Introducing The Heart Project

Friends, I want to share with you about something I've been blessed to be able to participate in.  We all do a lot of different things with our blogs, but every now and then something really special comes along where we're able to use our "voice" in the blogosphere to make a difference, especially when we join together.  This is one of those projects.  I hope you'll check it out.

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The Heart Project: American Heart Association Fundraiser

Welcome to The Heart Project!

The Heart Project is a collaborative project to raise funds for the American Heart Association [AHA] and to support a little girl named Ellie [read her story].

More than 70 bloggers have collaborated together to bring you a beautiful book of heart projects! The book includes 100+ child-related heart projects to create, cook, play with and display in your home!

By making a donation to the AHA, you will receive this amazing collection of photographed heart projects from bloggers all over the world! We hope you will join all of us in our efforts to raise $1000 by Valentine's Day for the AHA!

[The eBook has links for most of the heart projects to a tutorial on the blog that contributed it to the book! There is a collective index in the back as well for those that are purchasing the printed version to check out each of the blogs in the book.]

A sneak peek of what's in the book:

Make a donation of $5 during the month of February

to the American Heart Association
and receive The Heart Project ebook as a free gift!

US $5.00 Donation to AHA

 

Plus, For every book sold, Craftprojectideas.com is donating $1! That means in addition to your $5 donation by purchasing the The Heart Book, Craftprojectideas.com will donate another $1 on your behalf [up to $500!]! 

Please hop on over the Craftprojectideas.com Facebook page and tell them a BIG THANK YOU for being so generous!

 

There's a printed version of "The Heart Book" also available!  Its beautifully printed, 8.5 x 8.5", full color, paperback. Five dollars (US $5) of every book sold will be donated to the American Heart Association!

US $20.00

Order the printed version

♥  $5 of every sale of the book will go to the AHA  ♥  

Of course, you can always choose to donate to the AHA without receiving the book too, if you prefer.

There are also a ton of giveways going on to benefit the AHA in conjunction with this project, which you can find links to at hands on: as we grow.

Our contribution to the book was the heart mixed media art Little Crafter made last week:

I previewed the book, and believe me, it's full of so many other gorgeous, fun, crafty, yummy ideas...you're going to love it!

The Heart Project Contributing Bloggers
Each of the following bloggers have contributed a project to The Heart Book.

hands on : as we grow	♥	A Little Learning for Two	♥	Among Many Blessings
Angelique Felix	♥	At Home with Ali	♥	Broken Treasures
Busy at Home	♥	Busy Kids Happy Mom	♥	Carrie Saindon's Photo Journey
Child Central Station	♥	Classified: Mom	♥	Classroom Magic
Creative with Kids	♥	Creativity My Passion	♥	Critters and Crayons
De Tout et de Rien	♥	Dilly-Dali Art	♥	Dinosaurs & Octopuses
Excited 2 Learn	♥	Hand Over the Cookies	♥	Handprint & Footprint Art
Happy Hooligans	♥	Heart Journey	♥	Imagination Soup
Jamie's Jumble	♥	Kitchen Counter Chronicles	♥	Kreative Resources
Let Kids Create	♥	Little Illuminationss	♥	Living Montessori Now
Loudness of the Lambs	♥	Love and Lollipops	♥	Mama, hocemo nesto da pravimo
Mama Pea Pod	♥	Mama Smiles	♥	MemeTales
Messy Kids	♥	Mindful Meanderings	♥	Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Mommy Labs	♥	Mommy Perks	♥	Mum Paints Lives
Mummy Mummy Mum	♥	My Creative Family	♥	NurtureStore
One Artsy Mama	♥	Peace Love & Rainbows	♥	Play Dr Mom
Putti Prapancha	♥	Rainbows within Reach	♥	Reading Confetti
Ready. Set. Read!	♥	Red Ted Art	♥	Sense of Wonder
Share & Remember	♥	Stacy Molter	♥	Sun Hats & Wellie Boots
Teach Preschool	♥	The Artful Child	♥	The Chocolate Muffin Tree
The Craft Barn	♥	The Educators' Spin on It	♥	The Golden Gleam
The Imagination Tree	♥	The Iowa Farmer's Wife	♥	The Joy of My Life
The Kids Fun Review	♥	The Outlaw Mom Blog	♥	The Preschool Toolbox
The Seeds Network	♥	Toddler Approved

It's a privilege to be part of something like this, and I want to recognize Jamie from hands on: as we grow for all her hard work.  This was her idea, and she's done all the organizing.  Thanks, Jamie, for using your skills and your blog to make the world a better place.

Printables: A Mama's Love

Recently, I saw the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time.

My gorgeous friend Brandee holding sweet Baby O, who was born at 28 weeks, weighing 1lb 12 oz.

