Homemade Love

Holidays are great days to create memories that last a lifetime. I love all the different holidays! I will take any excuse for having a party, celebrating, or just having a special day.

However, Valentine's Day was not always a good holiday for me. When I was in college, my older sister, my roommate and I would call Valentine's Day, Singles Awareness Day. We would buy black shirts and paint the words 'Valentine's Day' in elaborate font on the front of the shirt. Then we would paint a circle around the word with a diagonal line through the circle to prove this was a holiday to approach with caution. Those shirts were worn proudly for years (at least during the single years). :o)

Now all three of us are happily married and enjoying the Love Holiday the way it should be enjoyed. 

After twenty-three years without a romantic Valentine, I am loving being married to the romantic of all romantics! While flowers and chocolate are fun (and trust me chocolate is a dear friend of mine), my sweetheart and I try to challenge each other to show love in creative, new ways all year long.

Here are a few that are easy and a great surprise!
-Write an encouraging note and tuck it in your honey's lunchbox or briefcase.
-Get a dry erase marker and draw a funny picture or a love note on the bathroom mirror for your loved one  to see when they wake up in the morning.
-Find a funny comic that you know will make them laugh (one of my favorites)
-Make their favorite meal or dessert as a surprise.
-When he/she comes home from work, have a warm bowl of water ready for them to soak their feet, then add to the surprise by giving a foot rub.
-Text each other during the day or send pictures making kissy faces (this one can be romantic or, in my case, get a good laugh)
-Try and recreate the early days when you were dating
-Do something unique only for you as a couple

Have fun keeping the love going!
Sarah

Homemade Valentine's

My daughter and I made this super easy Valentine for my husband. It is very homemade and a fun alternative to fighting the crowds at the store to find the right card. You can make it simple or add a poem, quote or picture. Since my daughter is two years old, we went for simple!

Here is what you need:
-Old magazines
-Fun scrapbooking paper/construction
-markers
-paper cutter/scissors
-glue stick
-ink pad (optional)
-stamps (optional)

 Cut out fun letters out of the old magazines. Find the letters that spell out the message you want for your valentine.

 

 Find coordinating paper

 Cut heart shapes in two sizes. Hint: I traced the back of the paper I was using to avoid having the traced lines on the front of the paper. Or if you are really good at cutting shapes out without the traced lines showing, you do not have to trace on the back and you are officially awesome!

 Use the ink pad to antique the edges of your hearts by brushing the ink pad against the edges to get the brown edges.

 Arrange the hearts and letters on your valentine before gluing so that you can play with the way the valentine looks. That way if you do not like the first layout, you can always try another layout.

Glue in place and add any embellishments that you want on your valentine to make it unique and special for the one receiving the card. And as my two year old would say, Ta-Na!!! You are finished!

Here is another valentine we made together, (I am sorry the picture is so bright). I printed out the word and had my daughter color on the word with different shades of pink crayons for that extra cute look. I the words into a heart shape and used the same process as above to add character. We wrote the special Valentine's Day note on the back of the card.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!