Valentine's Day Jar of Hearts ♥

So I have decided to start sharing some of the crafty projects I have been working on lately (instead of blogging). I started to get in touch with my crafty side, in part, because of my aunt and cousin, and their Christmas crafts they had me doing. Pinterest played a role in my craftiness as of late as well. Except I have little interest in re-posting other people’s projects. I intent to try and only show my own pictures of my projects. That is unless my project is such a huge FAIL that I need to reference the original source so you can see what I meant to create, OR you just need to see my inspiration. Hopefully that won’t happen much.

I began thinking, hey, I have this blog that I’ve somewhat abandoned and I actually have content to write about now, so here we are. You’re looking for a “Jar of Hearts” project, maybe even the song, and I’m rambling on.

I wanted to make a fun Valentine’s Day gift for my husband that was creative, fun and sweet. I went on to Pinterest to look for some ideas and saw lots of cute little fabric/felt hearts, mostly made into garlands (as that is all the rage right now). I saw someone mention the idea of leaving little hearts in their loved one’s lunches and then it hit me. I could hand sew my own little hearts and fill a jar with them.

Pinspiration: Comfort Me Hearts

Even more back story: A few years ago, Brian and I would hide a little stuffed Sully (Monsters Inc.) toy, in random places for each other to find. Boots, coat pockets, socks, pillow case, silverware drawer, ALL very good places. But somewhere along the lines, Sully disappeared for good. Possibly sent out to the trash unknowingly with a load of old worn out socks. ☹

Valentine’s Day was the perfect opportunity for me to create that fun little surprise game again, only with hand sewn hearts.

So here is what I used, and you may want to use something else entirely:
•    Pinking shears
•    Sturdy utility scissors (these will cut card board or card stock)
•    Cardboard or card stock
•    4 – 6 different patterns of pink and/or red fabric (you’ll use less than a quarter yard)
•    Matching thread
•    Sewing needles
•    Cotton or Poly Stuffing, rice, beans, or anything you might want to put inside the hearts (scents maybe?)
•    Jar
•    Small funnel (I made mine out of paper)

I cut my heart patterns out of the card stock from an old cereal box, free hand. My hearts were about 5 inches wide and maybe 3 inches tall. I tried to give myself about a quarter inch extra for sewing seams. Just cut a few different shapes and sizes out until you have a few you want to use. It’s totally fine if you have to fold the cardboard to cut them, because I just folded the fabric inside the templates to cut them out.

Funny enough, I have fancy cutting tools and fancy cutting boards, but little desire to use them. One thing I would recommend that I did not do, was iron the fabric before cutting it. Those fat quarters I bought had fold lines that I mostly worked around with, but if you wanted to do it the right way…

Needless to say, I’m not going to fault you for skipping steps. I liked the sloppy, handmade feel my little hearts had.

I cut out multiple shapes and sizes of hearts. Some I sewed inside out and stuffed with cotton batting, (all I had on hand) and some I stuffed with rice. I stuffed the larger hearts with rice, as I know they would make nice hand warmers when popped in the microwave for a few seconds. You could add scents to your hearts, like lavender, cloves, or any scented oil. More scent ideas here.

I also made some neat little message holder hearts. These I have not seen anywhere else… yet. I love the idea of having a little hidden pocket to write little notes to my husband. Since my fabric was just thin cotton, I went ahead and cut four layers at one time. I loved the rough edge the pinking shears gave the hearts so I just went with it.

I’m not going into too much detail on how to sew the pieces together, or fill the hearts with stuffing. If you need that level of direction, there are TONS of tutorials for beginners out there.

I put about eight or nine hearts in my little glass Ball jar and finished her off with a rough-cut piece of fabric tied around it. I’ve hidden two hearts already… he’s either not that good at finding them or I am fantastic at finding hiding places… I prefer the latter. ♥

2 Minute Book Review: Waiter Rant

Estimated reading time for this post: 2 minute 21 seconds. Read it Later?

