Valentine's Decor & Gifts Blog Hop

If you happened here by chance you're in luck! There will be 20 stops full of great ideas, so grab a beverage and head over to the hostess' blog. Staci's blog is at http://preciousmem.blogspot.com/. The sponsor for this hop is Designs on Cloud 9 at http://designsoncloud9.com/ and she has offered us a $20 gift voucher for the GRAND prize. Head over to her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Designs-on-Cloud-9/189551027737837 and show her some love. One lucky person who comments on this hop will be the winner of this generous prize. (One person from each stop will be chosen at random and we will then hold a random draw with those 20 people and one lucky person will win the grand prize).

Valentine's Day is just around the corner!  With that said, how much fun is it to decorate your house with items to help set the mood?  I have 4 kids and I LOVE to make decorations for the upcoming holiday or season.  Here is my "LOVE Is In The Air" project.

Ingredients for this project:

• Twine or ribbon
• McGill Heart punch
• 3" Scallop punch
• Circle cutter or punch for 3" circles
• Ranger Distress ink in Victorian Velvet
• Printed cardstock from the "Ka-Zoo" paper pad by K &Co
• Pink, red and white card stock sheets
• Pop dots and glue dots, ATG glue glider
• Hannah Montana cartridge for the font/letters

Cut/punch 24- 3" circles/scallops for each ball.  Score each disc, using a ruler, to where the edges of your disc measure 2.5" across.  You want to do this 3 times, forming an equilateral triangle scored within your circle shape.  See the picture below for an example.  (This design is originally based off of a mathematical sphere my daughter had to make in 5th grade, I hated it then.)  Once, scored, fold the edges and grab your adhesive.  First, attach 6 of the triangular circles together forming the top (circle). You can do another 6 together to form the bottom/circle.  However, the next 12 are done attaching the triangles with one tip up, then one tip pointing down, going back and forth in this pattern.  Once you get the 12 adhered, one side at a time, start applying them to one of the 6 you put together for the top or bottom.  Before adding the bottom, run your ribbon or twine through the center point of the top. Use a strong glue dot to adhere it to the underside tip of one of the top triangles to keep it secure and in place.  Now, start gluing the bottom 6 to the 12 sides, making sure every side gets glued down together.  Allow the bottom of your twine or ribbon to flow out of the center point at the bottom so you can hang your letters.

After your ball is completely glued together, you'll need to work on the drop down circles and letters.  Using your circle/scallop punch, cut 4 circles at the 3" size from the pink card stock, edge both sides of these discs with the Distress Ink.  Then, cut 8 circles at 2.5" from the white card stock using your circle cutter and edge those with the Distress Ink on one side.  Next, using the Hannah Montana cartridge cut 2 of each of the letters "L O V E" from red card stock at 1" each using the "Pop Princess" function key.  (I set my machine at P-high, S-med, and the blade at 6.)  Using a fine/thin liquid glue to adhere the letters to each white disc.  (Spell out LOVE twice.)  Attach the first set of "LOVE" letters to the pink discs/ scallops with pop dots.  Now, to ensure that you can read "LOVE" from both directions, rearrange your first set (already attached to the pink) to spell out "EVOL", flip them over for the blank pink side to be up,  then attach the second set of "LOVE" letters in order using pop dots.  Make sure you attach your ribbon/twine to this second side so the letters actually get to hang.  

Here is the 1st ball assembled close up.

Here is the "O" ball close up.

Here is the "V" ball close up.

Here is the "E" ball close up. (Note, I only did one ball in the scallop shape, because I found that trying to match up the scallops took more time than I had with my 4 kids needing me every 5-10 minutes.)

Here is my "LOVE is in the Air" hanging ball decoration that is visible from my front door and from the main living room.  I attached the punched out hearts to the top (one on each side of the twine using strong glue dots) and then attached them to my wall using the glue dots.  Also note, I deliberately hung the balls at varying points on the twine to give it character, even though the twine is the same length for all the balls.

Below is the line up of fellow blogger ladies participating in this hop.  Remember to leave a comment on all blogs for a chance to win the grand prize for Designs on Cloud 9!  Happy hopping!

Your next stop is: Janet

Staci: http://preciousmem.blogspot.com 
Ashley Glamourous:  http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com
Lisa Peters:http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com// 
Audrey Dickinson: http://scrappyemt.blogspot.com 
Anita Meadows Cannon:~ http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com
 Lucy Kelleher:  http://love2createitall.blogspot.com
 Michele Eickholt:  http://chelescrafts.blogspot.com/  
Sylvia Solorio: http://bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com 
Darla Haverstock:  http://stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com/ 
Kimberly Pate:   http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com
 Liz Mullen: http://scrapiliciouslife.blogspot.com 
Lisa Marie Lam:http://craftylam.blogspot.com 
Janet Nagai: http://createatdreamscrapbooks.blogspot.com  
Dena Jones:  http://missdjones.blogspot.com/
 Daisy Collins: http://tsunamirosedesigns.blogspot.com
Amanda Youlkis: http://a-prata-design.blogspot.com/ 
Nancie Brungard: http://alittlepieceofmebynancie.blogspot.com/ 
Tricia Colon : http://www.mycrazybubble.blogspot.com/