I hope that you all had a cozy Valentine’s Day; I certainly did, which means that I spent the day at home celebrating the completion of my Valentine’s to-do list (and starting on my next projects!).
Now I shall dump an excessive amount of red-pink-and-white photos into this post, please enjoy my 5 DIY Valentine’s Day Projects 😌🎀
just look how cute this is; the perfect backdrop for all my videos!
project 1: heart garlands
The first projects I did were a couple of heart garlands, and I must preface this by saying that every project I did turned out cuter than I’d hoped for 🤭
I had this air dry clay on hand from when I made my Christmas ornaments (I actually bought it specifically to make an ornament of Mary Todd’s footprint, and yes, I did succeed), and I put it to use once again.
I ended up making two garlands and cut out twelve little hearts for each (I wanted to make a third garland and make the hearts into candy hearts, but alas, I didn’t have time! I shall save the idea for next year).
one of the best color palettes — only rivaled by Easter’s pastels!
I came up with four colors and designs for each, and repeated them three times in each garland. I was especially pleased with these cute lil strawberries (you can watch me make them here!)
Although my natural instinct when it comes to art is to make things as realistically-detailed and perfect as possible, I consciously decided to make these very simple; no outlines, and no fussing over perfection.
The borders aren’t even, and the lines aren’t totally straight, but I love this look for this project, especially when I paired it with the natural jute string.
I expected to be able to thread the jute continually through the holes of the hearts and have them all hang on it, but they ended up hanging wonky, so I had to knot the jute through every hole instead…which was time consuming. Especially since I had to reinforce each knot with glue.
But this ensured that they hung perfectly, so it was worth the effort!
project 2: cut-and-sew doll
All of these projects were filmed and made into YouTube shorts, and, surprisingly, this next silly little project was my most popular one that I posted (you can never predict which videos will get the views, but this one currently has over 12k).
I found this vintage cut-and-sew doll stuck in my closet and figured it’d be the perfect time to make hers, since she looks pretty seasonally appropriate.
If you don’t know what a cut-and-sew doll is, it’s essentially a panel of cotton fabric that has all the pieces of a doll (plus the instructions) all printed on it. So you just have to cut the doll out, follow the instructions, and sew them together (hence the name).
they each have cliché names (the Christmas doll is named Holly), and this is Rose Marie 🌹
A few years ago I discovered these cut-and-sew dolls (printed by the now-closed Cranston Print Works) and got obsessed with them. I scoured Etsy and eBay and bought as many different ones as I could find.
I ended up having a whole box of them, but didn’t know what to do with them all once they were made, so I think I ended up giving them away or donating them (I honestly can’t remember, which is kinda weird).
Anyways, I always held onto this pattern because I just thought she was so cute. Turns out, a whole bunch of people on YouTube think she’s cute too. Of course it would be the project that took the least amount of skill that got the most attention! But oh well, it’s definitely been fun to watch the stats climb! It also reignited my love for these dolls, and I ended up buying a couple more of them (some of them will appear on my page for Easter 🐰)
my plants are beginning to get their spring growth, and they look so happy 🤍
project 3: clay valentine’s
Circling back to some more clay work, this one might be my favorite project of the holiday this year.
I had a ✨vision✨ for these, and they surpassed my hopes and expectations. The hearts were larger than the ones I used in the garland, so I was able to put much more detail into them.
Once they were finished I was so happy with them that I ended up making a few more to sell in the shop.
I was going for somewhat of a folk-art style, but in the classic colors of Valentine’s Day. And as you can see, the strawberries made it onto these too! Perhaps they’re my newest obsession.
For Christmas my sister’s girlfriend gifted me some gold foil, and as soon as I saw it my brain went 💡
click to enlarge the photos and appreciate all the tiny dots I made 🤭
I’ve always wanted to try gold foil, but I’ve just simply never spent the money, and have stuck with gold paint for most projects instead. But as soon as I thought up these ornaments I knew that they would be the perfect project to try using the foil on (I also used it on one of my garlands!).
I was right, the gold absolutely made these ornaments. But I quickly learned that it was best to wear a facemask while using the foil, because with one single exhale, gold went flying everywhere (after that, I kept finding myself holding my breath). It can easily be a messy project, but so worth it for the end result!!
You can watch the video of me making them here (it’s set to a very catchy song!) ❤
I just recently trimmed, propagated, and repotted my plants into bigger ceramic pots; they look so happy, and I expect that they’ll start going crazy soon with the changing light
project 4: quilted heart jeans
I’ve already added quilted mushrooms, leaves, seashells, and classic quilted stars to pants (see some of the new designs here!), but this was the first time adding hearts, and I love it! I would’ve been tempted to keep them if they hadn’t been so tight on my stomach, but these are now listed and available for purchase in the shop.
I wanted to keep everything classically blue so that it was only the hearts that popped, and I think it turned out perfectly.
Watch how I made them here! 💗
the fit of these are so perfect, I hope they end up finding the right person to rock ’em!
project 5: upcycled tote bag
The last project that ended up being posted on my channel was this tote bag, made with the same heart pattern as the jeans. I actually just ended up keeping this one, but the matching cardigan is for sale in the shop.
The body of the bag is made out of a vintage bedspread with a beautiful pink floral design, and the inside, and the heart, are sewn from a vintage bedsheet. I’m now realizing that I don’t have any good photos of this project, but you can watch how it was made here!
please take a moment to appreciate my incredible shirt 😌
honorable mention: mini valentine’s
I whipped up some mini Valentine’s for my family at the last minute (these are the same size as the garland hearts). I set them out on the table (along with some printed bird-pun Valentine’s, thanks to Cornell) when everyone was in bed, so that they had something small and sweet to wake up to 🤭
Other than that, I think that basically wraps up my over-the-top Valentine’s projects.
Two weeks of drowning in pink-colored-everything.
mini valentines! ❤🤍💗
Sometimes I just get a ridiculous goal into my head and get really obsessed with reaching it, and this was one of those times. I really won’t want to go through all this footage again to make my February wrap, because I’ve already seen it, and sifted through it, enough already!
But anyway, I shall retire the confetti hearts until next year ❤
art by jordan rae 