2 sizes)
Enclosure Envelopes and Cards
Craft Hang Tags
Martha Stewart Stickers
Love You More Than Letterpress Tags
The Best Thing About You Letterpress Tags
Linen Paper Hearts
Assorted Seeded Paper Hearts
Brown Sugar Glitter Tape

I love shopping for my card making supplies at Paper Source.  They also have a lot of really crafty examples in store to inspire your creativity.

Sweet little Wubbikins. I made this card for the inspiration board in my office.

Photography by Amelia Hughes. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s another gift tag I poached from the back of my Paper Source calendar. I love this design. I do pretty much love any mandala I see. I used to make a lot of mandalas sitting in class doodling. At the time, I didn’t know that’s what they were; they were just doodles (usually circular) that I would keep adding on to over time. They felt meditative; they gave me something to focus on, and I didn’t have to worry about messing them up.

Then I saw Seven Years in Tibet. There’s a scene where these Tibetan monks are making this amazing mandala out of colored sand, and they’ve managed to cover an entire floor with this design, and then Chinese soldiers (Were they Chinese? I really should know that) barge in and the lead soldier swipes his foot across the design, ruining it in an instant.

I know in the movie it’s supposed to be a sign of grave disrespect from the soldier, and at the time I felt bad for the monks at the loss of their design.

But I later learned that sand mandalas are meant to be wiped away. The monks put hours of labor into these mandalas, then wipe them away intentionally, to remind themselves that nothing is permanent, and that you can’t become attached to material objects.

When I was in college, somehow I heard there were going to be Tibetan monks at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Video camera in hand, I went to watch them make a sand mandala. It was the coolest thing ever. As soon as you walk into the room, you hear this strange sound as if they’re continuously playing some percussive instruments. But the sound isn’t coming from instruments. They’re holding these skinny tubes made of metal, with sand inside (sort of like a pastry bag you use to squeeze out icing on a cake). The outside of the tube has metal ridges on it, and in their other hand they’re holding a metal stick. They move the stick along the ridges of the tube, causing the tube to vibrate, in turn causing the sand to fall out of the small tube end slowly, in a controlled way. The tubes make that strange noise.

The designs were beautiful. And when they’re done with the designs, after a few days, they blow it away.

Check out a video of monks making a mandala here.

This wintery graphic design reminds me that we are still due for a snow day this year. As a school-teacher, I feel personally cheated if we don’t get at least one snow day per year. My students feel the same. We have had a few teasers–little snow flurries fluttering down in front of our classroom window for about five minutes at a time, then melting away before recess begins. Disappointing!