valentine paper hearts craft that made my heart melt

i know, i know, i'm about a month late posting a gorgeous, fun, easy and oh so fabulous valentine craft. better late than never though, right?

february is the time of year my cabin fever peaks and my craft ideas are dwindling, but i was determined to find something sweet and easy enough for a eager three year old crafter to be entertained. these paper hearts were the perfect valentine's day craft


you'll need:

- at least 10 sheets of paper
- scissors (or "snizzors" as we call them :)
- needle + thread
- tape

as i'm writing 'what you'll need' i'm realizing you could do a zillion variations of this. we used old maps, paper bags, scrap paper, envelopes and origami paper to make our hearts, but you could all different shades of colors, or do ombre (i might totally try that next!), or book paper sheets, etc. your possibilities are endless!

we used my favorite metallic thread to string them together, although you don't notice the shimmer as much as i was hoping, but you could use clear fishing wire to have them look like the hearts are floating in the air or a colored thread depending on the look you're going for.

and you could also mix it up by using fun washi tape instead of clear scotch tape.

step 1: cut out all of your hearts. we did a bunch of different sizes, but i think it could look really beautiful to have them the same size too.





step 2: i laid all of our hearts in rows as i wanted them to be strung up.






step 3: i single threaded my needle, but put a knot at the end of the string so your hearts don't fall off. i purposefully left a little string on the end of mine too because I'm never sure what i might morph them into in the future. i also had grand ideas of making little tails for each strand, but clearly ran out of time/effort. string your ideal rows of hearts and space them however you want. some of the hearts looked cute almost on top of one another.

step 4: be sure not to get them tangled.



step 5: have your oh-so-fabulous husband help tape them to the very high ceiling in the exact spot where you want them to cascade down and try not to be so picky down to the centimeter where you want them to be

step 6: keep them up for weeks to admire + enjoy your craftiness. we loved our valentine craft so much we kept the hearts up weeks later for cai's christening and they are still up. i'm not completely sure i ever want to take them down.

the sweetest, little DIY ornaments you ever did see

i heart christmas! 

we usually wait to decorate until after miss nia's birthday, to be sure it doesn't get lost in the holiday shuffle. so now that we're in double digit december, all is clear. our tree is bought, up + decorated.

each year we give the kids a new ornament for the tree, which is a tradition i really love, especially after last year when my mom gave me a box of all of my childhood ornaments; so sweet + special.

this year i found these gorgeous boiled wool ornaments from the sweetest little shop in washington CT. the yellow toadstool nia picked out herself, amidst the pink and purple ones. and mr.fox is for cai made by roost (another amazing site that i love + frequent :) 

  

but i still wanted to find a little trinket for the tree for stuart. after some serious instagram inspiration from laura short, i whipped up these little angels in lieu of a store bought ornament. 

i made them using heavy pre-glittered paper for the wings. the weight really worked nicely to glue everything to and will hold up. you can find the paper, in a bunch of different shades, at any craft store. 

the little paper hats are cut from fun origami paper, that i doubled and reinforced with heavy paper behind them so they could stand up straight and take the weight of the glue and pom pom. 

 ta-da! how adorable, right!? i love them so much, i plan on hanging them up somewhere to stay all year round. 

rosemary gin fizz

we just had our 4th annual friendsgiving. it was sensational + exceptionally delicious.

we each prepare 2 or 3 dishes with the challenge of trying to top last years. amongst the white truffle oil smashed red potatoes, pancetta sautéed brussel sprouts with maple glaze, roasted beet salad and sage + garlic stuffed turkey, we made a signature cocktail for the evening; rosemary infused gin fizz.



the recipe was a combination of a few that sounded easy and sweet, but after reading this recipe, i based mine off of that.



rosemary gin fizz

2 C. rosemary infused simple syrup (1 c. sugar + 1c. water + handful rosemary sprigs, brought to boil until sugar dissolves. remove sprigs)

2 1/4 C. gin

2/3 C. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 C. club soda

1 bottle Prosecco 

mix in large pitcher or punch bowl and add fresh sprigs of rosemary to each glass. (we added a splash of prosecco to our finished cocktails to add a bit more *sparkling* )

i have some sweet and flavorful cardamom + clover simple syrup from williams sonoma and am curious to try that with the gin + prosecco too. i'll keep you posted once i try it. perhaps this weekend : )

birthday wishes

                            

i just celebrated my 31st birthday with great friends and delicious food. i never have really felt myself getting older or feared being in my 30's , however, i just went for a 4 1/2 mile run yesterday and my body afterwards was screaming at me to stretch. it never did that when i was 25. 

i'm back!

well, needless to say i'm seriously slacking and totally fell behind on this sweet, little blog. lots of things to update you on; our perfect little prince Cai, the house slowly coming along, current cravings, recent delicious recipes and couches we're pining for...

coming right up!

here is the main reason for my delay...