I know that not all of you are interested in the ABC’s of Love series, so I’ll be including a few other posts for you too.  Recipes, crafties and the like.  I saw this in a magazine… unfortunately, I don’t remember which one.  I’m thinking it was Family Circle, but I’m not positive.  This project is cheap, fast and easy.  My three most favorite things in combination, as far as crafts go anyway…  I bought all the supplies at the Dollar Tree for $2.  Each ring maybe cost me five pennies.  And I spent about 10 minutes on this, and five of those were waiting for the glue gun to heat up!

Here’s the How:
1)  You will need some candy conversation hearts and some rings.  Mine are gold (because I couldn’t find silver) and were back in the “wedding” section at the Dollar Tree.
2)  It’s as simple as it looks.  Using a hot glue gun, glue one heart on each ring.

Disclaimer:  These are NOT edible!  And it is only hot glue, so they aren’t all that sturdy.  Be careful (and maybe keep the glue gun handy for repairs…).  For longer-lasting results, use a stronger glue (LocTite is my preferred poison) and I would spray the candies with a clear sealer to help prevent chipping or breaking.  Even then, they won’t last forever.

That’s it.  Easiest tutorial I’ve ever written.  Probably easiest project I’ve ever done.  Cute though, right?  What little princess wouldn’t love one of these?

Here are some suggestions for the letter B:

B- Baby doll, Bubbles, Bliss, Boudoir, Beauty, Better Half, Book, Back Rub, Bare, BBQ, Beach, Bed, Best Friends, Bets, Blanket, Blessed, Blonde, Brunette, Bodies, Bookstore, Bouquet, Bowling, Bra, Breakfast, Brunch, Bust, Build

Ideas:
Bubbles-  Bubble bath, sparkling cider (or your other bubbly beverage of choice).  Last year, I gave my sweetie a warm bubble bath, complete with shampoo and scalp massage.  And we had sparkling cider in the tub.  Awesome.  I recommend!

source

 Bliss-  There are chocolates that are called Bliss.  Or write a sweet little note about the bliss your love brings to your life.

Book-  Give your sweetie a book you think they would enjoy.  Read it TOGETHER!  Take 10 minutes before you go to bed to and read a chapter together.

BBQ-  Fix your sweetie’s favorite BBQ for dinner.  Or present them with a coupon for their fave once the weather warms up enough for you to actually start a fire outside without getting frostbite…

Beach-  If you have a lake or beach nearby, bundle up and go for a quick walk on a warmer day.  Or present a coupon for a day at the beach when the weather is warmer.  Or have a mini-date with a beach theme.  Play some tropical inspired music in the background while you eat Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner.  Settle in for a beach-y movie after the kiddos go to bed.  Make yourselves some fun, fruity tropical drinks.  There is a digital kit in my Etsy Shop that provides recipes, if you’re interested.

 Blanket-  Grab some blankets and make a fort in the living room AFTER you put the kids to bed.  It’s so much more fun when you get to play too, instead of setting it up for the kids.  Snuggle in your fort and catch up with the TiVo or DVR and some popcorn.

Bookstore-  Do the Hit the Books Date.  Kit available in my Etsy.

Breakfast/Brunch-  In bed or go out alone together.

Intimate Ideas:  If you are easily offended by things of an intimate relationship nature, please stop reading here.  Come back tomorrow for the letter C!
Last warning:  the ideas below are not for the faint of heart or the easily offended or embarrassed!  They aren’t that bad, but probably not something you’d discuss with your grandmother.  Highlight to view.

Click HERE for C.

The suggested words for A:

A –  Aphrodisiac, Adventure, Anniversary, Amore, Aboard, Admirer, Affection, Afternoon, Allowance, Always, Amaze, Anonymous, Animal, Attempt, and Attract.

These were words that I had ideas for.  If you need some inspiration, shoot me an email and let me know what word you have in mind.  

