valentine's day

valentine's day is a good excuse to flex your martha muscle (which is anatomically located posterior to the sternocleidomastoid). the average man spends about 150 dollars and the average woman spends 80 dollars. me, i spent about 5. and used a lot of stuff around the house.


for my friends, i found some playdoh valentines with really ugly stickers on. i took off the stickers and put them on my dog, then i made my own stickers and stuck them on. i used recycled paper i had lying around the house from french paper. playdoh doesnt make you fat and it's more fun than flowers.





for my valentine, i made a homemade card - the essential gift for valentines day. last year i made little coloring books, but this year since i have a special someone i decided to make a unique card for him. lately i've been obsessed with shrinky dinks. a lot of people dont know what they are... which is ridiculous - did you have a childhood? shrinky dinks are these thin plastic sheets that you can draw on, and then you stick them in a 325 degree oven. they shrink and get thick. they're great for jewelry (more about that in a different post).


Well the boyfriend really loves Casablanca, and since it's a pretty beautiful love story i chose that as my shrinking subject. i found a picture online and drew it onto the plastic (tracing is easy too because the paper is pretty clear-ish). then i stuck it in the oven and watched it shrink down (it will curl up at first but then eventually lay flat, so be patient!), and then took it out and let it cool. then i used a glue gun to stick it on a doilie and some more recycled paper. it makes a pretty memorable and unique valentine.



i also made him red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. i dont like red velvet cake and i hate cheam cheese frosting, so i dont really know if they're any good. they look pretty! and they're bright red. we'll see if he likes them.

i have one single shoebox and i need good ideas for what to do with it. i want to make something. please help!