Big D, Little D, What Begins With D

Can you tell I have been reading to many Dr. Suess books?  I do love how he takes it upon himself to just make words up whenever he sees fit.  I mean what is a Fiffer-feffer-feff? Sorry, focus Jill, focus!  So what am I really writing about today...ahh yes my new D.

Seeing as how I have already laid out my two major spending projects for the next few weeks (cushions for the family room benches and bedding for my daughter's soon to be purchased Big Girl Bed) I have been trying to pinch pennies elsewhere.  And today's project is perfect for that seeing as it was FREE.  I smile every time I type that word.

If you remember way back when I made this frame



I mentioned that it would not only be used for Christmas decs but would then be used again in the guest room.  Well, I am now swinging back around to the guest room project and needed something to go inside of this frame, which is what the D is for.

I started out by cutting a piece of cardboard from the huge pile in our garage - our recycling bin needs to be 3 times bigger.  And then I used this wood D I bought from Michael's and painted black long ago to trace the letter.

Simple, simple, simple...

Next I went back to the garage and spray painted the now cut out D gold

After I let it dry for about an hour I started wrapping and gluing the burlap scraps from another Christmas decoration.  A few hot glue burns later my D was done.  The effect is great.  You can see the gold peaking through the burlap and the spray paint totally hides that it is made of cardboard. 

And here is a sneak peak of how it is going to be used...

But more about that later.

All You Need Is Love

My mom and I were recently having a conversation about success and I said "How do you measure a successful life anyways" and my mom in all her 65 years of wisdom said "That's easy...love. As long as you give love and get love you are a success."  And man is she right!  And there is no better time to remember that than the month of love, February.  So although I am not doing much Valentine's decorating that doesn't mean I am a love Grinch and that doesn't mean that I don't love all the wonderful Valentine's ideas out there.  So although The Love Jar is all my house will see this love season I wanted to share some great ideas to fill your homes and tummies...


I love the idea of thinking outside the box (or heart in this case) and using non-traditional color schemes when decorating for the holidays.  Here is the link for step-by-step directions for folding your own origami hearts.

I just LOVE these yarn letters from My Sister's Suitcase.  They may just make me go back on my "no more Valentine's project" rule!



Art.com has a great series of Valentine's art.  I just love all the sayings!  You could easily DIY cards or art just like these...
 




Here is a quick Vday printable  from The 36th Avenue as well as an adorable Kiss Bag



And this idea, vase within a vase, is just so darn clever.  Darn you Martha!



And for a little something yummy, Strawberry Angel Food Cake Scewers

    

Now just in case you can't find the perfect card here is one that just screams love (and truth)...



Happy loving!