Valentine's Day Roundup

Tyler Anne's Valentine Roundup

I know Valentine's Day is only a few days away but here are some DIYs/Recipes that you can totally pull off in that time! 

1 / / This creative and definitely cute DIY Valentine's gift wrap found on PaperBlog can be pulled off quickly, giving that extra touch of love. 

2 / / This A Beautiful Mess how-to might not be meant specifically for V-Day but I think it should definitely be considered if you and your loved ones dig yummy, homemade kitkat bars!

3 / / I very rarely drink but what better way to celebrate love and Valentine's Day with Design Love Fest's 1966 Cosmopolitan?
4 / / Want to make your celebration a little more festive? Maybe surprise someone special with some LOVEly balloons? Check out Design Improvised's Valentine Heart Balloons!

Holli Anne's Valentine's Day Roundup

So this year I'm a tad busy for fun Valentine's Day crafts. If I do anything nifty it will definitely be ON Valentine's Day and probably way simple. But, I'm super into these four Valentine's day goodies.

1. These Valentine's Day Cookie Cakes on Bakingdom not only look delicious but are adorable! Plus, they have sprinkles on them and I'm just a sucker for those!

2. I love, love, love these Cupid Arrows from The Sweetest Occassion.  They are such a creative way to give your Valentine a date-night package.

3. This cheesecake is just amazing! I'm sure I'd never have the patience to make it, but isn't it wonderful?! Featured on The Foodie Crush Blog.

4. And lastly, these Crayon Paper Hearts from Martha Stewart are such a simple, effective decoration to me. They were featured on Craftley Blog. 

-The Annes

Tyler Anne's 2014: Week 3

Week 3

Inspiring pin: Floral Inspiration photography by Ali Harper, flowers by Amy Osaba

Book I finished: Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 2) by Charlaine Harris

Book I'm currently reading: Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 3) by Charlaine Harris - And, again, I'm reading THIS book for the third time!

Blog I'm loving: A Beautiful Mess

Blog post I can't get enough of: DIY Framing Wood Corner Desk by Young House Love

Word of the week: Revamp

So, what went down? Business was awesome this past week! Three extra mini blog projects makes this blogger oh so happy! Also, I took this precious picture of the same-name beau!

What went down during your week?

Don't forget to see Week 3's posts: Inspiration: Custom Kitchens / Inspiration: Minted.com / Holli Anne's 2014: Week 3

- Tyler Anne (aka Chick Tyler)
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Inspiration: 2 Creative Blogs You SHOULD Be Following

I know, I've been doing a lot of Writer Talk, Reader Talk, and Interviews lately as opposed to the creative design/DIY/inspiration posts I used to do all of the time. It's not that I've given up on that side of things, I've just found that the writer and reader side of posts to be more relevant in my life right now.

Holli and I are writing books that we hope to will finish in July. (Largely in part to Camp NaNoWriMo we plan to participate in.) This means my brain has been a little more inclined to think about things like writing resources, Dos & Donts, POVs, humorous writer musings, and, of course, book things.

So, to show you that I still very much love everything design + inspiration, I wanted to share with you two of my favorite creative blogs that you SHOULD already be following.

1. A Beautiful Mess

Honestly, ABM is one of the sites I visit during my daily online routine. I can't put my finger on the exact way I came to know about this lovely blog, but I've been glued to it for more than a year.

ABM is lifestyle blog run by sisters Elsie and Emma. Their topics include Crafts, Photography, Recipes, Decor, Fashion, and Beauty. While I appreciate all of those creatively fueled categories, their crafty DIYs and Decor (specifically the At Home With series) posts are my bread and butter.

I love this site because, despite their obvious popularity, both sisters and the people that work with them seem to be humble and absolutely love what they do. If you ever need an inspirational boost or some creative juice, I suggest you roll on over to their site and spend some time enjoying everything they have to offer!

Their Home page's mini About: A beautiful mess is all about creative a beautiful life. We share daily inspirations, DIY projects and recipes. We believe that the best things in life are homemade.

Amen, sisters!

2. Design Love Fest

Oh, how I love me some Design Love Fest. Different in vibe from ABM, Design Love Fest still has all the goodness of a creative and inspirational design blog. 

Bri Emery, founder and editor of DLF, has a knack for style, a flair for life, and is just adorable in general. In the past year the evolution of Blogshop has made DLF even more fun to follow as well as the my favorite reoccurring topics of Make It, Design, Interiors, and Advice.

The graphic designer part of me (as well as the freelancer side of me) is what loves Design Love Fest the most. If you work from home, are a designer, or just love pretty things in general I suggest you put Design Love Fest in your bookmarks!

DLF's tagline: Where type & images totally make out.

*Drool*

Do you have any blogs that you just love?

-Tyler Anne (aka Chick Tyler)

Christmas Craze: The Pass Around Book

Here we go, guys! It's my last day of Christmas Craze! (We, Vagabonds finishes the event up tomorrow!) I'm sad about it but it's definitely not my last DIY!

I'm going jump right in and say that this project was inspired by A Beautiful Mess' Song Lyrics Scrapbook DIY. I love how simple and easy it is to make! However, I put my own little spin on it. Instead of having song lyrics, I wanted to make a Pass Around Book!

The junk is that? It's a conversation starter! Each page has it's own little prompt. You can pass it around the dinner table or a party and everyone has to answer before turning the page! Since Christmas is almost here I wanted to make a Pass Around Book for my own family to use at dinner! We love to talk like crazy so I thought it would be fun.

What I like most about this project is that you can really use anything you want to decorate! It's all up to you!

I pretty much got most of my crafty things and put them on my desk!

Then I got out my file folders (of which I have TONS) and got to work.

First I drew off a little over a 4 x 4 box. I wanted them to be smaller but you can really do whatever size you like!

I wanted something short and sweet so I only made four "pages!"

Next decorate each big flap in any way you want and write down a prompt!

I laughed a lot when you did this...

I used a stamp, mixed paint, pen, and whiteout!

I cannot believe...

I used candle wax, pen, and a color pencil.

I like when you do this...

I used Sharpie, pen, a Like stamp, tacky glue, and paper.

The best gift I ever got was...

I used a gift tag sprayed with silver spray paint, pen, tacky glue, and ribbon from the $1 bin at Target.

Next you need to bind the book. You really need to use masking tape if you want it to be prettier than mine. I used duct tape because I couldn't find my masking one! Still packing in boxes I suppose!

First get each set of pages and run the tape along the the fronts. Do this to each set of pages and trim off the extra. Then fold them, stack them, and use as much tape as you want to bind the outside of the book!

Then you're finished!

I hope you enjoyed this DIY! 

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10

Saturday Suggestions

Today I have so many things to do. My to-do list is as long as my leg (though, I have tiny legs...) but I'm in no way complaining. It's almost relaxing to be working in the middle of the living room on my floater desk with my coffee and Dude watching football in the background. It's like white noise...with the occasional curse word.

I will definitely be blogging more today after I bang out some crafty projects.

Until then I suggest you:

1. Purchase A Beautiful Mess' new e-course here. It's called Blog Design Love and it's fabulous. 
2. Read Bri Emery's latest blog post here over at DesingLoveFest.
3. Purchase Fellow Fellow's latest calendar here because they are beautiful and we love her.
4. STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER and enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

Image can be found here.