Valentine's Day! We Made It Fun!

Hi and Happy Sunday! I'm so glad that you've stopped by!

As you may know, my darling husband, Jim, passed away July 5, 2017. Since then, I've been trying to figure out how to live this new life, with the assistance of my very helpful youngest daughter and two sweet grand children. One of the things that we decided to do was embrace the holidays! I normally don't decorate for much, other than Christmas and Halloween, but am finding that celebrating other special days in a similar fashion, gives us something to look forward to, something to do, and it's just plain fun!

We recently did a bit of shopping at Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree and some thrift stores and I wanted to share some of what we bought........

I bought two of these sweet rose hearts. Guess who ate one? PUNKIN!

This is how we decorated with our finds - on our front porch.........

This is actually two pieces - a sign from Hobby Lobby hooked to a wreath from Dollar Tree

LOVE this tin banner from Hobby Lobby! 

Pink and White roses along with red hearts on sticks from Dollar Tree bring new life to empty flower pots!

 

Springy hanging hearts blowing in the wind

As a Beverage/Snack Bar in the kitchen..............

Yummy cookies in an old silver-plated, heart-shaped dish I found at the Salvation Army

Hot chocolate pods in a ceramic berry basket from Hobby Lobby

Dove chocolate hearts and love birds, along with peppermint sticks, occupy a pink filigree bucket from Target

Dollar Tree mailbox holds tea bags; dish towel from Target

Coffee pods are kept in white canisters that belonged to my mom

Mug from our honeymoon - how romantic can you get?

On Valentine's Day, Shannon and the kids gave me an adorable and cuddly sloth, a little vase of the sweetest baby roses and a big heart-shaped box of chocolates! I gave them gifts too.........

My great gifties!

Jar candle I made with glittery red and white pom poms and hand-written chalkboard tag; Jamison's pink elephant; Shannon's owl soap pump

Abigail's pink unicorn, candy and a sign I bought at a thrift store (there were a few other things I failed to get pics of)

As if that all wasn't enough, we had heart-shaped pizza for dinner, heart-shaped cake for dessert and chocolate-covered strawberries!

Heart Pizza!

Heart Cake and Chocolate Strawberries!

I think that we did the holiday justice! LOL! We had a good time and although I had some really difficult moments during the day, overall it was joyous and filled with love! I also like to think that all of the love and celebration goes up to Jim to enjoy too!

So that was our Valentine's Day! We had some red lights for the porch, but they burnt out. Thats ok. We plan to hang green ones now for St Patty's Day and Purple ones for Easter!

Thank you again for being here! Hope all is well with you and yours! Hugs!

Shannon aka Crazy Queen of Hearts LOL!

A Bad Day For Coffee!

If you know me, or have seen pictures of me, you know that I love my Dunkin Donuts decaf iced coffee with cream! No, I don't love it, I ADORE it! I crave it! I must have it! If I don't have one in my hand or my car, rest assured that my plans for the very near future include hitting the drive-thru for some. SOME, that implies plural. I always get two. One is usually inhaled, sorry, enjoyed after dinner and the other is saved for early morning. It's always a good day when I have my iced coffee. Today, however, was not a good day for coffee!

It started out innocently enough. We were all headed to the car to go pick up Abigail's new eye glasses and run a few errands after the kids got home. I took the dogs out and sat down in one of the chairs we have on the patio. I placed my coffee at my feet - big mistake! Jamison came out with a basketball and began to shoot hoops, which always makes Chloe go nuts because she is obsessed with balls! No matter how big or small, the dog must play with it! Actually, she destroys most balls, but not intentionally. One will get caught behind a bush and by the time she finishes barking at it, biting and pawing at it, it's flat. She gets the saddest look on her face too, poor thing.  Anyway, she started chasing the ball around and barking and going for the rebounds and ran over my coffee cup, sending it's precious contents hither and yon! I was like "ACK!" Another good reason for decaf - crazy puppies who drink coffee off the brick patio!

Yes, you're pretty,  but you're nuts!

Our sweet Chloe

So, needless to say, we had to add picking up coffee to our errand list. We did and I was happily taking a sip when Shannon ran over a big bump in the road and I spit it all over my shirt! Argh!  Then, to add insult to injury, while carrying one cup in the crook of my arm on they way to the house, coffee came pouring out of the straw hole and all down my arm and side! What's up with that? I have no idea! Coffee Curse? Thank goodness I was able to drink it into submission before anyone was hurt! Let's hope things are a little calmer today!

Yes she looks so innocent while sleeping!

Have a great Thursday!
Hugs!

Let's Make Some Winter Jar Candles!

Hi! Hope you're having a nice weekend! I know that we are all just waiting for spring and warmer weather to come. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as Christmas is over, spring should arrive, complete with flowers, chirping birds and warmer temperatures. I just can't seem to convince Mother Nature of that and, as weird as she's been behaving this winter, I think I'll steer clear of her mood swings.

So, what do you do when you want tulips and daffodils and the world gives you snow? You make winter jar candles! Embrace your inner winter curmudgeon and play!

I made a few of these for my Christmas centerpiece and loved how they turned out! They're so easy and inexpensive too! Here's what you'll need:

Two jars (or however many you want to make- lids optional)

Artificial snowflakes

LED tea lights or votive candles

Cranberry (or color of your choice) wooden beads

Anything else you want to decorate your jar with, inside or out! It's your project - let your creativity run wild!

To assemble, I placed the cranberry beads in the bottom of each jar, about an inch deep. I had some old wooden bead garland that I cut apart. You can find lose beads or garland online any time of year, or fill with real berries, nuts, mini pine cones - again, whatever you wish!

Top the beads with about 2 inches of snow flakes. Nestle a candle into each jar. Add greens, small ornaments, figurines as you choose. I wanted to keep mine simple and basic, so I didn't add any embellishments. Actually now that I think about it, you could even decorate the lids with paint or fabric. It all depends upon how you want your creation to look!

I love how the lights sparkles on the glass and glistens underneath the snow!

I've really developed a thing for jars and glass containers lately. I think it's because they enable me to decorate quickly, easily and inexpensively AND my little trouble-maker dog, Punkin, can't get to the objects when she's looking for an alternative snack! On second thought she did steal a snowman from a larger jar candle, but she didn't eat him! That dog is a nut!

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this little craft project! Stayed tuned for some Valentine's Day fun! 
Hugs, Leena