Her hubby posted on Facebook how much Baby O seems to relax in his mommy's presence and it just reminded me all over again of the strength and power of a parent's love.  A quote came to mind that I'd seen on Pinterest awhile back, and I couldn't resist making this edited photo for her:

As I thought about the quote, I decided that I wanted a copy of it for Little Crafter; something he could put in his room or wherever he wants it to remind him, as I always tell him, that I love him to the moon and back.  Then, I thought that some of you might like to have a copy too or to share it with a friend.  So, here's a printable you can feel free to download; I made it in a variety of colors for you and you can choose from 8x10 or 5x7, whatever you like.  Enjoy!

                       Download 8x10                                                     Download 8x10

                       Download 5x7                                                       Download 5x7

                      Download 8x10                                                       Download 8x10

                      Download 5x7                                                         Download 5x7

Pin It  PS- I'd love for you to help yourself to one or all four of the printables I created, but please respect the privacy of my friend and her family by not pinning or printing her photo.   Thanks, friends!



Guest Postin'

Hey friends!

Today, I'm visiting over at While He Was Napping.  I'm sharing my bird nest baby shower ideas to help Krista prepare for the arrival of her own little miracle!

Come visit!

Festive Placemats

When I saw this Valentine Placemat project from Katydid and Kid, I immediately pinned it and decided Little Crafter and I needed to make it.  Right away.

Literally about two hours after I'd seen it online, we made our own version.  I already had all the supplies I needed here at home, so why wait?  We didn't have any doilies, but I figured scrapbook paper hearts would work just as well...and they did!

Here's ours and how you can make your own

FESTIVE VALENTINE PLACEMAT

Materials:

- transparent contact paper

- scrapbook paper cut into heart shapes {and/or doily hearts}

- glitter {most of ours was provided by our friends at Craftprojectideas.com}

-ribbon

-scissors

STEP 1: Cut a piece of contact paper slightly larger than you want the finished placemat to be and place it sticky-side-up on the table, or in our case, the floor.

STEP 2: Use ribbon to make a border for the placemat by sticking it onto the contact paper in a rectangle shape.

STEP 3: Place hearts wherever you want them to go and gently press down to adhere.  We had to have blue and purple hearts too, since LC is adamant that blue, red, and purple are his three favorite colors.

STEP 4: Sprinkle with glitter.

STEP 5: Remove backing from another piece of contact paper.  Place that second piece sticky side up.  Take your placemat and flip it over, pressing it onto the piece of contact paper.  Rub to get the bubbles out and make sure the two pieces seal.  Trim around the edges.

ENJOY!

Pin It

The beautiful thing about contact paper is that you can easily wipe it clean, it's waterproof, and this placemat is even reversible!  What could be more fun?  And since we had everything we needed, it was free!

I'm actually kind of jealous of Little Crafter...I may have to get him to make one for me!

If you try this, I'd love to see!

Happy Crafting!

Family is Love Wall Hanging

What, oh, what would I do without Pinterest?

Earlier this month, as I was scouting for festive Valentine crafts, I came across a great idea for a wall hanging using wooden hearts, originally from The Peanut Paintshop.

So, Little Crafter and I did what we do best.  We went to Michaels, bought us some wooden hearts, and got out our paintbrushes.

Here's how it turned out, and how you can make your own!

HEART WALL HANGING

MATERIALS:

- wooden hearts

- acrylic paint and brushes

- Sharpie permanent marker

- ribbon

- low temp glue gun

STEP 1: Paint your hearts.  You can use as many or as few hearts as you like; the original had four, ours has three.  We alternated between red and pink, but you do them all the same or you could also use colors more reminiscent of conversation hearts if you like.

STEP 2: Add words.  I used a black Sharpie, although you could paint them too. It's good to decide what you want to say before you buy your hearts so you know you have enough.  Originally, I was going to put one of our names on each of the hearts.  But when I told Little Crafter, he was oddly insistent that it needed to say "Family."  I said, "What about family?"  Together we came up with "Family is love."  How could I say no?

STEP 3: Hot glue hearts onto a strip of ribbon.  I suppose you could measure to make sure they're evenly spaced, but I just eyed it up...close enough!

STEP 4: Glue top part of ribbon so that it forms a loop for hanging.  Tie a separate piece of ribbon around as a bow at the top.  Hang and enjoy!

 This is a fun one because you can personalize it any way you like...colors, ribbon, words, and it can be done entirely as a big girl craft or with the help of little hands who like to paint!

Also, it's pretty inexpensive.  The hearts are about $1 a piece, and I had the ribbon left from when I made my wreath for the front door.  The paint was about $1 a bottle and has already been used for other projects too.  Cheap, easy, quick, and cute...that's right up this artsy mama's alley!

Happy Crafting!

Conversation Hearts Centerpiece

Wanna know what my favorite thing about the Shine on Fridays link parties is?

