Valentine's Day Weekend... I Hope

I hope you have a beautiful Valentine's Day Weekend.  I hope it's filled with fun adventures.  I hope you get crafty.  I hope you prepare some of your favorite foods... together.  Spend time... together.

I hope you do... the things that will give you the MOST wonderful memories.

Happy Valentine's Day!

#LoveIsWorthCelebrating

Sunny Days Inspiration

SUNSHINE.  

I just googled and found out there is an average of 164 days of sunshine where I live.  164 out of 365.  That's only about 45% of the days in a typical year.  That puts our city at 44th of the list of the top 101 cities with the lowest average sunshine amount.  BOO.  Also - I just did all that MATH before 9:30AM.  If my calculations are wrong, don't tell me.  This is NOT a math blog - *wink.

Okay, so this is an average.  I get that.  That means there are some years where we have lots of sunshine, and other years... not so much.  Well, this has been one of those "not so much" years -- at least so far.  My south-bound mother teased me a little about my dismal outlook this year.  To that, I can only say, "Talk to the hand... You weren't LIVING it."  LOL.  Just teasin' ya back, Mom.  {By the way, nice tan!}

Anyways, I'm here to tell you that there have been a handful of sunshiny days in the last week or so, and... all record-making, taking, or breaking aside... I'll TAKE 'EM!

It was a dreary January, but as soon as the sunshine showed up, I felt like my brain was finally open for business.  I even went so far as to do a little crafting, resulting in some Valentine decor.  Kind of blew my own mind, since I've been in a long dry spell.

I also was inspired to do some picture-taking -- which I haven't done [just for fun] in a long time.  Most of the pics showed up on Instagram, as you know if you follow me there.  As usual, I'm way behind the curve when it comes to technology.  I've only recently "inherited" my daughter's old iPod.  It takes ridiculously crummy pictures, but I'm having fun with it nevertheless.  Someday, I will have something even "smarter."

But I digress.  

It took a fellow-blogger's comment to snap me out of the doldrums after THIS POST.  Amanda and I have become blogging buddies since we both participated in the "This Week in My Kitchen" bloghop.  She chided me, saying, "...really [pictures] are what jog our memories when we look back on life... TAKE MORE PICTURES, and stop wishing the winter away. ;)"

Thanks Amanda.  You were right.  {You can find Amanda's blog HERE.}

Picture-taking can really change your perspective on things.

The other day, I was downtown at a stop-light that was taking forever to change.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and all of a sudden it occurred to me that I might get an interesting "urban" shot of the red traffic light with the sunlight behind it.  So, instead of sitting at the red light tapping my fingers, I was taking pictures.  BOOM.  Perspective changed.

Try it.  You might be surprised.  Also: some of the best picture-taking happens on days without sun!  NO SHADOWS!

Don't forget: #LoveIsWorthCelebrating

When Crafting With Candy, Know Your Audience

So, I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking when I fell in love with my friend Pam's Valentine idea.  Obviously, I forgot her comment: "You gotta use a candy that you don't love more than life itself, or you're just asking for it be be refilled constantly." 

Obviously, I forgot the "audience" at my house -- since this jar wasn't even out on display 48 hours before somebody wanted to empty it.  [In reality, 48 hours is probably some kind of record around here!]

That person shall remain nameless, but suffice it to say that he[?] was told it was there for decorative purposes.  I really didn't think that these little cinnamon red-hot things would be very tempting.

Obviously, I am not the right person to ask.  Obviously.

The good news is that I am pretty sure he[?] heard the edge to my voice, shook in his[?] boots, and returned the jar to the tabletop, unopened.  Pretty sure.  Or, you know... umm, not.

Either way, I have learned my lesson.

When crafting with candy, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.

#LoveIsWorthCelebrating

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A Valentine Banner

In my daily blog-reading, KIM'S, ALICE'S, and JENN'S posts inspired me to create a Valentine banner. I decided to use a roll of wide burlap "ribbon" that I had leftover from Autumn decorating.  I also knew that I had some Valentine scrapbook paper on-hand, so the basic idea was to create a banner from supplies that I already had.  I purchased nothing for this project.

I knew that I wanted to use the burlap ribbon for the individual banner-flags.  I started by cutting a small length of the burlap, folding it in half, and notching out the bottom.  Once I was certain that I liked the size, I cut 11 more of the same, making 12 little "banner-flags" in all.

I cut a way-too-long piece of red and white twine, so that I knew I had more than enough.  I stretched it out on my counter, and started folding the banners over it.

I cut 12 hearts out of decorative scrapbook paper, laid them on the banners, and stapled them in place.  I wasn't too worried about the look of the staples.  I knew that when I hung the banner, the staples would be too far away to really be noticed.  Also - the staples are the only way this is held together.  I stapled through the heart and both layers of the folded banner.

Once all of that was done, it looked kind of plain and in need of a bit more dimension.  I went searching for, and found some ribbon to tie in between each banner.

That was all it took, and I was happy with the results.  It's simple, and it cost me nothing.

As you can see, this is no "rocket-science" project.  Maybe it will inspire YOU to create something fabulously simple.

You'll notice that my wreath isn't exactly like any of my inspirations.  Instead, there are elements of each in it, making it completely my own.  My favorite part is that I didn't spend a dime, and I ended up using up some crafty odds and ends.  Win-win!

It's amazing how a little sunshine streaming through the window can inspire you!  It sure inspired me this week!

#LoveIsWorthCelebrating

I'm joining up at Share Your Cup Thursday HERE.

Blessed Beyond Measure ~ Rockin' Babies

Yesterday, I sat in a room with four other ladies, and nine kiddos under the age of two.  [We don't always enjoy those great ratios!]  It was absolute bliss for me.  I was in my happy place.  Now, I know that lovin' on babies is not everyone's "thing" -- though it took me years to catch on to this.  Who doesn't love babies[?] was my thinking.

And then one day, I thanked a church high school department intern for loving on my kids through some hard years, and they said, "OhMyGosh - I SO LOVE working with high school students!!!!"  and I thought, "Wait. Seriously?  They LOVE it?  They're joking, right?"

Here's the thing... they weren't joking.  Just as I'm not joking when I tell you that it totally fills me up to the brim to love on these sweet little ones!  Better than that, I can tell you that the ages of about 6 months to 2 years are MY ZONE!

I have served in various ways through the years -- but when I am in THE ZONE and doing my best work -- I am rockin' the babies [as I like to call it].  I cannot even begin to tell you how freeing it is to know that -- to be able to say, "no" when something is not my strength, and to say "YES" to holding a little one for hours on end --which may or may not include things like lots of crying, and some changing, feeding, or putting to sleep.

And another thing I've learned about baby-lovin'... You're really doing double duty!  Usually, when you are loving on babies, you are allowing their mamas to be doing something that they WANT to do, you know... as in FREE TIME.  Bonus, right?  I have met some of the most delightful mamas just because I have loved their babies!  Big, big bonus for me too!

I'm so thankful for days like yesterday!

#DeclanLoganLockeCalvinMatthewZekeLeoJudeanddontforgetAudreyJan27TimeOutForMoms