{Ed Ruscha business card featured on Flavor Wire.}

The topic of business cards keeps coming up in my life these these days, and yet practically, they seem so antiquated. I mean, I can bump my phone to another and exchange contact info, so why spend the time and money to craft or print a little card that possibly ends up creased at the bottom of your purse?

Well, when you see a good business card, it makes a lasting impression, and it can really identify your brand in a big, creative way. Plus, no one would dare throw it away. If you dismiss business cards as an analog, dated form of social networking, think again.

If you’re of the crafty sort, study this photo within an inch of your life. These are business cards that The Proper Pinwheel collected at Alt Summit. I’ll need to start planning mine now for the summer event in NYC.

Peal back the painters tape to reveal the contact info for a stand-out paint service company.

An interior designer should only have fabric business cards like Francesca Pasini’s.

Dilly Dally is a toy store. ‘Nuff said.

This post makes me want to write a whole book on crafts to do with paper cups. As I was stumbling upon these, I started searching for crafts that I swore had to exist and they didn’t! But the overwhelming amount of genius paper-cup animal crafts was staggering. Who knew?

I can’t even contain my dropped-jaw expression for these artful paper cup animals by Gautam Datta. You also have to see how he crafted Hindu divinities from paper and cups. Amazing.

I found these on Pinterest, but there’s no source from where they came. Sad. Because they are beyond the beyond. The winking bunny sends me.

Yes, this last one from Handmade Charlotte has a Christmas slant, but how smart is it to cut up straws to make antlers on a reindeer cup? Love. Love. Love.

I think February is usually the month when I say “I’m done with winter. Gimme green. Now.” Thank goodness I married a guy with a green thumb, or else I’d really be hungry for plant life. There are so many clever ways to incorporate plants into your decor these days.

This gorgeous light fixture/planter blows my mind. Via Design Vagabond.

I have 2 jean jackets in my closet that I can’t seem to part with. I kind of love the idea of using the pockets for a planter. Via Small Home Love.

Did you know you could turn an old lightbulb into a planter? How enlightening! You can use your trusty glue gun to add three small dots to the base to make it stand on end. Via 1 800 Recycling.

I do love my old typewriter, I do, but it just sits on a shelf under my desk and takes up space. How cool is this planter idea? And by the way, have you seen the digital magazine, Covet Garden? It’s gorge.

Check out more cool planter ideas here. Clearly it’s where my mind goes in February.

My favorite way to celebrate Valentine’s Day is in the unexpected. Seriously, you can really keep it simple with a big impact.

Add a little red food coloring to milk and freeze it in heart-shaped ice-cube trays. There is not a kid on this planet (or adult) that wouldn’t blush over a little love with their milk and cookies. From A Subtle Revelry.

A little more effort (and a bit of skill) goes into this little Valentine’s Day surprise. Just stitch a little red heart under his collar, so he’ll see it when he’s tying his tie in the morning. (Sadly my man wears a tie only at weddings, funerals, and bar mitzvahs. And the occasional geek-chic-under-the-sweater-vest-look.) Via Pinterest. (For the more casual dude, you can just embroider a heart on the inside of the pocket flap comme ça.)

The effort put forth in this cute heart-balloon-in-the-closet surprise from Oh Happy Day is primarily a pulmonary effort. Maybe go for the smallest closet in the house.

Oh yes. Indeed you can even hide a heart in a cupcake. By Sky Blue’s Kitchen.

Oh Happy Day (yes again) went as far as to make a heart stamp for these cute cups, but really just grab a red marker and do it freehand. A little hot love on the morning of February 14th is a darn good thing.

Little surprise, big smiles. Will someone forward this post to my husband? xoxo

Getting back into the swing of work on a Monday morning never gets easy (especially the day after hosting a super bowl party). Is there any way to solve this eternal dilemma? Probably going to bed early on Sunday night, eating a healthy breakfast, or exercising at the break of dawn? Nah. Not gonna happen. Maybe some crafty office supplies to look forward to? Yep. That should do it.

Dress up your thumbtacks with nail polish like these from The Modcloth Blog.

Glue corkboard into embroidery hoops and then paint for a poppy wall display. It’s okay to hang an excel spreadsheet from one of these, really it is! By Signed by Tina.

Go ahead, take a few minutes and turn your paper clips into hearts. It never hurts to spread a little love around the office on a Monday morning. By How About Orange.

It’s not so hard to take apart your staper and give it a little facelift like this color-blocked one from Design for Mankind.