Valentines breakfast

I started making heart shaped pancakes for my parents and brother on Valentine’s Day when I was in middle school. I continued the tradition through high school and even college since I lived at home for my first couple of years. When I bought my first house (still in the same town where my family lived) I still continued the tradition. Then I met my husband and moved away from my family. Of course, we created our own family and now I carry that tradition with him.

Except this year.

I realized late last night that we are out of pancake mix or the ingredients needed to make them homemade (although the mix is more my style anyway). I improvised this morning, not breaking a tradition, but altering it.



Heart shaped toast & eggs


A candlelit breakfast with just my husband was a great start to the day.

Happy Valentine Day!

~Angela

Paper Heart (Easy project for kids)

 

Supplies: 

-12 x 12 cardstock

-Glue dots

-Heart paper punch

-scraps of colored/designed paper or paint chips

  

 1. Cut out hearts from the paper scraps or paint chips. (I used paint chips because I had a ton of them)

 

 2. Place a glue dot on the back of each heart and adhere to the cardstock, either in a pattern or randomly. (I intended for mine to be roughly an inch apart and did put a pencil mark at each inch, for my helper to follow as a guideline).

 My helped had to make some final adjustments:

 

 

 Viola!



I like the texture so nixed the glass when I put it in a frame to display in my entry.

~Angela

Valentine Mailboxes

We love getting mail!  (I blogged it mail here and here)  So when I spotted these mailboxes at Target for $1 I knew we had to get them!

There is one for each of us- red for Daddy, pink for Bundle and white for me. (Of course I had to add some bling to mine!) We put them by the door and wait for the flag to go up, signifying there is mail in our mailbox!

We don't get something in there every day...just like the Postal Service's mail. And often the "mail" in our mailbox is something found. This was not intended to make our Valentine's Day tradition become an expensive, gift giving holiday.

It may be an article that was found in a newspaper or magazine  (in my mailbox!):

It could be toys that were found at the bottom of the toy basket (in my little girl's mailbox):

It may be a kiss token (my husband and I have been passing this around for years. The current owner of it gets a kiss!):

Other items that have been found in the mailboxes: stickers, coins for a piggy bank, finger puppets, coloring pages, bookmark, love not, barrettes, funny photos from the past, candy. The options are endless!

We have more fun just watching for the flags to go up!

~Angela

A Mysterious Smell and a Treasure Hunt

I knew something was up when I smelled something mysterious coming from the basement and my husband says to me "Can you jsut not go down there for a few days?" No crafting, no playing with Bundle in the family room and no organizing the basement....Uh, I guess so.

Well, the mysterious smell and quarantining to the upstairs was worth it! He was working on my Valentine's Gift!! I love thoughtful and homemade gifts; I think I have made that clear:)  My husband fortunately has an appreciation for the same homemade, thoughtful gifts I do. This means he appreciates my efforts and he also likes to come up with his own thoughtful ideas.

For Valentine's Day, he created a treasure hunt for me. In anticipation of our upcoming Pirate Murder Mystery (stay tuned for that), I was given a treasure chest and told to look for treasures!

Of course I had no idea what I was looking for and I am TERRIBLE at scavenger hunts. I am always the last one to find all my Easter eggs. Yes, still. As in, last year the little kids found more than me. Seriously. Once I realized what I was looking for, that helped.

(Let's pretend I am not in my pajamas...)

I found coins that represented "treasures" in my life, with words like "cousins" and "brothers" and "parents" and "grandparents" and "faith" and "friends" and "communication." You get the idea...there were 50 of them so I'll just stop there. Then there were some really valuable coins for a Movie Night, a Weekend Getaway and My husband (willingly) doing a project when I want! (I always have a list of projects for him).

And these little treasures which represent our little family of three:

The rings which represent our wedding bands and our love:

Yay!! All the treasures! A perfect reminder that the best treasures in life have no monetary value!!

 And as for the smell in the basement...it was from the paint he was using, and it is no longer evident!

~Angela

Love Potion #9 (Homemade Valentines Gift Idea)

This a pretty last minute post since Valentine's Day is here, but since my husband follows my blog, I couldn't exactly post ahead of time and ruin the surprise. This is so easy to make that you still have time to make it happen yet today, or use it as an idea for later...

I started with this:

My original intent was buy a 6 pack of his favorite beer, and although my husband would prefer beer, I could not pass up the pink color. It is Valentine's Day after all! 

Remove the labels:

 They peeled of pretty easy, but I did use WD-40 to remove the remaining sticky residue.

 

I printed off labels on the computer:

And put them in a basket for a lovely gift for my Love:

~Angela

Valentines Wreath ~ Adventures in Sewing

After taking down my Christmas decorations (which I did a month ago except for the snowshoes because thay are a winter decoration, not Christmas) I like rediscovering the extra space in my home. But it is missing something. I miss the lights, the decorations, the wreath on the door. So, I thought I needed some Valentine’s bling around to make things a bit more festive. Or at least a wreath on the door.

my wreath!!!

 I looked in stores and online to find a wreath I liked that wasn’t cheap looking or cheesy. Couldn’t find one. So I did what any crafter would do and I created one myself.

I found this tutorial online and away I went to acquire supplies and get crafting!  Gathering supplies was seriously the hardest part as nowhere in town had the heart form I needed. Now that my friend Katie showed me how to use my sewing machine, that part was easy.

Materials:  Wreath form $6 (Hobby Lobby)  ½ yard of satin $1.26 (Wal-Mart) black ribbon/hot glue gun-already had on hand! Total cost of project $7.26 and the result is a lovely wreath and a happy me!

***Please note that I used double the amount of satin listed in the tutorial  to create my 12 inch wreath. I also burnished the edges of the satin (as in, ran the fabric through the flame of a lit candle and tried-successfully!-not to set the fabric or the house on fire. This prevents fraying and I like the look of it as well.

~Angela