Valentine's Day Mantel 2014

For last year's Valentine's Day shelves I put out family wedding photos.  While I liked that concept, I don't wish to try it again until I can replace or paint the frames. Since my goal was to get this mantel done during one snow day nap time, I knew the wedding photo frame project was out for this year.



However, after I spent a good chunk of that a snow day nap time arranging and rearranging a few Valentines-ey items (including the above vase that I painted at one of those paint-your-own-pottery places back in August), I came to the conclusion that some minimal crafting was in order.

I needed something of substantial size and visual weight to anchor my little accessories.  Hanging some decoration on a picture frame with paper or fabric inside the frame seemed like the most time-efficient plan, and the perfect fabric came to mind...

To preserve their potential to be easily sewn into pillows one day, I cut off a sleeve from one of Mike's old sweaters and cut up the middle seam.  Don't worry, this is one of several sweaters he handed off to me long ago, this one having grown wider and shorter over time as sweaters tend to do.  Someday I'll make those sweaters into pillows...or Christmas stockings...or vase covers...or...you can see why they were still sitting untouched in my fabric bin.






I used the cardboard backing from the frame as a guide and trimmed around it leaving at least .5" around the edge.



Tugging the the fabric here and there, I made sure to get the cable knit lines straight.



I can see a lot of other uses for this concept--Christmas decor, photo matting, earring hanger (another project on my list, of course).  While I love cable knit enough to see it alone as nearly acceptable decor...



...adding that heart made our first Valentine's Day mantel in our new house complete!  Except it seemed a little out of scale for the fame.  The ruby-red slipper glitter was also more sparkle than I tend to use, so I swapped that out for the letters from one of last year's crafts to tone it down a tad (I just stuck them on with tape).



Is it bad that when Mike noticed the sweater fabric and teased "Is that because it's a symbol of your loooooove for me?" that was the first time the symbolism occurred to me?





Crazy, because now it strikes me as all warm and husband-like and swoony. Happy accidents!