Hey there, friends! I've got another printable for y'all today. I have been playing around with watercolors a lot lately, and I had this idea for a heart gem painting. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. And I have another variation on the gem heart coming soon, so check back for that! You know I love a good punny valentine, so I added the "you're a gem" line. You can download and print out the 8x10 print (you will have to trim it a bit)... Or, get the 4x6 card to mail to your valentine. I whipped up a little envelope out of scrapbook paper to go with it. I was originally thinking of this as a Valentine's post, but I like them so much that I think I would use them year round. Love is always in season, amiright? Downloads are free for personal use. Thanks, Continue Reading
Posts
Printable Earring Valentines
Don't you guys love getting mail? Like the real kind? Like things besides bills? There is something just so wonderful about getting something that a real person packaged up and sent to you. It totally makes my day. Yesterday was a good day because yesterday I got happy mail. Yay! My friend Naomi from the lovely etsy shop Alice Remembers sent me a little early Valentine's gift - these adorable crochet heart earrings. Aren't they sweet? I wore the red ones out with the fam last night, and--look!--I even took a picture to show you all. Actually, the hubs took this one. I tried to take a few (like 100) myself, and they were all pretty bad. Someone teach me how to take a decent selfie please! Anyway. When I saw these cute little earrings, right away I thought they would make Continue Reading
How to Make a Giant Chalkboard for Just a Few Bucks
A few months ago, one of my friends stopped by my house and on the way out she said, "I hope you don't think this is weird, but there is a huge frame in someone's trash up the street. Thought you might want to know." That right there -- that is true friendship, folks. I think I've mentioned before that I strongly believe you should never pass up a free frame, so I quickly loaded up my littlies in the stroller and headed off to dig through my neighbor's trash. What I found was this lovely lady and her beau: When my husband came home to find her in the garage he said, "I really hope I'm not supposed to like that painting." Honestly, I thought the painting was kind of cool (though perhaps with a bit more cleavage than I like my living room), but I assured him I was really just Continue Reading
A Fresh Start: The Best Time to Plant a Tree – Free Printable
I hope you guys aren't too sick of New Year posts. I know we are more than a week into 2014 already, but I am still thinking about fresh starts. Last week sometime I saw a quote on facebook that took me to this month's message from the first presidency of the LDS church (If you are interested, you can read the full article here.) The message talks about the hope of making a new start, and this proverb has stuck with me: "The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now." There are plenty of things I should have done or wish I had done in the past, but I love the thought that there's still time. I made up a little printable to remind me to get busy doing what I want to do. I printed off a few 5x7 versions to mail to friends. And stuck an 8x10 Continue Reading
Deer Applique Envelope Pillow
I made this little deer pillow when I was getting ready for my Christmas home tour, but it will be sticking around long after all the Christmas decorations are boxed up (we are still working on that over here - no judging, please!). I saw this pillow cover from H&M home, and decided to make my own version. Of course the H&M one only costs 10 bucks so I could probably have just bought that one, but I wanted mine to have a little pop of color. I started by finding images of flowers and an deer online. I edited the the deer photo to give it a sepia-toned look and then printed my images onto fabric using freezer paper. Next, I cut out the images, and used wonder under to attach them to a piece of felt that I cut out around the shape and sewed onto the piece of fabric cut Continue Reading
The Most Popular Posts of 2013
I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the best posts of 2013. These are the top ten most popular posts from the past year. My readers must have good taste because these were some of my favorite projects too.So, here they are! The top ten most popular Persia Lou posts from 2013, from least to most popular. Did you miss any? Which is your favorite?My honorable mentions would have to include my Christmas Home Tour and my Kids' Vintage Disneyland Room Tour. Even though they weren't among the most popular, they are two of my favorites (probably just because I spent so long working on them!).I'd love to hear about your favorite projects from 2013 in the comments! And what projects do you have planned for 2014? I've already got a few in the works over here. Continue Reading
Peppermint French Macarons
In case you missed it, here are the cookies I shared last week as part of Sugar Tart Crafts' Sugar Rush 2013. Enjoy!  Earlier this year I decided to attempt French Macarons for my daughter's tea party birthday, and I got hooked. I've been tried out lots of flavors, colors, and fillings since then, and these peppermint macs are my latest. The shells look pepperminty, but the flavor really comes from the yummy peppermint buttercream filling. To create the peppermint swirl look of the shells, I used a lollipop stick to paint stripes of gel food coloring onto the inside of a pastry bag. Then I filled the pastry bag with batter. When I piped the shells onto the parchment lined baking sheets, I did it in a swirl pattern. If you are a perfectionist, you can use guidelines Continue Reading
Glittery Wood-Slice Ornaments
In case you missed it, here are the ornaments I shared last week as part of Lines Across' ornament series. These guys were easy to throw together and added more rustic glam-y goodness to my tree this year. You can see my tree and whole Christmas home here. When I saw these birch slices at my local craft store, I knew they would make perfect ornaments for this year's tree. Pre-sliced worked great for me because I have a slight fear of power tools, especially saws. I did have to work up my courage to drill some holes in the tags, but drills aren't as scary because they seem less likely to take off a finger (I'm sure it's possible - no horror stories please!). Anyway, It was simple enough to drill a little hole in the top of each little slice. Then it was time to add a little Continue Reading