Hearts Mobile

I've been wanting to make a mobile out of some old embroidery hoops that I've had for awhile.  I keep seeing beautiful mobiles in Pinterest, and they look so easy.  I actually thought this project was a bit tedious- I was hoping it would go quicker.  I do like how it turned out, though, good enough to hang over our Valentine's dinner.

Materials: wooden hoops, paint chips, and sewing thread

Valentine's Day Salad

We'll be staying in for Valentine's Day- no fancy dinners out for us this year.  So I'll try to make something special at home.  This heart salad is on the menu.

 To make an ordinary salad for Valentine's I added heart shaped Parmesan crisps and croutons.  They are both really easy and quick.   Here's how I made the cheese crisps:

I like a recipe with one ingredient.  Grate about 3/4 of a cup of Parmesan cheese...

 Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.  Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make little mounds of grated cheese...

It should look like this going into the oven.  Bake at 400 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes...

 And they look like this coming out of the oven...

 Let cool and carefully remove with a spatula...

 

 Add them to your salad (or soups, to top a roast, etc.)  They are crispy and delicious!  I saw the heart shaped croutons years and years ago in a Martha Stewart magazine.  This link shows you how to make them, although I ended up making mine slightly different.  Instead of baking them I toasted the croutons in a skillet with olive oil and Mrs. Dash garlic pepper.  Either way, they are pretty easy.

 A special salad for your someone special.  I hope my valentines love it!

Valentine Garlands

I'm taking a tiny break from cleaning up to make some seasonal decorations... Valentine's Day heart garlands! Actually this first one is probably not technically a garland, but I don't know what to call it- a hanging? I got the idea from a Paper-Source catalogue.Here's how I did it:

1. Pick out paper. I painted a piece of sketch paper with water colors when my kids had their paints out. A medium weight paper works well.2. Cut into strips about one inch wide.3. Fold in half.4. Using a pen (or dowel, knitting needle, etc.) roll the paper tightly up to the center fold.5. Take the pen out- it should look like this.6. Repeat with the other side. The paper will form a heart that looks like this.7. Cut a length of thread twice as long as you want your hanging to hang. I strung a small glass bead onto the end to give the whole thing weight. Then thread a sewing needle onto the the thread. Using the needle, pull the thread up through the bottom of the paper heart. 8. Using a small piece of double sided tape or a photo mounting square, stick the top of the heart together, making sure to catch the thread in the tape.It should look like this when you are done.9. Follow this the remaining paper hearts, stacking them on top of each other. The finished project- stacked paper heart "garland."

And this is the simple felt heart garland I made. I cut out all these hearts to make embroidered felt conversation hearts, but it was going to take way too long. I just ran them through my machine and made the garland instead.