Ben's Valentine's Gift

In the interest of "being real"

I must disclose that I'm not much of a Valentine's person.

Maybe it's all the pink (ick)

or the feeling of forced lovey-doveyness

or the fact that it falls in my least fave time of year...

probably "D", all of the above.

So really it's a minor miracle that this happened at all.

In my 1.5 year(s) of blogging, I don't have the best track record when it comes to V-day crafting

(see above statements).

Last year, I did complete my LOVE mini-quilt/banner,

but by the time I posted it, it was approximately 9 pm on the 14th.

you're welcome blogosphere.

No matter!

I did put together two of these quasi-valentine's gifts for Ben and his lady-friend, Lucy.

I originally intended them to be Christmas gifts,

and guess what?

Didn't order the books on time.

Shocking, I know.

All is well, t hough, because V day is about love

and there are few things that I love more than books.

and felt.

and kraft paper with twine.

The book is one of my favorites from childhood,

that I've been wanted to purchase for Ben since I got pregnant.

It's The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allen Ahlberg.

The gist: a postman delivers mail to different fairytale characters

The best part: yes, there's actual mail that you can open and read.

Take a look! It's in a book! Reading Rainbow!!!

To go with the books,

I got these cute little mailboxes from the dollar bins at Target.

Then made felt envelopes to put inside (tutorial below).

and some heart, of course.

Felt Mail Tutorial

Step One:

Cut felt as pictured here.

Easy enough, yes?

Step Two:

Sew on a rectangular "stamp" in contrasting color.

I zigzag stitched around to keep it in place.

On some of them, I also sewed a zigzag for the "writing".

Step Three:

Fold the envelope so the sides match up and sew along each side (as pictured)

I did some with a straight stitch and some with a zigzag stitch.

Step Four:

I sewed a crease into the top of some of the envelopes so the flap would stay down, and the others I just tucked the flap in.

And done!

So cute.

Wrap it up

and gift away!

Happy V Day, all!