The way you inspire me.

Here's what I mean.  Today, I made this centerpiece for our dining room table.

Pin It

For about three weeks now, ever since we put the Christmas decorations away and I emptied the ornaments out of my hurricane vase, I've been agonizing over how to festively fill it for this season.  {In case you're new around here, I bought this vase about a year and a half ago, and I redo it every couple of months or so...it's totally cheap, and a fun crafty challenge!  You can read all about it in my Cheap & Easy Centerpieces post.}

Last year, I filled with with the Valentine standard, conversation hearts, plus my white candle.

Which I liked...as did the members of our Bible Study group who kept snacking on them.  You could see considerably more of the candle by the time February was over. 

But I wanted something different this time!

Then, at last week's Shine on Fridays party, I spotted this Conversation Hearts Jar Greene Acres Hobby Farm...

she had written conversation topics on these hearts cut from scrapbook paper and placed them in a jar.

What a great idea!  Immediately, I decided that was the centerpiece I'd been waiting for.  Pretty, festive, and it even provides quality conversation!  So, today I got to work. 

Here's how I made my version:

CONVERSATION HEARTS CENTERPIECE

Materials:

 red and pink scrapbook paper

scissors and black pen

heart shape to trace {optional}

hurricane vase

red filler

candle

STEP 1: The first thing I did was fold my 6x6 scrapbook paper in half, then in half again.

I found a foam heart that was the size I wanted and used that as a cutting guide.

STEP 2: I cut out 20 hearts, then wrote a conversation starter on each one.

Sample ideas:

"I love Mommy/Daddy/Little crafter because..."

"In the spring/summer/fall/winter I love to..."

"The holiday I love best is..."

"Some friends I love to spend time with are..."

"Places I love to go are..."

"The vacation spot I love most is..."

"One thing I love about Jesus is..."

"I love our home because..."

"On weekends, I love to..."

STEP 3: Fill the vase with red tinsel and place candle in the center.  Arrange hearts around the sides.

Quick.  Easy.  Cheap.  My kind of craft!  Although at some point I paid for it all, I feel like this project cost me absolutely nothing because I already had everything on hand from other crafting projects and holidays.

I can't wait to show it to hubby and LC and see how fun our dinner conversation is tonight with the help of our very own "conversation hearts!"  Thanks, Greene Acres Hobby Farm for inspiring me once again {the first time was our cool monster pillows} to actually make something really fun!  And thanks to everyone who links up at our parties and shares great ideas each week!  You never know, your latest project might be someone's newest inspiration!

Happy Crafting!

Shine on Fridays #12!

Happy Friday!

You know what that means...party time!

Last week, we had a whopping 272 projects linked up!

As promised, yes, I did a happy dance when we hit 200

 {with Little Crafter too!}

 ...then we hit 250 and I got really excited!

Here's a look at 5 of the top 10 most viewed links from the party...be sure to stop by Happy Go Lucky to see the others.

How cute is this Love Printable shared by one of my newest bloggy buddies Kelly, from Live.Laugh.Rowe?!  Seems to me I know someone else who recently made a printable using I Corinthians 13 as an inspiration...apparently great minds think alike! :)


Having a chocolate emergency?  Let Making Memories help with this great tutorial; she shows how to be super sneaky and fill a pull tab can with chocolate kisses...it's totally genius!  Check it out!

Cheap Crafty Mama shared a ton of fabulous Valentine's Day Ideas; this one was my favorite.

 I love this DIY Scarf from ...for Lauren and Lauren, and apparently so did you!  It's so fun and stylish!

In her post No Joke About Twine, brand new blogger Kimberly from Colors Mixed Together shows how a little twine put the perfect finishing touch on a chic upcycle.  Stop by to say hi and welcom her to blog-land!


Last week, we also had our first ever party giveaway!
{The winner of the SHINE pendant is Ami Allison; congratulations!}

Kara and I decided that giving things away is so fun we don't want to stop, so this week, Kara is offering one of these awesome year-long journal books she made...take a look!

A Year to Remember One Day at a Time A collection of words, quotes, phrases, and special memories. by K. Harvey | Make Your Own Book

Rafflecopter will walk you through the entry process, just wait for it to load...sometimes it takes a minute or two.

Good luck!

Now, on to the party!

<center><a href="http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/"><img alt="One Artsy Mama" src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc86/dancers4life/shine3.png"/></a><center></center></center>

Show off your fabulous creations with us and be inspired by what others have created!

   

Please link up crafts, recipes, home decor, etc.

We can't wait to see what you've been up to lately!!

If you're going to play along with us, pretty please:

- follow both co-hosts via GFC
- grab a party button and put it somewhere on your blog
- have fun and visit some other friends
- no commercial sites

Linking up your photos gives us permission to use them in features on our blogs and Facebook pages.

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