Valentine's Day

Well, Saturday is Valentine's Day! What are you going to do? Do you have someone you are going to spend the day with? Someone you WANT to spend the day with, but things aren't going to work out so you can?

What does Valentine's Day mean to you? Is it a day to celebrate your love for another person? Is it a day to commemorate a Saint? Is it a day reminding us all of a brutal massacre that happened in the 1920's?

Traditionally, (and by "traditionally" I mean, what-greeting-card-companies-and-stores-have-made-the-day-into) Valentine's Day is a day of celebrating love. Men go overboard trying to buy the perfect gift for the woman they love. Women go overboard buying or creating the perfect gift for the man they love. Kids give cards to their friends telling them that they are "DINO-mite", an "ALL-STAR" and "Olaf you very much". Parents stress about what to give their kids that will say "I LOVE YOU" without going overboard, or be thrown in the trash!

Holiday's are stressful, and Valentine's Day doesn't disappoint in that department! My wedding anniversary is 2 days after Valentine's Day, and let me tell you, that adds stress! I have GET to figure out what to give my husband for Valentine's Day, and then turn around and give him something else 2 days later!

In the past, we haven't had much money, so I resorted to making gifts for my husband. I'm not nearly as gifted as he is (read: CARVING a rose out of a block of wood), so I stick to what I am good at: Crafts! (I'm really not good at those either, but it's really the thought that counts, right? Anyway, here are some tried-and-almost-true last minute ideas for you to create for your Valentine this year!

I know you've seen this one around the internet before: 52 Reasons I Love You.

I did this once... I put a lot of effort into my little card book. I even bought NEW cards! However, I am not so crafty apparently, and ALL of the cards warped. I don't mean there was a slight bowing to them, I mean, there were ripples, RIPPLES people, in each and every card. Needless to say, my husband read each card once, it got put in a drawer, and in all of the moves we've had, they have since disappeared.  So, my advice to you, is to take your time, and use Double Sided Tape!

This one is another one I put a valiant effort in: Sharpie Mugs.

I took my kids to the dollar store, bought plain, white, ceramic mugs, a package of multi-colored Sharpies, and got to work! I let my kids draw little pictures on one side of each mug, then I wrote things like, "#1 Dad" and "We Love You" on the other side. I heated up my oven to 350 degrees, and gently placed the mugs in the heat! We waited for the recommended 30 minutes, and carefully pulled each mug out of the oven. I let them all cool down, took a slightly damp rag... and wiped away 1 letter (I was checking to see if this magical sharpie trick worked). Unfortunately for me, this did not work. Apparently there are "Special" markers you need to use. However, the tutorial I saw, did not mention this at all! I let the kids give their daddy these special mugs, and warned him to NEVER use them. My warning was soon forgotten, and the mugs were used, placed in the dishwasher, and those precious pictures drawn by my tiny children are now gone. Washed away. Never to be seen again. We do still have the mugs though!

OH! How about this one: Date Night In A Jar.

I tried this one, I thought, "This can't go wrong! He'll LOVE this one!" WRONG! It can go wrong. I was trying to stay on a budget, and you can only put "Stay in and watch a movie" in the jar so many times before it starts to get ridiculous. Needless to say, I did not give this gift to my sweet husband. I turned it into an "Uh Oh Jar". Turns out, it's a lot easier to think of things to make my kids do when they get in trouble, than it is to think of cheap date ideas.

And my personal least favorite: The Coupon Book.

I have done this several times. "This coupon is good for 1 FREE 10 minute Massage!" "Redeem for a HOME-COOKED meal of your choice!" "1 Night to yourself, is yours if you just give me this coupon." The list goes on. You can make these as simple or as elaborate as you want. Make a few that you will actually enjoy upon redemption, and a few that are specifically for your Valentine. Be romantic. Be silly. Be original! I went all out once, I made a HUGE (when I say huge, think pack of multi-colored index cards 150 pack, huge) book. I wrote on each card, color coordinated everything (Blue = funny, Pink = sexy, etc) and glued them all together, like a pad of paper. I'm pretty sure those babies are lost somewhere in a drawer. They were forgotten about, mostly because my husband would want to redeem something like, "PIZZA for dinner!" After I had already started dinner, and I would REFUSE to accept his coupon. So, if you give this as a gift, make sure you honor the coupon, or all your hard work will go down the drain!

