Our Home Valentine Wrap-Up

Wow!  I can't believe it is nearly Valentine's Day!  I don't normally go all out for Valentine's Day.. or any holiday, other than Christmas, I suppose.. but something about bringing a few dashes of color into the house during this gloomy month seemed so appealing to me!  Plus, dare I say, I may finally be in a groove with our newborn who is hardly a newborn anymore since he will be 8 months old!

Anyway, back to how Cupid hit a few arrows into by butt and convinced me to decorate a little around here.  I've missed having a few crafts around the house that make me smile each time I walk past them.

First up, our family room mantle.  I used two Christmas stocking hooks to hold up a curtain rod.  Then I tied pieces of card stock that I placed back to back since both sides would be seen.  On one side, I left it blank.  On the other, I printed out pictures of my *loves*.  I just love walking past it and catching a glimpse of one of my sweet little babies.  Better yet, is when we have guests and I catch them walking up to examine and fawn over those adorable faces.  I even through in a few of Bryan and I.

Next up, is my kitchen mantle.  I cut out some card stock hearts and sewed them together.  Boom!  Easy Peasy Banner!  And It makes me so happy!  It was so easy, that I was able to hold my baby in one arm, feed the hearts through my sewing machine with my other hand.. and even sip some coffee. It was such a peaceful morning since the older kiddos and Bryan were playing out in the snow.  Once the banner was done, it was nap time for the little man and I was finally able to join them out there!  So worth it!

Finally, in the dining room, I made some paper mason jars to fill up my frames.  Whoop whoop! Loving all of these touches of love!

Speaking of chocolate.. I mean, what?  Yes! My mom made me and brought me this!  Does she know the way to my heart or what?  Can I tell you something kinda funny?  When I'm pregnant, I have very few cravings.  In fact, I have more food aversions than I do cravings!  But wham-bam! Once that baby is out, I NEED CHOCOLATE.  Maybe it's because I need caffeine to keep me moving?  Honestly, that's my only theory.  Anybody who has some scientific documents, I'd love to see them!  Maybe then, I could curb this addiction?  ha!  Who am I kidding!  Just keep giving me chocolate!  Thanks mom!  You did a wonderful job and it's almost too cute to eat.  Almost. 

Goodness!  How long after Valentine's Day is it acceptable to keep these hearts hanging around the house?  I just love all the love going around here!  Whether you're spending Saturday alone or with someone you're smitten with, I hope your day is fill with chocolate!  

"Let It Snow" Mitten Banner

Oh, Man!  Do I have a great deal for you! You'll have to stay with me until the end of the post to see what my Silhouette Group has done this time! Let me give you a hint... we're giving away TWO machines to TWO lucky winners!! Plus, we've put together a great source of winter projects to spark some creativity in you!

But, first!  Let me show you my latest and greatest creation!  My Sister In-Law moved out to Colorado back in September.  (I swear, I'm in a time warp!  That seriously feels like yesterday!  How is it already December?!)  Anyway, I've been meaning to send out a little care package to her for days, weeks,  months!  Yes.  It has come to that.  Finally, the package was together and I included a winter banner for her to hang in her mountain apartment!

I kept it simple for 2 reasons.  

1: If I made something super complex, it wouldn't have gotten done in the nap times of our three kiddos.  That leaves too many opportunities for me to tuck it away and forget to finish it up (or for it to get destroyed by sticky little fingers!)

2: Best of all, she's like me, and likes things simple! Winner, Winner!

I love how it turned out and I think she's going to love it, too!  I can't wait to see where she hangs it!  Some of my favorite projects I have given as gifts.  How do you feel about handmade gifts?  Personally, they are my favorite!!

