Valentines Day Mantel...part deux

Hi ya! So i am busy,busy as i am sure all of you are too! So i have decided to try to decorate my fireplace mantel for Valentines Day, this is kind of a first for me. And i have decided to do it piece by piece.. and you guys are getting to follow right along with me.There are some crafty challenges going on right now , the first one is Iron craft.They list a new challenge weekly. Hold on, i am going to side step for a second. Have you ever made anything, or done anything and thought it was pretty good, and really thought it would grab some positive attention? NO? i am the only one huh? Humph. Well, i will admit, i submitted my tootsie roll door thingy and was pretty pleased with my self. Unfortunately i dont think anyone else was.. I guess i just wanted validation for doing something neat and crafty. Dont get me wrong there were some very nice comments, but not the wow that i was expecting. That was my first mistake right? Cant go around expecting things, i will only get disappointed. Okay, i had my crybaby time. Onto the Valentines Day mantle.....
So i dont if i have told you my fascination of sticks...I was picking up the yard a couple of weeks ago and there were tons of little sticks and branches in my yard . As i was gathering them up i just kept thinking how cool they looked all bundled up . So i piled them up and just kept waiting for the right thing to do with them.I decided i was going to make a candle holder out of them. I had bought something from the all mighty dollar tree and i dont know what they are called,so i am donning them the" fake painted sticks". They were a plum color and a brownish color. So i broke up my sticks and glued them together to make my little candle holder. And in my mind, i could see the candle light glowing and shining through the small slits in between the sticks....

But instead i got this. HMMM. I will say it looks really primitive, but not in a pretty way, just in a ugh way. So then i tried to add something to make it go along in my Valentines Day mantle theme, and to try to hide it a bit.

OKAY! How about now??? better?? no? Well i am still gonna use it on my Valentines Day Mantle! Who knows? Maybe when i get it all put together...
Anyway, i used sticks from the back yard, the fake painted sticks from the dollar tree ( i had those for a while) and a peice of red gingham fabric i had since last christmas. I glued every twig.

We all know my pics are super stinky. i ran across this chica who gave some really great insights to picture taking, and i am hoping that if i take her advice my pics will look a little better.Here is her site:
http://shannonsews.blogspot.com/ Go over and check her out!

And i about to do something i said i wouldnt do.. Yep. i am gonna show some of our newest products from Diva babies. My friend Stephanie and i run a hairbow boutique and we do okay on etsy,and we do really well at a local craft mall, but we do great on personal orders sent to us in emails etc. I kind of told myself the blog and the boutique would be seperate, but i have had a change of heart because of Valentines Day ( get it?)
Stephanie just recently made some outstanding bows for Valentines day i just want to share them.

Okay enough sharing! They are cute though!



LITTLE BIT O INFO: I cant really post without trying to spread some news of how to save a little money. And some of the tips i find suprise me,but hey, its worth a shot right? Here is my latest tip. Make sure your tires are aired up correctly! Did you know this?? i sure didnt. here is facts- for every 2PSI (have no idea) that your tires are below recommended level, you lose 1% on gas mileage. Most car tires are 5-10PSI below normal level.So just by airing up your tires you boost your mileage 5%!! And the cost of gas is so high- go air up your tires ladies!!
Got any big plans for Valentines Day?? I would love to hear them, leave me a comment and spill it! take care , hugs!!