Archives for January 2011

Ok, I want your lovely ideas.  Anything Valentine’s Day or love related.  It doesn’t have to be for your sweetheart, it can be an idea for the kiddos, a recipe, a craft project, anything.  Link them up.  As many as you want.  However, if you link you are giving me permission to use the idea in a future post.  I will, of course, give credit to you and a link to the original post.  This linky will be open until the end of February, so be sure to come back and link up any future projects too.  It would also be great if you’d add the button at the top of my sidebar somewhere on your blog.  Thanks, ok, let’s see it!

Thumbnails:  123 entries entries!

1. Valentine Printable Wood Blocks 2. Valentine Printable 10×8 and Cupcake topper 3. Easy Valentine art 4. Valentine’s Pillows 5. Kisses & Hugs Pocket 6. Magnetic Spices with a Little Love 7. Valentine topiary 8. Valentine Carton 9. Valentines Day Subway Art 10. Valentines Day Blocks 11. Valentine Ornament Wreath 12. Love Letter photo art 13. Heart Tassel 14. Valentine’s Wreath 15. Chunky Love Blocks! 16. Valentine Cards Workshop 17. Loving Jon 18. Valentine Jewelry 19. Cupcake Painting Tutorial 20. Candy Dish for Your Valentine 21. Easy Valentine art 22. Valentine’s Tree 23. Valentine Tulle Heart Wreath 24. Valentine Flower Pot 25. Printable Valentine Candy Bar Wrapper 26. Valentine wreath 27. Pull Tab Heart Bracelet 28. Ladybugs & Garland 29. Pom Pom Creatures 30. Heart Dishcloth 31. Heart Ornaments 32. Chocolates = Jewelry Box 33. Plastic Bag Valentine’s Wreath 34. Framed Heart 35. Valentine Wreath 36. Diann~Thrifty Valentine Candles 37. Target Dishtowel to Toddler Skirt 38. Valentine’s Day Story – Sexy Nerd in Trouble! 39. Valentines Printable 40. {feel the love} 41. Appliqued Valentine’s Tights 42. Valentine’s Colored Coffee Filter Wreath 43. Valentine’s Day Decor 44. Smothered in Kisses Pillow 45. Love letters 46. Valentines Activity A Day Countdown Calendar 47. Mini Heart Wreath 48. vday decor 49. Valentines Soap Dispenser 50. Valentine Freebies 51. Blingy Heart Clip tutorial and GIVEAWAY 52. Easy Sweetheart Cake 53. Look After My Heart Printables 54. Stupid Cupid Printables 55. Valentines Day Wreath Tutorial 56. Valentines Candy Wreath 57. See-Through Valentines 58. Paper wreath 59. Valentine Take Out Box & Cookies 60. Heart Tattoo Shirt 61. Specimen Art with Hearts! 62. Valentine’s Day Wreaths 63. Love Frame Tutorial 64. Love Deeply Card @  Create With Joy 65. Live Laugh LOVE fframe 66. Love Display and Faux Mercury Glass Hurricane 67. KooKooCraft bride 68. Easy Valentine Specimen Art 69. valentines day heart 70. Love Birds Bucket 71. Annemarie’s Breiblog 72. Valentines gift can 73. simple love treats 74. “You Pull on my Heartstrings” Card 75. Valentine shirt necklace 76. Valentine Printable 77. LOVE Banner 78. Heart Shape Box of Felt Chocolates 79. Felt Heart Wall Hanging *Tutorial* 80. Conversation Cones 81. LOVE wooden letters 82. Vday FLIP IT book! 83. Sweetheart Topiary 84. Valentine Paper Garland 85. Berry Heart Wreath 86. POM POM PHENOMENON 87. I’m That Mommy – Valentine’s Day Craft and Contest 88. Valentine’s Topiary 89. mmm hot chocolate 90. key to my heart 91. Be Mine Jars 92. TUTORIAL Heart Wreath 93. Te Amo Free Print 94. Sweater to barrette flower pom 95. Little Black Heart Dress 96. Create With Joy – Be Mine Valentine Card 97. Lovely photo frame tutorial 98. Teaching with Valentines 99. Valentine Button 100. Treat Bags 101. Love Jar Gift 102. I’m in LOVE with Mod Podge: LOVE blocks 103. Kiss 104. Valentine’s Carry-Out Container Topiary 105. Valentines Words 106. Rosette Candleholder 107. Valentine Frame 108. Valentine for Him 109. Cute, fun and easy valentines! 110. Candlestick Topiary 111. DIY Valentine’s Cards 112. Pink Hot Chocolate & Heart Shaped Cinnamon Buns 113. Love & a Drill 114. Valentine tag 115. Love 116. Stenciled Viking Valentine Shirt 117. Valentine Heart Mobile 118. Chocolate & Cream Cheese tunnel cake 119. LOVE wreath 120. Chalkboard Valentines 121. Rosette heart pic frame 122. Create With Joy – Vintage Valentine Card 123. Strawberry Cookie Cups

Alrighty, are you ready to get this party started?  This month, my goal is to help you  put together some ideas and plans to make your February a fantastic month.  We will discover that it’s not about the fancy dinners, nice dresses and tuxedos, expensive wine (or sparkling cider in our case), and the money that some people think you have to spend to have a romantic evening.  We can get those fires going for mere pennies, in some cases.  Yes, there will be some posts on physical intimacy, but they will be well marked and you may skip those if you don’t want the ideas.

I’m not a professional marriage counselor or anything, but I can share with you what has worked in marriage to keep the fires burning.  Kids, work, church, family, extra activities, home maintenance, it all takes a toll on a relationship and it’s important to remember to take time to reconnect.  Love isn’t supposed to be easy, but it should ALWAYS be worth it.

Ok, now to the good stuff!  I posted this idea back in September (or so-ish) when My Mr Right and I did the date.  It was a ton of fun.  You remember those books from when you were a kid, right?  You start off reading like any other book until you get to a point where you have to make a decision.  It effects the whole outcome of the story.  Well, the choices effect the outcome of your date this time.  It was such a great date.  Check it out here.  It was also a lot of work, worth it, but still a lot of work.

I have three editions of Choose Your Own Adventure Dates available in my Etsy store.  Disclaimer: They are not the same prices I began with.  Those were introductory promotion prices.  I’m throwing this out here now because if you’re interested, now is the time to act.  If you want a personalized one, it takes about a week to write it and get it shipped.  There’s still plenty of time til Valentine’s Day if you’re looking for a gift or an awesome date for that night.  My Mr Right and I will probably be doing one of these dates for our anniversary (also in February).  I publish the stories in first come, first serve fashion — soooo… it may be in your best interest to act quickly.

Here is a quick synopsis of our last Choose Your Own Adventure Date, in photos:

Our book, completely handwritten and hand-crafted.

One of the pages in our story.  Sorry about the scribble… I’m not perfect.  =]

Flying kites after dinner at “Our Spot”.

Mini-Golf Photo Op

Love notes in the sand… it says ILYM, which stands for I Love You More.

A little spice in the bedroom…

For the full version of this date, with instructions on how to write your own click here.  I have an At-Home version, as well as an On-the-Town version available in my Etsy Shop.  If you want a really special gift, I’ll write a customized, personalized version just for you, based on where you want to do your date (whether it’s your home town or on a weekend getaway).  I also have Lover’s Lotto Cards available in my Etsy Shop, if you’re interested in those.