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Addison
01.24.11

Valentine Mantel and Tissue Art

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday.  Hope your week is off to a good start!    The girls and I are getting excited for Valentines day so I decided to spruce up the mantel and makes things a little festive around here.  

I just hung a heart wreath on the mirror and put a little candy in my favorite black jars – because what’s more fun than edible decor?  Hoping this candy sticks around longer than last year’s Easter candy did!

Then Addison and I made a tissue heart banner.  Tissue art is so fun and so easy.  I used to do this with my 4th graders when I taught school.  I would draw something big (like a rainbow, Christmas tree, American flag, etc.) and the whole class would work on it for weeks.  Here is what you need to make a tissue heart banner with your kiddos…

 Trace and cut out a few hearts.  I used my heart cookie cutter because well, what are the chances that I’ll ever use it to make cookies?  Slim to none.  Made a great paper tracer though.  :)

Cut your tissue up into little squares and put the square tissues in cute, mini heart shaped bowls.  You could use regular bowls, but I can’t guarantee that the outcome will be as …well…cute.  ;)  The bigger your squares are, the longer the tissue will pop out.

 Then place a pencil eraser in the middle of a tissue square and twist the tissue around it.

Next, dip your tissue in a tad of glue.  Emphasis on the world tad.  Too much glue and the tissue will become a wet mess and won’t stick.  I had Addison dip her tissue in the glue and then wipe it off on the plate each time.

Then stick the tissue on your heart and hold it for a few seconds.

I like to do the outside first and then fill in the middle.  You can start in the middle first, but again, I can’t guarantee as cute of an outcome.

Addison has been sick a lot lately and this was a perfect sick day project.  The two of us had fun watching a movie and crafting together in our pajamas.

Bring on February!  Can you feel the love?  :)  

Oh!  And can I just say thank you so much for the comments on my last post for El’s birthday.  So thoughtful of you all to leave such sweet comments and birthday wishes.  They meant a lot to me and I’m sure they will to Ellie too someday.  I told her I wrote her a letter on my blog for her birthday.  She asked if grandma could read it too since it was on my blog.  I said “yes – grandma… and a few other people….” :)

Have a great week everyone!

xoxo, Erin
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54 thoughts on “Valentine Mantel and Tissue Art”

  5. ohhh, that is adorable!!! do you think a glue stick would work as well as regular glue? my oldest tends to “overdo” the regular glue- haha! and this year i am NOT doing anymore edible decorations! you must have more willpower than i do because all of those yummies would be eaten in two nights at my house! ;-)

    Reply

  9. I love those jars, Erin. I have a thing for jars. I’d totally forgotten about tissue art! I remember doing that in first and second grade. I think my teachers used crepe paper, which probably made cutting out squares extra easy–just snip the strip of crepe. I think I might have to put my own first grader to work on something.

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  13. Thanks for the great tutorial! I wonder if my son will sit long enough for this project. Might have to give it a try anyway! I know you’ve been asked a lot, but where did you get those fantastic jars? I always love seeing what you’re doing with them each season!

    Reply

  14. Totally cute, my kids would love it…but the thought of buying the stuff, setting it up and then crafting makes me feel a little queezy. :)

    Reply

  15. Hi Jen!

    I actually just used a strip of double sided tape to attach the hearts to the ribbon.

    Donna –

    I bought the jars at a little specialty store in southern Utah years ago. Sorry that isn’t much help!

    Reply

  17. I LOVE IT! It’s so sweet and pretty. I hope Addison is feeling better. She looks awfully sweet in her pj’s crafting. I have a pic of my 2 yr old in her pj’s helping me with some crafts. It’s so sweet when they help! :)

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  27. Erin,
    What a wonderful Valentine Mantel display you’ve created. Fabulous photography as well. I’m so impressed with Addison’s willingness to help you with the project. She looks like a real cutie pie.
    Thanks for sharing with us all.
    ´*•.¸(´*•.¸♥¸.•*´)¸.•*´
    ♥•.*.*.*.Cherry*.*.*.•♥
    ♥•.*.*.*.Chick.*.*.*.•♥
    ¸.•*´(¸.•*´♥´*•.¸)´*•.¸

    Reply

  29. I love your heart craft! I think I will use it with my kindergarten and first graders this friday to prepare for the 100th day of school! I bet you were just the cutest teacher ever! Your so creative thanks for the great ideas:)

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  30. Loving those candy jars again. Those were really a great find for you. Love the tissue hearts. I remember making American Flags like that in Elem. school and I loved it, tissue art really is so fun isn’t it?!

    Reply

  33. Such a cute craft idea! I’m always looking for fun things to do with my nieces and nephews(my kids are too young to do crafts). I have followed your blog for a while and just want to say that I love love love all of the organizing and crafting ideas! Your family is adorable, and just so you don’t think I’m some crazy that came out of no where, I found your blog through Dayna’s (I grew up down the street from her) and Angie Cazier’s (she was one of my favorite young woman leaders) Blogs. :)

    Reply

  48. Where did you get your glass jars with black lids??? I have looked EVERYWHERE for something like them, and have had no luck!

    -Alicia

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  49. Hi Alicia!

    Oh – I’ve had those for years! I bought them at a specialty store in southern Utah that has now gone out of business. :( Sorry that’s not much help!

    Reply

  51. Anonymous – I just stuck some double sided tape on the back of the hearts and then attached the ribbon. It has held up so well. Nothing too complex around here. :) Hope that helps!

    Reply

  53. This banner was so cute I had to make one.
    The first 3 hearts I did took 1 hour each. Yikes. To drastically cut the time required to complete the banner I painted the surface of the heart with white glue and then added the tissue pieces. Eliminating the need to dip each tissue clump in glue decreased my production time from 1 hour to about 20 minutes.

    Reply

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