Valentine's Day
Valentine's
Day is a special day in our family. Over the years, we've
celebrated in many different ways. Some years we've had a
special Valentine's dinner here at home---the house and the table
all decorated with hearts and flowers. Sometimes we've made
placemats with hearts and doilies and sometimes we've made woven
heart mats or had little paper hearts attached by long threads from
the dining room light. I've often set a little treat at each
place or sometimes a little card of love, thanks and blessing for
each one. I try to think of sweet ways to set the table, sweet
heart-shaped treats to bake or red, pink or white foods to prepare
for the meals that day. It doesn't take much to make it a
sweet and festive Valentine's Day. Whatever the case, it's a time of love... for husband's and wives,
children and families and friends: love bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of this is love.
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Love
Letters...
How about heart shaped muffins, pancakes or biscuits
for
breakfast
Love notes under the pillows of your children,
and
in your
husband's lunch.
A bouquet of flowers on the table...
and don't forget the conversation hearts
and kisses
and gumdrop hearts
and raspberry tea with honey and
maybe some raspberry smoothies for a breakfast treat
Strawberry jello with whipped cream topping
Strawberry-Pretzel Jell-O Salad to go along with your meal |
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You
can make heart shaped cookies, muffins or
little cakes for a
special Valentine's Day Teatime with your
family.
Teatime is enjoyed by boys as
much as it is by girls...
it's up to you to
make it a special memory for them.
Remember... the children may not remember
all the stuff you did
for them but they will
remember how you made them feel...
how it
was spending time with you. |
You could make Heart shaped sandwiches for lunch by making the
sandwich using a large heart cookie-cutter (save the 'edges for
snacking), or keep the bottom slice of bread uncut and spread with
peanut butter and then raspberry jam and then top with a piece of
bread from which a heart is cut from the center
(one drawback is
this can't be sent along in a lunchbox).
You'll delight your loved ones by just doing *any* special touch... be
creative! Let them know you adore them!!
Bake a loaf of
bread in a heart shape.
Make pizza for dinner---shape the
crust into a heart
and top with sauce, favourite toppings and
cheese.
Make a bouquet of kisses...
You'll need Hershey's Kisses, red or pink cellophane or tulle,
florist's tape, floral stems or green pipe cleaners from which to
make stems, then place each 'rose' in a vase.
Make Hershey's Kiss roses by putting two kisses together
end to end, wrapping with cellophane from top to bottom, creating a
rose like shape, you'll gather the cellophane together at the bottom
of the rosebud, and before you twist the cellophane or tulle closed,
you'll add the pipe-cleaner or pre-cut floral stem, pushing the leaf
close to the bud. Then wrap the bottom cellophane closed with
floral tape, going around the stem and pulling it tight all the way
down to the end. If you have two leaves on the stem,
you can press one up against the Kiss and wrap the tape so that it
stays that way creating a more realistic rose.
(Our son and daughter-in-law gave these as favours at their wedding
reception
several years ago. They were beautiful---so were the
rose kisses!)
Kathryn made these for Valentine's treats... hers
were made with four strips instead of two. The effect
is beautiful and each recipient was delighted with the
treat basket! |
Valentine's Cupcake Cards
I'm going to get out my heart shaped cake pans and make a sweet-heart cake!
I'm thinking of adapting some of the Valentine's
Day ideas from Martha Stewart's site for the children and
English Cherubs for my husband.
Below you'll find several ideas for Valentine's
Day
Lots and lots of ideas, links, poems and more at
Annie's!
annies homepage.com valentines links
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day Ideas |
Alphabet
Soup's Valentine's pages AND
Recipes! |
The Valentine’s Day
Challenge
by nancy twigg
Does Valentine’s
Day have to be expensive? Not at all. Let me tell you a story of
how my husband and I had one of the best Valentine’s Day
celebrations ever by limiting ourselves to spending $10 or less.
About ten years
ago, my husband Michael and I both left good jobs to begin a
home-based business. Within a matter of weeks, we went from two
comfortable salaries to one sporadic stream of income from our
fledgling business. On the first Valentine’s Day after we became
self-employed, we both knew we shouldn’t spend much on our
February 14th celebration. So we agreed to try
something different. We decided to set a $5 spending limit per
person for our Valentine’s Day gifts.
To a spendthrift,
a $5 spending limit on Valentine’s Day would have been like the
kiss of death: "What can I possibly buy for only five
dollars?" For us, it became a game: "What kind of cool
stuff we can come up for with less than five bucks?" Both of
us enjoyed the challenge of searching out items that would fit
the bill.
Michael is a
woodworker, so for him it was easy. He used his time and only a
little money to make me a beautiful oval frame for a wall mirror
I already had. He used wood that was salvaged from discarded
packing crates, 25¢ paint from a yard sale, and plans he drew up
on his computer. The only thing he had to go out and buy was a
dowel for putting the frame together, which cost only 76¢ at the
hardware store. The end result was a beautiful mirror that hung
proudly in our bedroom for many years.
For Michael, I
found a desk calendar that had a different quote about love for
each day. Because it was February, the calendar was on clearance
for $4. I also found a woodworking book at a library discard
sale for 50¢. In addition, I made him a homemade card and a
plate of his favorite cookies. When you add the cost of the
cookie ingredients I already had on hand, I actually went over
my limit just a little but he was delighted nonetheless. In
fact, we both enjoyed our gifts and the thrill of the hunt so
much that we instituted the five-dollar rule for other gift
giving occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries that year
as well.
Are you and your
loved one going through a tough time financially? Even if you’re
not, is the thought of saving money more attractive to you than
spending a small fortune on Valentine’s Day gifts? If so, I
encourage you to try something different this year. Take the
Valentine’s Day Challenge. Set a small spending limit—$5, $10 or
whatever fits your budget—and agree with your spouse to give
gifts that are low in cost but high in creativity.
Use any special
talents you have to create a keepsake. Put your cooking skills
to work to whip up an inexpensive-yet-irresistible treat in the
kitchen. Shop the clearance racks to find some special something
your sweetie would enjoy. Visit the secondhand stores to find a
gently-used book by a favorite author or CD by a favorite
artist. Use your budgeted amount to buy a gift card to the ice
cream shop, coffee shop or movie rental store.
Think outside the
proverbial box. Make it a game to see how you can use your
creativity to give your sweetheart the most Valentine’s Day fun
for the least amount of money.
Byline: Nancy Twigg is a speaker
and author who loves inspiring others to live more simply.
Adapted from Nancy’s newly revised book, Celebrate Simply:
Your Guide to Simpler, More Meaningful Holidays and Special
Occasions
Thank
you, Creative Ladies ministry for the Love bears all things graphic.
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