Thursday, February 7, 2013

Ben's Valentine's Gift

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In the interest of "being real"

I must disclose that I'm not much of a Valentine's person.







Maybe it's all the pink (ick)
or the feeling of forced lovey-doveyness
or the fact that it falls in my least fave time of year...
probably "D", all of the above.

So really it's a minor miracle that this happened at all.
In my 1.5 year(s) of blogging, I don't have the best track record when it comes to V-day crafting
(see above statements).

Last year, I did complete my LOVE mini-quilt/banner,
but by the time I posted it, it was approximately 9 pm on the 14th.
you're welcome blogosphere.

No matter!
I did put together two of these quasi-valentine's gifts for Ben and his lady-friend, Lucy.
I originally intended them to be Christmas gifts,
and guess what?
Didn't order the books on time.
Shocking, I know.

All is well, t hough, because V day is about love
and there are few things that I love more than books.
and felt.
and kraft paper with twine.

The book is one of my favorites from childhood,
that I've been wanted to purchase for Ben since I got pregnant.

It's The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allen Ahlberg.




The gist: a postman delivers mail to different fairytale characters
The best part: yes, there's actual mail that you can open and read.

Take a look! It's in a book! Reading Rainbow!!!










To go with the books,
I got these cute little mailboxes from the dollar bins at Target.










Then made felt envelopes to put inside (tutorial below).
and some heart, of course.
















Felt Mail Tutorial








Step One:




Cut felt as pictured here.
Easy enough, yes?






Step Two:

Sew on a rectangular "stamp" in contrasting color.
I zigzag stitched around to keep it in place.

On some of them, I also sewed a zigzag for the "writing".



Step Three:

Fold the envelope so the sides match up and sew along each side (as pictured)
I did some with a straight stitch and some with a zigzag stitch.











Step Four:

I sewed a crease into the top of some of the envelopes so the flap would stay down, and the others I just tucked the flap in.









And done!


So cute.

Wrap it up
and gift away!


Happy V Day, all!


5 comments:

  1. yep gonna copy you on this idea. hoping target still has the mailboxes!

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    Replies
    1. Yes! You should! As of last night, they were still in my target, so here's to hoping! :)

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  2. for "not being a valentines day person", you certainly can pull off quite a gift!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha. Thanks, Jodi. The key, obviously, is that I only made two and don't have to think about a whole class (yet).

      Delete
  3. Oh my goodness, I loved that book when I was little! What a cute DIY gift!

    ReplyDelete

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