Posts Tagged ‘valentines’

hello, valentine.

Friday, January 14th, 2011

{ refresh }

I’m going to ask you to do something: Please click on your refresh button. We made some changes to the website, namely the red background. If you’re not seeing red, you need to refresh. See it now?

{ why the red? }

Today we are exactly one month away from Valentines Day. So I thought it’d be fun to splash the color of love on the website to give us all that constant reminder of … well, LOVE. (This is not a permanent change.)

{ love }

Love isn’t just about being in a relationship. It’s not just about having a boyfriend or girlfriend or even being married (although that’s certainly significant and wonderful. In fact, marriage, as we know, often leads to children and I believe FAMILY is most definitely central in God’s Plan of Happiness.)

Love is about even more than that though. Love is what can heal. Love is what can lift another. Through love, burdens are lifted, hearts are mended, and a crummy day becomes blessed. And it doesn’t always mean a close friend or family member. Sometimes it’s a stranger. And you know what? They need love too. Do you realize that even a simple smile can change someone’s entire day?

{ love is a verb }

That’s what they say, right? Well because it’s true. A relationship takes effort. You don’t see a friendship blossom on accident. You don’t see a marriage make it through hard times because husband & wife are waiting for the other to make the first move.

This is a small invitation to each of us to be more proactive in being loving human beings. More patient in our driving. More willing to volunteer our time in service. More likely to following that prompting to phone a friend or write a note of kindness or stop everything you’re doing to read with your child. More effort in changing the subject when gossip flares up. More likely to express gratitude. Being quick to forgive. And more smiling. Definitely more smiling.

{ a visual reminder }

As a small token of my gratitude for you, dear reader, I’m sharing a couple “Love One Another” prints to use however you’d like. Let this visual be a daily reminder of what I hope we can all focus on this month … and always.

Head over to the Free Stuff page to snag your free print(s).

PS – Want a more tangible way to share love this Valentines season? If you missed it last February, this Post-it Love idea might get the wheels a-turnin’. (Unfortunately all the reader comments were erased in last year’s blog server transfer.)

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Posted in holidays & seasons, home | 62 Comments »

valentines for the kiddos.

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

So you have an idea on what to share with other families for Valentines (see “Post-it Love” below if you missed it), but how about the kiddos? Most kids will be exchanging Valentines with their friends, so here’s a simple idea for that.

Something I try to do with any of these little holiday exchanges, is make it personal. I want my kids to be involved in creating these little gifts that they give to their buddies. Plus, it’s awesome, creative togetherness time. Here’s the end result of Porter’s Valentines that he’ll be exchanging next week with his first grade classmates:

(Claire’s art is pretty darn cute too … she just needs to finish coloring it.)

And this is how it’s done. Put some goodies or yummies in small, clear bags. Check the craft store or use plain ol’ ziplock bags. I use those most of the time, but happen to have like a thousand of these sturdy poly bags, so that’s why I used those instead. Anyway, no matter what you use … give the bag some sugar. : )

Have your child create a little bit of Valentines art. Let them be creative and express their wishes however they choose. You just need to provide the paper already cut down to a horizontal rectangle, knowing that it will be a bag topper. Porter wanted to write this message and add a few hearts. Appropriate. Then … scan the art and pop that image a document a couple of times, keeping in mind that the width needs to be adjusted to be whatever your bag width is. Also keep in mind that it will be folded, so your art is toward the bottom with space above it for the folding. This is what my finished document looks like.

Then of course, you print as many as you need, cut the labels, fold them over the bags, and staple. Done.

Here’s what the kids did last year. Again, personalizing with their own creativity: “Valentines & Another Give-away”

And another idea from the year before: “A Simple Valentine”

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Posted in DIY, giving, holidays & seasons | 2 Comments »