These are a few ideas for you. I'm sure my results are not typical, but maybe they are. What I have learned is this: Valentine's Day isn't about gifts. Gifts can show you love someone, but what shows them you love them more (in my eyes) is spending time together. Making time to do something that you know he/she likes. Putting the effort in to say, "I love you." "You look amazing today!" "I just can't get enough of your smile."

Oh, candy and flowers help too!

Love,

Ciera

Girl's Night Fun

Last Friday, we had our first ever Girl's Night Out. It was a lot of fun!

We made Heart Wreaths out of Coffee Filters. We had cupcakes, cookies, chips, and delicious drinks from the Tin Roof Coffeehouse.

If you missed out, make sure to sign up, and come next month, when we make Clover Button Pictures and "LUCK" Burlap & Wood Signs!

Here are a few pictures of the fun we had! I forgot to pull out my camera until the end of the night, so I didn't get a picture of everyone together, but I did get a few!

Kyle helped out by drilling all of the holes in the cardboard! He also drew all of the hearts out, and helped cut them all. (He may have cut his finger in the process!)

Whittney dyed all of the coffee filters, and sported pink fingers for a few days. She also taught how to create these adorable wreaths! Don't they look so cute?

We had quite a spread for treats! What good is a Girl's Night Out, if you don't forget about your diet? Yummy cupcakes, a veggie tray, cookies, and drinks provided by the Tin Roof! 

A couple of the ladies showing off their creations! I love how the wreaths are different. Even though they both used the same materials, they turned out so unique! Great job ladies!

Next month I'll be better about taking pictures! I hope everyone had fun, and is planning on coming in March!

Love,

Ciera

Style Tips

I am not one to ever turn down tips on how to decorate, or how to dress. In fact, I really wish I had a personal stylist that could tell me what looks best on me, fits my personality, and makes me feel amazing! (Every girl's dream, right?) I also wish I had the funds to make all the changes to my home that I want. It's hard to have the same decorations for years, and with changing trends and changing tastes, it can be expensive to stay happy with your living environment.

My home, as I mentioned in my last post, is decorated with a lot of dark colors. Brown, mostly. My husband, LOVES brown. Me? Not so much. I like bright colors: yellows, teals, reds, and even peach! I like to have lightness in my space, and while the browns make everything feel cozy and homey, it also makes it feel small, and dark.

I have been looking around and trying to find a few things that I can do to brighten up my space while not breaking the bank, and decided that I would share them with you!

If you don't want to get your hands dirty, you can simply rearrange your existing furniture. Use a bedside table from your bedroom as an end table in your living room. Switching out simple pieces like that can give new life, and new light to your space. Use a chest that you normally keep against a wall as your coffee table. Move lamps around, try brighter or dimmer bulbs to accent your lighting to give the room the exact feel you want.

If you do want to get your hands dirty, refinish your entertainment center. Use our guide to refinishing furniture found here, to add your personal touch. You can re-upholster a chair, or simply go thrift shopping, find a fun wooden chair, and paint it! Having an accent piece gives you a great conversation starter, and a jumping off point to decorate the rest of the room.

One of my favorite accessories is a nice blanket. I keep a basket in my living room, that we put one blanket in. (Why one blanket? Because when people come over, we can throw all the kid's toys in the basket, and place the nicely folded blanket over them all, and it looks like a basket of blankets, not a mess!) I switch out the blanket from time to time, because it helps me feel like I am that much more homemaker-y (that's a word, right? Right!)

Maybe you can sew. (I started taking sewing lessons, when I was 8, yup I was THAT child. The one that asked Santa for a sewing machine at 8, and actually used it!) An easy thing you can do to update existing accent pillows, is to just sew up a few new pillowcases for them. Use fun fabric for each season, or holiday. You can easily change the whole feel of your room with accent pillows!

I just talked my husband into getting me yellow spray paint. Why? So I can paint some picture frames, and add some color to my walls, without the commitment of painting the entire wall! I'm not sure if he is super excited about the yellow, but I am!

I am also going to put some bright curtains up. When hanging curtain panels, make sure that you hang them as close to the ceiling as you can (make sure they touch the ground too!), and as wide as you can, so that when the curtains are open, you cover the least amount of window as possible. This will add height to your room, and width to your windows. It will make your room feel much bigger too!

Now that I have given you some tips, I'm going to have to follow them, and show you what I do to my space!

Love,
Ciera