Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’m so glad Valentine’s Day is in mid-February, because it brings some life to this otherwise un-eventful month. I know many folks are bahm-humbug on V-Day, but I’ve always loved it. For me, it’s a chance to make homemade cards and crafts, cookies and treats, and a reason to do something special with those you love.

This year was no different. James and I had our first date night without baby on Friday night, while a friend watched Madeline. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at our favorite French restaurant, Suzettes. And then we spent the weekend holed up warm and cozy in our house, while it lightly snowed, snuggly with our little girl.

I made some Valentine’s Day banners this year just for fun. The heart banner was super easy and inexpensive to make – these are foam hearts I bought on sale at Joanne’s for $5.00, and I just sewed them into a big string. I wasn’t sure how foam would work, but it runs through the sewing machine just fine.

Then I sewed some felt letters onto burlap to make this LOVE banner – also super easy. I cranked both these out in less than 2 hours before some friends came over for coffee. It would have been even quicker, but I was trying to keep Miss M entertained on the side.

Probably my favorite thing about Valentine’s Day is making cards and sending them off to friends and family. This year I scaled back the number I normally make, and just made them for our family members. Projects take a lot longer with an infant in the house!

And for Valentine’s Day itself (today), Madeline and I made some fun little Valentine treat bags. These were also really easy to make, and I think turned out really cute. I bought some treat bags at Micheals, and then used some cardstock and stamps to make the tops and stapled them to the bags. It would probably look better to use double-sided tape and eliminate the staples, but oh well, next time. I think these little treat bags are going to become a regular in my crafty rotation – they would be great for favors at birthday parties, superbowl parties, Christmas parties, you name it. Just change up the paper, stamps, ribbons, etc.

These little bags I made for James and delivered them to him at work. He’s starting a four week detox diet this week, and for week 1 he can only eat fruits, veggies, and nuts. So I made him a trail mix bag and some almond/date bars – this bar I cut into a little heart to make it more festive.

Then I made a bunch of chocolate treat bags for my co-worker friends, and Madeline and I went and delivered Valentine’s treat bags today.

But my favorite part of the day this year – hanging out with my little Valentine!

Hope you have a great Valentine’s Day!