Valentine's Day Gift Baskets

I love putting together gift baskets.  Especially themed gift baskets!  This is the one I did for my sister Jordan for Christmas last year.  The theme was "Jordan".  I included a bunch of her favorite things!  

I put together some ideas for a Valentine's Day Gift Basket! Then see my list of gift basket tips below!

For Kids: 1. Basket 2. Pixy Stix - Perfect to stand up in the back of the basket 3. Kids Heart Socks 4. Magic Scratch Hearts: I can tell you from personal experience, these are fun to do! 5. 3D Fidget Stress Ball Heart Shaped: I can't tell you why, but they will love this  6. Metallic Markers: They will love markers that are different than their usual ones! 7. Tall Valentine's Themed Memo Pads (to use their markers on!)  8. A super soft, cute stuffed animal holding a heart 9. Flashing Light Up Heart Necklace 10. Valentine's Day Punching Balloon 11. Get these as filler for the basket 12. Lots of candy!

          
   

For Her:

1. Gift Basket  2. A new book  3. bubble bath  4. eye mask  5. slippers 6. pashmina 7. gold plated heart earrings 8. chocolate 9. cinnamon heart candy 10. jelly bean heart candy

Here are a few tips:

1. Find a basket at Goodwill - they always have a great supply!

2. Put something in the bottom of the basket, so your items set higher.  A small box, crumpled up paper - whatever you have that works (and can be tossed).  Then put tissue paper over the base item.

3. Arrange items by height, taller things in the back - small things up front.

4. Add a cello bag to keep everything contained and to make it look professional.  

5. When buying items - look for things that are cohesive - that go with the theme and are visually cohesive - for the kids basket, I went with fun/colorful/hearts theme and for the ladies basket I went with red/comforting/luxury.

6. Tie it up with red tulle ribbon - that's one of my secrets of gift wrapping!  It looks amazing and it's easy to work with.

If you do a gift basket for Valentine's Day - post a pic on Instagram and use #LPGiftBasket  - I'd love to see it!

♥ Tote Bag

 

 

I had never used iron-on transfers before, but I bought a camera and a heart on the same day, just to try out!  I blogged about the camera here.  But today I will tell you how to make an adorable heart tote bag! 

This project was truly a fun, creative, spontaneous chance to create - I loved it!  I had planned to put the rhinestone heart directly onto a white tote bag, as I did with the camera iron-on.  Once I laid it out though, it was too small and didn't make enough impact.  So I went to my scrap fabric box and started playing!  I ended up adding several more layers of hearts for visual interest.  I didn't make any kind of pattern, I just freehand cut out the hearts about 1/2 an inch bigger in graduated sizes.  They aren't perfect and to me, that gives them charm.  I ironed the heart onto pink felt that I had - felt might not be the best base for an iron-on, but the paper came off eventually and it worked!

Then, after I had sewed around nearly all the outside heart, I wondered what it would look like to add stuffing to it and make it a raised, pillow-like heart on the tote bag. 

I love this tote for every day use.  I also thought it would be ADORABLE for kids to take valentines to school in.  And it would be an adorable Valentine's Day gift or even to use as a gift bag!



Happy Valentine's Day!!

xoxo Lyndi

Valentine's Day Gift - Make Your Own Lottery Ticket

I found this idea at:  http://www.bhg.com/holidays/valentines-day/cards/make-a-scratch-off-card-for-valentines-day/

On this site, you can find a downloadable customizable template and an instruction video.
 

I know how much my sister Jordan loves lottery tickets, so I decided to make one for her!

 

Here is how mine turned out:
 

For this project you'll need:

cardstock

liquid dishwashing soap

metallic acryllic paint

flat paint brush

contact paper

 



Using the customizable template , fill in the hearts with prizes (that you're prepared to give), then print in color.

 

 Print the template again, on plain paper and cut the hearts out.  Cut a strip of contact paper.



 

Trace the hearts on the paper side of the contact paper.  To make the scratch-off solution, mix 2 parts metallic acrylic paint with 1 part dishwashing liquid.



Using a small, flat paintbrush, apply a thin coat of the scratch-off solution onto the front side of the contact paper and let dry for an hour. Repeat with a second coat; add a third coat if your paint looks streaky.



 

Then cut out the hearts (making a heart sticker) and peel off the backing and stick the hearts onto the cardstock.

 

 

 

 

FYI, Jordan was too curious to know what was underneath all the hearts, so she had to scratch all of them!

I ♥ You Because...Chalkboard

ADORABLE chalkboard that my sister Laura commissioned me to make for her Valentine's Day present to her fiance!  This would be a great anniversary gift, wedding gift or engagement gift.  It would also be awesome to make for your children!



Here's what you need:
chalkboard
heavy weight letter stickers (mine were called Thickers)
heart stickers (mine were 3D)
chalk
chalkboard eraser
   *This can be made for under $20.00!



While the stickers were still on their backing, I traced around them, to determine spacing.  (Don't worry, it can be rough (obviously))!  Once I had traced them, I found the center point.  When sticking the stickers onto the chalkboard, I started from the center and worked my way out.

 

 

 

 

 

All that is left to do is write your reason!