Spring, Spring, Spring . . .

. . . Is almost here! The Daffodils, Dogwoods, and Forsythia will all be blooming soon. It's the perfect reward for enduring a long and dark winter, don't you think?

While you're waiting for your beautiful landscape to reappear, here's a list of ideas I've compiled to help ward off those Winter blues:

1. Wear red. If you're like me, the color of choice for the cold season is black. But there are so many great colors in style this season that will bring out your bright side. Red, bright blue, & purple are all in!
   
2. Take a hike. Or just a little walk. Getting your blood pumping through your legs will bring color to your cheeks and a boost to your creativity while clearing your head. I should probably take my own advice on this one.


3. Spring clean early. You'll be ready to enjoy the weather if you get to your Spring cleaning a little early. My advice would be to pick one day of the week to dedicate just one hour of deep cleaning. Starting from your top floor and working your way down to the basement, take one room (or floor if you have time!) and clean for one hour. Keep focused and don't stop until the hour is up. Set a timer to motivate you!


4. Add a little color to your surroundings. Though it's just bhech outside, it doesn't have to be the same inside. Bring home some fresh flowers from the grocery store to enjoy throughout the week. Try taking big, brigh blossoms and arranging them in a short vase to set on the table to enjoy during meals.


5. Be inspired. Just looking at pretty photos of Spring can bring something warm to your heart. Take a look at this flickr search of Spring Flowers. However, don't get carried away and look at all 553,513 images!

Tutorial: Make a Giant Heart Valentine!

This year, give your Valentine something special! A Giant Heart Valentine. Handmade items are always treasured and this one can be saved from year to year!


This is my first tutorial on my blog, so enjoy!

Materials needed for the Giant Heart Valentine:
Tissue paper or large piece of newspaper
Scissors
Pen or pencil
Poster board
Tulle in pink or red
Decorative paper
Glittered letters
Seam binding or other ribbon
Paper medallions or other decorative elements
Ribbon for hanging
Hot glue
Glue stick

1. First, trace a large heart on a piece of tissue paper or newspaper. It’s easiest if you fold the paper in half and draw half a heart along the crease of the paper and cut it out with the fold still intact. Make sure your heart is big enough; 18 - 22 inches works well. Trim as needed.

2. Trace the heart pattern twice onto poster board and cut out the two hearts.

3. Cover one of the hearts with your desired paper. I chose vintage sheet music.


4. Turn the heart face down and gather tulle and glue it around the edge of the heart with hot glue. Just work it a little at a time!

5. Glue the other heart on the back of the papered heart, sandwiching the tulle between the two. Hot glue works great for this as well.

6. Embellish your Valentine as desired. I put on some gold paper lace and red seam binding, then I just added glittered letters that spell out “I LOVE YOU”

but you can put on any phrase you’d like.

I also attached the letters to some paper medallions covered in mica flakes.

Tip: Arrange your letters how you’d like them on the heart before gluing in place to get them evenly spaced.

7. Punch two holes in the top of the heart and thread ribbon through for hanging.

8. Write a special note to your honey and sign and date it. Give it to your sweetheart!

Now, get to work and surprise your special someone.
I've already had requests for three more of these!

Time for a Rest!

Meet my little friend. He's cuddly and he's cute, but he sure does like to get in the way of things! My cat, Butty, absolutely loves to come and take a nap right in my work area. Why, oh why, does he do this?

I decided to take some photos on different days to demonstrate his friendliness. Notice how he is in pretty much the same spot every time!

I personally don't like to lounge or nap on scissors, wire cutters, glitter or ribbon. But Butty sure doesn't seem to mind!

I think I'll sign off and take my own little cat nap. The icy rain outside certainly doesn't warrant any work to go on inside, right?

And We Have a Winner!

A big congratulations to the Corgi Dog Mama. She won herself a set of 12 Valentine Cupcake Picks. And I want pictures of the finished cupcakes!

Here's her comment: "Well aren't those lil' picks just the cutest things? Who wouldn't love those little treasures? Simply divine!"

Valentine's Day Projects

First of all, don't forget to enter the giveaway below! The contest ends on 1/23.

I couldn't wait to share my latest Valentine's projects with you. I haven't had this much fun crafting in a long time! First of all, look at this fun L-O-V-E garland. I've been wanting to make something like this for such a long time and it finally happened. Large cupcake wrappers, tulle, crepe paper, and mica flakes are a few of the ingredients of this lovely confection. I put it up on Etsy in case it wants to find a permanent home.



Then I made up these little tussie mussies. I had done a number for Christmas and I sent them to my mom to show her and she ended up buying the whole lot for herself. Hopefully I can spread the love a little wider this holiday. Tussie mussies are a great alternative to the regular old gift bag. A small token or favorite Valentine treat would fit perfectly amidst the excelsior.