Book:  Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter
Author: Steve Dublanica
Narrator: Dan John Miller

A bitingly funny look into the psyche of a waiter at an upscale bistro.
An irreverent look back on his life as a waiter, author Steve Dublanica, and describes with clarity the psycho world of the waiter. His history as a seminary dropout and laid-off psychiatric worker, allows him some insight on his brutal observations.  So much of what a customer sees or experiences, is nothing close to the reality of what is really going on. The irony is that most of what this book describes happens in the front of the restaurant, in front of the public, not behind the swinging doors of the kitchen. If customers only stepped outside of their self-centric world and opened their eyes, most of this book wouldn’t be such of a surprise. But of course, that is not why we go out to eat. And the author explains his theories for why people behave the way they do, as well as provides an explanation to why your table is never ready when you arrive for your reservation. Crazy insecure bosses, medicated coworkers, drunken customers, a squirrel, a stroke and a broken AC unit on the hottest day of the year…. This book covers them all.


This book was a fun, brutally honest, compilation of the author’s blog about his experience as a waiter in an upscale bistro in New York. The names have been changed but the stories are true. The author covers his meek beginnings into a restaurant manager, and reminds me very much of one of my favorite movies, “Office Space.” Even ending on the positive note with our main hero overcoming his crippling self-doubt.

My one true complaint is that I have is that I have never considered a 20% tip as something guaranteed. A tip, as I was taught, was something earned. I realize that many restaurants don’t pay their employees even minimum wage, but a 15% tip is perfectly acceptable for acceptable service. Twenty percent or higher should (in my opinion) be reserved for exceptional service. Come back to my table more than once before the bill, I may need a refill…  According to the author, the times, they are a changing.

That said, I especially appreciated the 40 point list at the end for those of us clueless customers. Tips on how to be a better customer, the list contained some sage advice presented using the author’s cynical but honest humor. The book was an eye-opener and I completely recommend it. I can’t wait to read the author’s second book, “Keep the Change.”

If you have any book suggestions, please leave me a comment!

2 Minute Book Review: Fall of Giants

Estimated reading time for this post: 1 minute 52 seconds. Read it Later?


Book: The Fall of Giants (first book in Century Trilogy)
Author: Ken Follett
Narrator:  John Lee

This intricately woven, epic story is yet again another masterpiece by what is becoming my favorite author, Ken Follett. This is the third book of his that I have read (listened to). The other two, The Pillars of the Earth and it’s sequel, World Without End were engrossing. Some of the credit for my love of the audiobook is the narrator, John Lee. John’s ability to give personality and management of each the different accents of speech are admirable. This book in particular follows five families in Wales, England, Russia, Germany and the United States at the early 1910s up until the end of the first World War. The depth of each character plays key as does their local idioms to construct a detailed world that revolves around the the heroics, indiscretion or diffidence whether real or fiction.

This novel is not just about war, it’s about humanity, family, love, hate, revenge, loyalty and the legacy we leave for our children. I can’t imagine the amount of research that is involved with Follett’s novels but I appreciate the detail and historical accuracy he is able to include in his books. The intricacy of how each story is intertwined is beautiful. I love that I learned things about the early 20th century in addition to being entertained and it's clear the author understand that the average reader it not going to have this much knowledge about this time in history. Woman’s suffrage, trade unions, protocols and manners of societal classes, politics, government, revolutions and wars, these topics were never covered in my history classes with such clarity and thoughtfulness, it was fascinating.

If I had but one negative thing to say, it would be that I felt like the ending was rushed. Explanations of how loose ends were tied seemed lacking in the details that were so complete in the beginning and middle of the book. It seemed like there were odd jumps in the time-line near the very end but it could have just been my misinterpretation.

In all, I can’t wait until the second installment is published.  As for the narration work of John Lee, he could read the phone book and I would listen with a smile! The fact is, I have looked for books he’s narrated just to hear him read. Granted, I have logged many hours driving so I go through books rather quickly and am always looking for my next one.

If you have any book suggestions, please leave me a comment!