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Decorating With Love

Crafters have a crush on Valentine's Day

By Shawna VanNess | Shawna VanNess is assistant Internet news manager for Newsday.com.

February 5, 2004

Mimi Jackson lounges on her red Valentine's Day duvet cover. (Newsday Photo / Mayita Mendez)

Like most do-it-yourself decorators and craft enthusiasts, Mimi Jackson has an insatiable desire to dream, design and create.

Whether she's choosing the fabric for a custom handbag, embroidering the finishing touches on a garment or simply experimenting with leftover fabric in her living room, the 32-year-old custom seamstress relishes the feeling of accomplishment she gets as the pieces of a handmade project come together.

"There's just this satisfaction that comes with making something yourself," Jackson says. She's tackled bridal gowns, special-occasion dresses and countless other one-of-a-kind projects for clients, so when it came time to outfit her Jamaica Estates home for Valentine's Day, store-bought decor just wouldn't do.

"When you do it yourself, you can have exactly what you want," says Jackson, who whipped $86 worth of supplies into decorations for two rooms in four hours.

Interest in sewing and other needlecrafts has roller-coastered over the years, says Susan Blumstein, the owner of Sewtime in Westbury. These days, home decorating is hot and "quilting has taken over the world." Her classes are filled with young mothers eager to learn to quilt bedspreads, embellish pillows or machine embroider accessories. For many, Blumstein says, it's therapy.

"It's a good outlet," says Sharon Almeida of Westbury. When she needs a break, the 42-year-old mother of four escapes to her craft room and unwinds by quilting, scrapbooking or making stained-glass creations. "I'm not hooked on reality shows or anything like that," Almeida says. "I just like to make things myself.... I've always been a hands-on person."

When it comes to decorating, sometimes the smallest details can make the biggest difference. Around Valentine's Day - or just about any holiday - making subtle changes is a fun and inexpensive way to add flair to the occasion. Think candles, flower arrangements, wreaths and glass bowls.

"You don't have to redo an entire room for Valentine's Day," Jackson says.

To spruce up the master bedroom, she made a simple burgundy duvet cover with appliqued hearts and used double-stick tape to temporarily modify the window treatments with coordinating valances. Instead of sewing new accent pillows, Jackson draped hers with pretty material and tied fabric sashes and gold cord to secure.

For a personalized, romantic touch, Jackson unearthed the rhinestone headpiece and veil she made for her wedding eight years ago and paired it with one of her husband's red silk neckties on the wall behind their bed. "I wanted to have an element of masculinity in the room to make my husband feel like it was his room, too," Jackson says. "The headpiece is symbolic of our wedding."

In her 2-year-old daughter Nadine's room, Jackson sewed a dreamy white organza crib skirt and pink crinkle denim bedding. A pearl-accented straw wreath hangs on the wall. "That's really enough," she says.

For rookie crafters, Valentine's Day, or any holiday, is a good time to try something new.

"One-stroke painting is a great place to start," says Kim Black, an event coordinator for the arts and crafts store, Michaels, in Westbury. With a few brushes and some paint, even beginners can learn to create hearts, flowers and ivy on wood trays, plaques and glass dishes.

It's a good idea, Black says, to start with a versatile object and dress it up. Brush glittery paint on a plain picture frame, cover paper boxes with fabric or glue silk flowers on a grapevine wreath. Add detail easily to purchased kitchen and bathroom textiles with iron-on appliques, patches and themed buttons.

And when it comes to making homemade valentines, there are more possibilities than ever, thanks to a recent surge of interest in scrapbooking.

"It all crosses over," says Sara Conte, the education coordinator at the Scrapbook Cottage in Levittown. The same astonishing array of textured papers, fancy-edged scissors and three-dimensional embellishments can be used to create cards. Ordinary items like zippers, eyelets and beads are being used in unexpected ways. The only limitation, says Conte, "is what your imagination lets you do."

For Jackson, it's most rewarding to see how her finished project lives up to her imagination. "The more and more you do it," she says, "the closer you actually get to achieving the things you see in your head."