Some Ideas:

Aphrodisiac- According to The Reader’s Digest, the top ten aphrodisiacs are avocados, bananas, chili peppers, honey, pine nuts, figs, arugula, coffee, oysters and chocolate.  I would add grapes and strawberries… And lingerie, but that’s just me.  Jasmine, lavender, ylang ylang, and patchoulli are said to be scents that have aphrodisiac powers.  Whether you believe in aphrodisiacs or not, these would be a yummy snack after the kiddos are in bed regardless.

Adventure- The first thing that popped into my mind is a Choose Your Own Adventure Date Night.  These are available in my Etsy Shoppe.  If you are interested in a digital copy, due to time constraints, let me know.  I’ll get you set up with the story and easy instructions on how to construct the book.  Or if you want me to do all the work, and you want it quickly, I can offer expedited shipping (which would increase shipping cost, of course).  Or order one now and you’ll have it in time for Valentine’s Day.  There are no rules about actually going in alphabetical order here.  Or you can do something you’ve always wanted to, but maybe never had the chance, or the guts?  Get out there and face your fears together.  It’s a great bonding experience.

Anniversary- My wedding anniversary happens to be in February, so that works nicely.  If yours is not, that’s ok.  There’s got to be something you could celebrate.  First kiss, first date, first “I Love You”.  If nothing else, you can re-create your first Valentine’s Day together.  You don’t necessarily have to do it on the 14th either.  Do it when ever.  All you’d have to say is, “Remember our first Valentine’s Day…?”  Ok, you might have to expound a little more, but your sweetie will probably pick it up fairly quickly.

Amore- If you have Spanish or Latino in your blood, use it to your advantage!  Have a mini-date with a Spanish/Mexican theme.  Dinner and a movie perhaps?  Go salsa dancing?  Listen to Enrique Iglesia and Shakira CD’s, in Spanish, of course, while you dance around the house?  I’m sure the kids would love enchiladas for dinner and you can watch the movie after you put them to bed (maybe a little early?).

Aboard-  Present your sweetie with a ticket.  To what, you ask?  I dunno, that’s up to you.  It could be a Caribbean Cruise themed date night.  Or airplane tickets.  Can’t afford airplane tickets?  How about an Italian themed date night.  You don’t have to do the date tonight, just build some anticipation with the tickets.  

Admirer-  Send a cute little note to work with your sweetie… tuck it into his coat pocket when he kisses you before he walks out the door.  Tell him the things you love about him.  It will surely bring a smile to his face when he finds it.

Affection-  Make just a little more effort to show your sweetie how much you love them.  Give a few more kisses, hold hands a little more, hang on a little longer when you hug.

Afternoon-  Plan an afternoon to spend just the two of you.  Do whatever you want.  This could be an afternoon this weekend, or next month or whenever is convenient.  Plan it and schedule it and then keep the appointment like it is an appointment for a life-saving operation.

Allowance-  This is the treat I have planned for my hubby… when he gets back from his work trip tomorrow he will find a little note explaining that I will be rewarding his good efforts the rest of the week.  The more good efforts, the more rewarding.  That’s it.  Brief and a little obscure.  I’m doing ‘A’ on Friday.  Through out the week I will give him pennies for his good efforts – helping with dinner, putting Little Monkey to bed, killing the spider in the shower.  Whatever.  Be generous.  When Friday rolls around and he gets home from work he will find a little brochure with some options inside.  Things like back rub, scalp massage, hot shower for two, extra dessert, ect.  Each thing will have a price attached to it.  He may spend his pennies until he runs out.

Ok, I could go on, but I hope you are starting to get the idea.  If you have something, go… run with it.  If you need anything, let me know.  I’ll see what I can do.  Have fun planning and come back for ‘B’ tomorrow!

Click HERE for B. 

I can’t believe we are already a whole month into this new year.  It seems like just yesterday was Christmas!  Ok, so I want to say upfront that 1) This will probably seem overwhelming, but I promise it won’t be as bad as you think.  Just take it one day at a time.  2) If you decide to do this with me you will see an improvement in your relationship.  I promise.  I mean Scout’s Honor-cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye-pinky promise with spit (ewww!) kind of promise.  And 3) If you start this, commit to going all the way through with it.  It will mean so much more if you do.  I will help you in anyway I can.  Please just ask.

