Valentine Tree

Weekends sure do scoot by, don't they? They're just as long as say, a Monday-Tuesday combination, but they move on a lot quicker. I hate that. There's a desire to catch up on sleep, but also that niggling voice that keeps saying "Um...shouldn't you be doing this, that and the other?" I did get a couple of things finished, though. I completed the alterations on a pair of pants for my sister. Oh. My. Heavens. That may be one of the more difficult things I've ever done. They were really well made, which meant lots of bits to unpick and alter and resew. The actual taking-in part was a piece of cake. The reconstructing of everything was hard. It should be good practice, though, because I know she's got more coming my way. I wish I could lose enough weight to necessitate alterations on my own clothes.

I also did some work on Z-man's afghan. I have all the squares finished and joined, ends woven in and all that jazz. Last night I started on the border. That bit should just zoom right along, and I'll hopefully have a reveal post for you soon.

After some intense crochet and very intense sewing, I wanted to do something easy and crafty. I feel like the house is naked after the Christmas decorations go away, so I develop this need to pop up bits of color and sparkle. It's a bit early, but I went in for Valentine's Day pizzazz. This morning, after waiting a bit for the icy roads to melt, I headed to Joann's for a zipper (didn't get it), some fabric (got it), and the bits for my craft. I had these faux branches from back in the fall, and I decided to make a Valentine's tree. Because why wouldn't you? I'm sure they exist somewhere. It might be another galaxy, but that qualifies as somewhere.

The punch was forty percent off, so I splurged on the glitter foam sheets. I bought one sheet each of red, pink, and white. It was a bit of a chore squeezing the foam into the punch (and I'd probably go for glittered card stock next time) but I worked it out.

After the punching, my mumsy and I threaded some needles and made loops to hang them by. The skinny thread was a bit annoying, and I probably should have just gotten out my box of thicker threads that I keep for purposes just such as this, but I'm lazy in weird ways.

The bright pops of color bring some life to those plastic branches, and they flutter so nicely when you walk by. Or blow on them. Because that's fun, too. I didn't have anything that would look good to fill in the base of the tree (there's newspaper stuffed in there to keep the branches straight) so we used the leftover bits from cutting out the hearts to serve as glittery confetti filler. Any hearts we couldn't fit on the tree we stuck there too.

Here's a bad picture of the whole thing. I don't know why I didn't stand at a better angle--you can't see the hearts at the top of the tree very well, but it's all decorated evenly, I assure you (because I know you were worried).

The pictures have that evening light look to them, but I figure you all know what red, pink and white look like enough so that I didn't have to wait for daylight to take photos. That soft purply-blue light is my favorite part of winter. There is something about that particular glow on the snow during winter twilights that makes me happy. Weird, I know. Everyone else is waiting for flip-flop weather already, and here I am in love with winter.

I'm glad I went with the crinkly edged punch instead of the plain heart. They remind me of wee little sugar cookies. I love quick and easy projects like this. You get a quick craft fix and end up with something adorable for not a whole lot of effort. I feel a bit geeky working on Valentine's Day stuff already, but if recent experience is any indication time flies, and one must make hay while the sun shines...or the snow falls, whatever the case may be.

Tomorrow starts the first full week back to work, and it's promising to be a doozy, so I'm going to go rest up for it. Have a happy Monday, kids!

Linking up here this week:

Sundays: Sunday Showcase, Think Pink Sunday,  Submarine Sunday

Monday: CraftOManiac Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Market Yourself Monday, Made By You Mondays, 

Tuesdays: Take-a-Look Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got, Homework

Wednesdays: Your Whims Wednesday, We did it Wednesday, Whatever Goes Wednesday

Thursdays:  Catch a Glimpse, Craftionary

Friday: Link Party Palooza, Frugal Friday, Weekend Bloggy Reading

Saturdays: Show and Tell Saturdays