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration! 1. Pineapples and Pinecones // 2. Simply Kelly Designs // 3. Architecture of a Mom // 4. Just a Girl and Her Blog // 5. Two Purple Couches // 6. Chicken Scratch NY // 7. Creative Ramblings // 8. One Dog Woof // 9. Ginger Snap Crafts // 10. The Thinking Closet // 11. Please Excuse My Craftermath... // 12. Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body // 13. weekend craft // 14. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 15. Practically Functional // 16. Living My Given Life // 17. My Paper Craze // 18. The Kim Six Fix // 19. Home At Eight // 20. Queen of Everything // 21. Tried & True // 22. McCall Manor // 23. unOriginal Mom // 24. Create it. Go! // 25. From Wine to Whine // 26. GetSilvered // 27. It's Always Ruetten // 28. Nearly Handmade // 29. Mama Sonshine // 30. Silhouette School // 31. It Happens in a Blink // 32. Create & Babble // 33. Sowdering About // 34. Where The Smiles Have Been // 35. My Favorite Finds // 36. Lil' Mrs. Tori // 37. Designed Decor

Silhouette Giveaway!

And I've saved the best for last.  My Silhouette Challenge buddies in partnership with Silhouette America are hosting a mega-huge giveaway for not one...but two winners!  The prizes up for grabs? First prize: The NEW Silhouette Cameo Machine and Designer Edition Super Bundle!  $406.93 value.

• Silhouette CAMEO®
• Designer Edition Software
• Dust Cover
• $25 Download Card
• Four Essential Silhouette Tools (hook, spatula, scraper, pick-me-up™)

Second prize: Silhouette Portrait Machine and Rhinestone Starter Kit!  $219.98 value. Pretty sweet, huh?  We want you to have the chance to get that Silhouette machine that might still be on your wish list. To enter: just complete the entries in the Rafflecopter widget below or at this link.  Because of my many blog friends who helped make this giveaway possible, you have 42 potential entries, which means a lot of winning power.  So, hurry up and enter! {This giveaway runs from today through Monday, December 15th at 11:59p eastern and is open to anyone 18 years of age or older with a U.S. or Canada mailing address. You can read the rest of the terms and conditions in the widget below.} a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!

Find Your Blog Content on Pinterest

Have you ever wondered if your blog content has been pinned on Pinterest?  There's a really easy way to find out!

First, you'll want to type this into your browser:  http://pinterest.com/source/YOUR BLOG.com

So for me, it's http://pinterest.com/source/nearlyhandmade.blogspot.com

From there, you can see who has pinned what and even how many times it has been repined!  It's such a useful tool to see what content has been popular as well as where some of your blog traffic is coming from!

So, to all of you who have pinned and repined from Nearly Handmade, thank you for helping my little blog grow!

If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, you can do so here!

Janice

"Welcome Baby" Wreath

Oh my!  I can't even believe that our newest little man in the house is 2 months old today!  He is the most laid back baby we've had so far and we're just over the moon in love.  His older sister and brother are a little too in love with him.  They hug and kiss him every waking moment of the day.

Before our little man was born, I had the whole house nice and clean and I had all of the laundry continuously caught up.  It was nesting to the max!  Well, I kinda ran out of things to clean and organize so I started to craft!  One of my crafts that I just had to make was some sort of wreath to welcome our little bundle of joy into our family.

This wreath is super easy and very quick to make.  I just cut out a circle from a piece of cardboard that we were going to throw out.  I'm sure it was from an amazon box because we're kinda obsessed over here. Then, I clipped the pins onto the cardboard!  Still with me, here? Pretty complicated, huh? :)

[Scrap Lumber] Daddy Countdown

AH!  We've all been soaking in every spare moment we've had to spend time with the guy who lives here with the kids and I... you know, my husband!!  He's home from another deployment and we couldn't be more excited.  We are so beyond fortunate that his deployments are really short compared to so many other people serving overseas.  There are so many families that count down months instead of days until their loved one returns.  Bryan was gone 38 days this time around.  I'm not sure how long that feels for an (almost) 4 year old and an (almost) 2 year old... but I do know that our little lady loved being able to countdown until daddy's return!

Oh man! Does this countdown look familiar?  Eek... I've been caught.  It's actually the same exact countdown I have been using for our countdown until baby #3 arrives!  I just used the other side of the bottom block to make our daddy count down!  By the way, we're down to just 32 days until baby!