We’ve been making this and that for valentine’s day this week: some hearts, some secret grandparent gifts, and some popcorn.

This popcorn falls under the category, “ridiculous things pinterest makes me do.” Also in the category are watermelon stars and temporary tattoos on bananas. Party popcorn–awesome name by the way–is melted white chocolate poured over popcorn and then covered in sprinkles. I added a little crunchy salt too, because it’s aways delicious.

My children were so unbelievably excited about making this and said many times, “this is the best thing you have ever made, ever.” I’m not a fan of popcorn or white chocolate, so I’m not the best judge, but I believe them. You can’t really go wrong when you pouring chocolate on something.  I found a few–printable!–pop-corny puns thanks again to pinterest.  A few staples later, Bob’s your uncle, and you’ve got 18 valentines ready to go!

Did you already do your valentines? Or are you a last minute scrambler? I’ve got a tutorial for a super quick Me Hearty Eye Patch, if you are still searching for ideas. There are so many good ones out there. Got any favorites?

Did you miss me? We went on a short notice, laid back, lovely vacation to my family’s cabin last week. There was not much to do (no internet!) except take walks in the woods and…

look at funny shaped buildings,

sit around the kitchen table, and maybe do a little sewing.

It was so quiet and so nice to be away for a bit. Sorry to all of you waiting for an email–it’s coming! And yay! for all of you who signed up for kcwc: 232 so far! I’ve got a list of what I want to make, but I need to edit it down to the things I can actually make. What about you? Do you have a list yet?

p.s. all these photos are from my instagram feed, but you can view (and comment and follow and favorite) them online at web.stagram.com.  Even more elsie marley, just what you wanted :)

it’s been a while since my last installment of things on the internet that are awesome. So here you go, a few awesome things for spring.

–blocks as hooks. It is a super simple diy and super chic but still perfect for a kids room.

–cursive letters made into adorable animals. Just right for my little girl’s obsession with learning cursive.

-a perfect wooden mp3 player. Too bad it’s pricey as hell.

–wrapped, braided extension cords. This was a design sponge diy from a while back that I must have missed, but damn! isn’t it awesome? I love useful, sculptural, crazy art, but as my mother would say, “That’ll keep you busy.”

–estonian kringle.  Wouldn’t this be lovely on Easter morning?

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That last potholder grew out of a need for mindfulness in my life. This one, on the other hand, was sewn out of jealously. If you follow the lovely Kayanna on instagram (@junecraft) you already know about the amazing quilt she’s making. Every other day or so another quilt square sewn in bold colors and milky pastels would pop up on my feed and I would freak out. I mean look at this!

Quilting is not my strong suit, but the block was too pretty to pass up. Freshly Pieced has a fantastic tutorial on how to put this block together. She also has a template to print out that you sew directly onto so everything comes out perfectly. I did not print it out (as you probably can tell). The finished quilt square was much too big for a potholder, so I cut the pieces much smaller. Why I didn’t just shrink the template too is beyond me. The lazy man works twice as hard–and stays up sewing late into the night.

This kind of quilt square is incredibly fiddly, but also immensely satisfying when it comes together. In the future I might even have the urge–and possibly the patience–to make a whole quilt. My scrap pile would like that time to come sooner rather than later. Or maybe I could go into the potholder business, because–just so you know–it’s pretty much potholders from here on out.