Made with Love

I know Valentine's Day is a consumer-driven hyped up holiday that ends up making some people feel lousy, but I have to admit I always end up getting swept up in the love. A few years ago Sage started a tradition of making all his Valentines for school friends (see my previous post) and now McKenna is following in his footsteps.

She drew 6 different Valentine-themed pictures and I printed them out on card stock and she embellished them with hearts and suckers. One the back of each one was this printed this message:

I tried to get her to write Happy Valentine's Day but she insisted on "I LOVE YOU," which seems like a rather bold statement to hand out to people willy-nilly, but she didn't care.

While we perused the Valentine aisle at the grocery store she oohed and ahhed over all the stuffed bears and monkeys and whatnot decked in red and white and holding hearts. I couldn't bring myself to buy her one though.While she saw a goofy, fluffy, Valentine stuffed animal, I saw a cheap, Made in China sweatshop symbol of ridiculous American consumption. And besides, her bedroom is beginning to become one big symbol of ridiculous American consumption and I don't want another stuffed animal to have to pick up off the floor, so I made her a pillow instead:

It's soft and furry and has an even furrier M stitched on the front. I love the feel of that fabric but holey moley my studio now looks like I murdered a Muppet.

For Sage, I took this too-big Super Mario shirt I found at a thrift store,

and turned it into this:

It's not a pillow, but a "pipe":

It's super cozy like a big long muff. He was a tad perplexed at first but I showed him how he could put his Super Mario Bros. figurines through it and send them to different levels just like in the video game, or he could use it as a muff to keep his hands warm, or as a single leg warmer, or an elephant trunk warmer... the possibilities are endless!

I didn't make anything for Erik this year, but I did get him an IUD, well I got me an IUD, so we don't make any more babies. I have enough things to make and people to love in my life right now, I don't need any more.

A little handmade paper puppet love...

Sage and I spent the weekend making 45 of these:

 They're origami hand puppets, called "Gabbies". He decided to make one for each kid in his class and give them as Valentines.

 We put a chocolate conversation heart in the mouth of each one.

Isn't that sweeet!? They're lots of fun...

We learned to make these years ago but I forgot how to do it so he re-taught me the steps. He was such a good teacher that we decided to make a video so he could teach you how to make one too. Here's his YouTube debut:



And here are the steps in order:

 

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a little Muppet love from McKenna and Sage. . .



It was taken with my phone, hence the crappy quality. Still, check out her moves! McKenna loves to dance.

This is dedicated to the ones I love. . .

I found these pants in my drawer-o-stuff-to-be-embellished and stitched a Raggedy Ann and Andy to them. When she wiggles, they dance.

I usually don't like Sage to have guns but I gave him this one for Valentines Day. It shoots little cupids. He promised never to aim it at any living thing.


Erik looks a tad psycho here, but I love him nonetheless. Above him are some old doors we store on the ceiling of our garage. I told Sage they were a portal to another universe. He said he didn't want to go there.

Bella Bean.

Me with Kali O'Malley.

I made these miniature wall hangings for a Flickr Valentine swap. I figured strangers shouldn't be the only ones to get my love so I made two extra to send to my parents and Erik's parents, along with some handmade cards by Sage.

Happy Valentine's Day!