This series will last the whole month of February.  It will be on doing something, some days it will be big somethings and some days it will be small somethings, for your significant other.  I will guide you through each day and will give you ideas.  If you want a little more personalized help, email me and I’ll see what I can do for you.

A little background, if you get bored, skip down… the good part is coming.  This is a tradition I started last year.  My Mr Right is in the Army and we were awaiting a deployment date.  He’d already received notice he was going, we were just waiting to find out when and where.  That was a weird time in our relationship.  Everything felt like pins and needles all the time.  The dumbest things would set me off because I was overwhelmed and scared  at the thought of being left (and mad at My Mr Right for leaving me, like he had a choice, right?) all alone with our then-6-month old and the house and the cars and the mortgage and the HOA (whom I really didn’t like and was less than excited to do business with), and…, and… and the list went on and on.  My parents were 600 miles south, my in-laws were 600 miles north and I was terrified.

Unless you are an Army wife, it’s incredibly hard to really understand what emotions you have when they get that call.  But time also felt so precious.  Every laugh, smile, tickle session, and all the intimate moments were so special.  I had to savor them, in case they were the last ones.  Pre-deployment is a rough time.

(Ok, before you get too caught up in my sad little story, My Mr Right didn’t deploy.  His company went out of business and we had to move out of state to find a job.  That might sound like we were dodging deployment (and honestly, I didn’t mind missing out on that), but it was either move or live under the freeway for 6 months until he did deploy.  Jobs really were that scare in our small Idaho town.)

So, for the month of February I chose to focus on the positive in my life instead of fretting over the less-than-positive that I had zero control over.  I took a letter each day and made it the focus of my “something special”.  I did something for My incredible Mr Right each day of February.  I’ve always been a hopeless romantic and giving gifts is just as fun for me as receiving them.  This was perfect.  I didn’t go in order, as it was easier that way.  That way the “activities” I had planned we could do when my sweetie wasn’t working.  He worked nights, seven days a week.  That’s almost as rough as deployment, ok, just kidding.  Don’t write me mean comments!  I’m totally joking.

The Good Part:
Want an example?  “J” was for “Jigsaw Puzzle”.  I made up a little collage of some photos of my sweetie and me in Photoshop.  I made it quite large.  I printed it out, taped it up and then cut it into a puzzle.  AND THEN, I put each piece inside of a balloon.  I blew the balloons up (by hand… uh, mouth) and stuck them in our half bath, the one My Mr Right used when he got home from work.  Now, I probably had about 60 balloons in this bathroom… My mouth was so sore and it seriously messed with my TMJ, but it was so much fun to watch him walk, well try to walk, into that bathroom.

Totally worth it.  Now, remember I had a lot of free time on my hands last year and this little gesture was kinda time-intensive.  It doesn’t have to be!  For “U” he got a homemade gift certificate to the hot springs about an hour away.  That took me about 20 mins to put together.  If you are easily offended by things of an intimate nature, please skip  this next sentence.  And for “P”,  he got 3 pairs of skimpy panties in his lunchbox, which we made good use of later.  We are married… but that letter only took 10 minutes and $5 for me to put together.  I only wish I could’ve seen his face!

Ok, I hope you’re getting excited to join me?  It will be fun, I promise.  The best part about this: it is completely customizable.  What I do and what you do and what Emma Jane over there does will not be the same.  Even if we all use the same word(s).  My puzzle would be completely different than yours and Emma Jane’s!  As will your sweetheart’s reactions.  This can be as time-intensive or as expensive as you want.  I will be providing a few goodies along the way to help you out.

Like I’ve said, if you want more help, email me.  whilehewasnapping[at]gmail.  I’m usually pretty quick at responding.  I’ve also got 2 pages of ideas for things to do.  If you would like a copy of my list, please email me and I will send it to you.

Click Here to find out what A is for…

Don’t forget to print off the invite for your sweetheart to join you in this month long celebration!  Click, right click, save to your computer and print!