Mica flakes, rhinestones, seam binding and neat paper - some of my favorite mediums! Each even has its own coordinating tag for a personal message.

Create something fun for your love this Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day Giveaway

Valentine's Day is the perfect holiday to spread love and joy. What better way to spread love than to have a blog giveaway?

These Valentine's Day Cupcake Picks will add the perfect touch to your little treats. The winner will receive a dozen varied styles.

Here's an example of what your cupcakes will look like when you add the pick. Wouldn't your guest feel special if she had one of these at her place setting?

Growing up, my mom always cooked up a beautiful Valentine's Day dinner. She would dress the table exquisitely and there would be a gift for each of member of the family on our chairs. I certainly did feel special! I'm sure if her children still lived under her roof, she'd decorate our desserts with these picks!

Just leave a comment and make sure I have a way to contact you if you win. The winner will be drawn on 21st at 5:00 pm EST. Good luck!

Back Into the Swing of Things

You know how when you haven't blogged for so long it suddenly seems difficult to type a few lines to let your friends know how you are doing? That's what I think has been happening to me anyway. I'm glad to be back!

The holidays seemed very extended this year and it feels great to get back into the swing of things. Time to get to work! I've been busy creating some exciting things for Valentine's Day and I'm excited to share them with you. Photos are coming soon.

Here's some exciting news that I probably could have shared quite some time ago: my Marie Antoinette Faux cake that I posted about for the Marie Antoinette Birthday Soiree is going to be featured in Stampington & Comopany's one-time publication, Marie Antoinette, due out this Spring! And not only will it be featured in the publication, but also in the Spring 2009 issue of Artful Blogging. Yay! Here's a photo:



And that's not all! I just did an interview for Utah Valley Magazine and I'm going to be in an upcoming issue featuring 50 people in that area (or from that area) that are on the move with their businesses. Exciting! 2009 is going to be a year full of celebrations, I can tell already!


Question for my readers: What are you excited about that's happening in 2009? Spill!

The results are in! There are 3 lucky winners of the Jenni B Originals/Martha Stewart giveaway. And here they are, in the order of the winners:

1. Gail of Gail Friend Designs - You get first pick of treats!

2. Dolly of From My Cherry Heart

3. Mistress Meeyee (aka Rachel) of All the Way from Bloggy Creek

Congratulations, ladies! I can't wait for you to receive your treats!

** Giveaway for Martha Stewart Show Anniversary! **

It's almost one year since I appeared on the Martha Stewart Show demonstrating one of my faux dessert techniques. Because that day, December 7, 2007, was such a jumping-off point for Jenni B Originals, I've decided to have my very first giveaway in celebration of the first anniversary of this event.

If you want to see my claim to fame on the Martha Stewart Show, just click on the picture of me and Martha to the right. It will take you straight to the clip on http://www.marthastewart.com/!

This is a shot of the set of the show before filming.

Because this experience was so special to me, I want to give away something UNBELIEVABLE! Some have heard the story of how when I went to New York City to be on the show, the producers told me to bring as much product as possible to showcase. When Martha saw the set decorated with my things she was in love! During the commercial break between the segments I was on, she asked if I'd be willing to let her take all of the cakes (pictured behind us on the set) and some of the ornaments home with her to photograph for an upcoming book (of which I'm not sure is published yet). What do you think I said? "Yes!", of course! So she had these things of mine in her possession for a few weeks until her personal assistant got them shipped back to me!

Look where the arrow is pointing and you can see my faux cakes in the background!

So why did I tell you this story? Because for this giveaway, I'm going to give THREE lucky winners one of the EXACT (not a copy!) ornaments Martha took home with her and touched with her own Queen of Crafting hands! Isn't this going to be fun?

Now I have to say, these ornaments do not have a hanger of any type attached. They are just as the producers of the show left them. You can see they displayed the treats on a cookie sheet. This image is a screenshot taken from the show!

The faux treats for this giveaway are circled in the photo above.

I will draw the winners of these ornaments on the anniversary date of December 7 at 8:00 p.m. and the first name I draw will have first choice of ornaments. The second number will have second choice and the third number (of course) will have third choice. But they'll all be terrific prizes - certainly something you'll want to keep and tell all of your friends about!

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post and make sure I have a way to get in contact with you if you win (I can get your email from your blog profile if it's there). But guess what? I'll even put your name in TWICE if you put a link back to this post on your blog - just make sure to let me know in your comment that you've done it.

And if you want, you can share any good thought/feeling/experience about Martha Stewart! Go and spread the word about this fun Holiday Giveaway!

Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend! I'm sure looking forward to the rolls and pies I made today. What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?