Tossing Hearts. . .

Hello my friends,

 

Valentines is only six days away.

So for me, that meant time to put away the winter décor and start

 

tossing hearts.

 

Tokens of Love. . .

 Hello my friends,

February has arrived and Valentines Day will be here

before we know it!

 

 

It's one of my favorite holidays.  Whether we have a significant other or not, there are so many people that we love and that love us!!  I think it's important that we remember that!

 

Pom Poms and Roses. . .

 

Hello my friends,

 

I'm not sure what it is, but big fluffy pom poms and pretty roses make me ever so happy!

 

I had a couple of skeins of pink yarn that I had saved from one of the estate sales.  I added an aqua color from Hobby Lobby and then picked up a white from our local thrift.

 

 

My Funny Valentine

 

Hello my friends,

 

As most of you know I am a vintage lovin gal.

 

I am so excited to be joining some of my vintage loving friends for a Valentines blog hop and link party today.

A big thank you to Amber and Debra for putting this hop together!

 

 

 

 

Cherries and Chocolate. . .A Match Made in Heaven

 

Hello my friends,

as some of you may know; I am not a huge chocolate lover.

 

Oh yes, I enjoy a bit of chocolate now and then, but when it comes to cake, ice cream, and even chocolate.  I prefer white over brown.  :)

 

BUT cherries and chocolate together. . .now that's another story!

 

 

Treasures and Trinkets Tuesday. . .Jewelry Hearts

 

 

Hello my friends,

with Christmas over many of us are starting to think Valentines.

 

  Although I am not ready to start pulling out the Valentines décor, I am ready to do a bit of creating.

 

It's been quite a while since I did

 a 'Treasures and Trinkets Tuesday' post.

 

I thought this project fit the bill.

 

 

Give a Cheer for Pom Poms!

What is it about pom poms that makes us want to stand up and give a big cheer?

 

Perhaps they take us back to our younger days as a cheerleader, :) or maybe it's just because they are so darn cute!!

Not only cute, but easy and fun to make.  Especially if you have this handy dandy gadget.

 

$6.99 at Joannes's, but I snagged mine with a 50 percent off coupon.  Sure you can wrap yarn around cardboard, but this (in my opinion) was worth every penny.  Pom poms all turn out the same size and it was easy to use.  That is after my engineer hubby figured it out for me.  lol!  Truth be told!

 

This is the yarn I used.  Both on sale.  I made one pom pom with the red and cream but didn't care how there were longs strips of plain cream.  After that I cut it and wrapped the stripe and the cream separately.

So easy I made them while out of town celebrating my oldest sister's 80th birthday.  Wrap a little eat a little, wrap a little , eat a little more. 

 

I could hardly wait to string them and hang them up.  Sometimes I laugh at myself about how silly I am!  I strung and hung them the night we got home and in the morning I just HAD to decorate my living room mantle.  I won't be pulling out the rest of the Valentines until next week.  But I just couldn't wait!  That kid in a candy store syndrome. lol!

 

 

Using a large needle and crochet thread I strung them leaving space in between.

 

New found love for a simple scrubbing brush.  Loved the red bristles!

 

The marquee letter 'V' came off of a theater in a nearby town.  It remains one of my favorite Valentine décor items.

 



 

I made the wool blocks quite a few years ago, but they still hold a special place in my heart!

What grandma doesn't love giving hugs and kisses?  The chicken wire crown was a craft I made with my sil a few years ago as well.  I threw in one of my old radios for a touch of aqua.

 

In case your interested, here's how that little gadget works.  You wrap the yarn around the half circles.

 

Then you close it and snip all around the circle.

 

 

This is what it will look like after you have clipped it.  Next cut a small piece of yarn and wrap around the circle twice and tie off.

Carefully pull maker apart and voila!

A perfect (same size every time) pom pom!

You can just tie these to string or whatever with the little pieces left from tying off if you want.  I chose to cut them off and to thread them into a garland with a needle.

Hip, Hip, Hurray!

What can I say?  I love pom poms!

hugs,
Jann

I will be sharing with these fun parties:
Vintage Charm
Monday Social
Valentines Link Party
 

Happy Valentine

WA-LA! I finished binding my heart quilt.

I hope that it makes your heart skip a beat!

I had so much fun making it and pulling buttons, ribbons, lace, and rick-rack from my stash to embellish it.

Happy HEART day to you from me!

Today is the last of my February challenges. I have had a great time challenging myself to show a little more affection. I really am not a LOVEY-DOVEY type of person. Hopefully, I can continue to show more affection throughout the year.

Later today I will be drawing out the name of that lucky someone who will win the rolled paper wreath. Keep your fingers crossed!

Feb. 14th challenge: Give your SWEETIE a BIG SMOOCH! You know, not just a little peck but a big juicy one. WARNING: May lead to further action!

p.s. I bought new sheets called “SILK ALLURE”. Just saying, I needed new sheets. Guess what? They are kind of turquoise. Sure hope my hubby doesn’t slide out of them! Ha-Ha! Remember that commercial?

I HEART new sheets!

Have a Happy Valentine!

Valentine Love

I just got home from a wonderful get-away with my sweet hubby.

We went to Lava Hot Springs. It is such a fun place to visit in the Winter. The air is chilly, steam is rising all around, and the hot water is so rejuvenating.

On our way there we stopped off at Smith and Edwards. Their logo is, “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.”

After finding a darling 3 foot silvery, sparkly, glittery, Christmas tree that had a few silver balls attached to some of the branches; I think that their motto should be, “We have it, even if you don’t need it, buy it because it’s just too darn cute!”

Not only that, it was half price. How could I resist.

Wish I had a pic, but it is traveling home in someone else’s vehicle. I will have to show you later. Maybe even next Christmas.

Then from there we went to Maddox in the town of Perry.

DELICIOUS! You could smell their rolls and corn pokes even outside the restaurant. Their raspberry butter is so YUMMY! I had their special, 6 oz. sirloin with three large fried shrimp. It came with yummy carrots and I chose the baked potato and seafood cocktail.

After dinner we were all too full for dessert. That didn’t stop us though. My hubby bought us a raspberry cream pie to go. We (all 8 of us) shared it later that night. It was YUM-O!

So for today, I think my challenge is: relax, enjoy your loved one (s) and just pamper yourself.

Perhaps you could take a hot soak in your tub with steam rising all around and pretend that you are in Lava.

I don’t know about you, but I am feeling rejuvenated and know that I can endure Winter a bit longer.

Thanks for such a fun trip my Valentine Love!

Hearts Desire

I finally have the pics of the quilt I’ve been working on to share with you.

The name of this quilt is ‘Heart to Heart’ It is hand applique. This is the first quilt I’ve done using the freezer paper method.

It makes my Heart happy!

Here are some close ups of the blocks.

It will have a scalloped border. I got it back from the quilters on Thurs. I am almost through binding it. I will share the completed project with you on Valentines Day.

Remember, I will be giving away a ‘SPRING’ themed rolled wreath on Mon. If you have not became a follower and left a comment be sure and do so. That way your name will be entered into the drawing.

Today’s challenge: Get away, even if it’s just for a few hours; for some alone time with your Sweetheart.

S.W.A.K.

Heart to Heart

I went to do my post yesterday and I had not down loaded the pics I wanted to share. My hubby does this for me so I was at a lost.

Today I will be sharing yesterday’s and today’s challenge with you.

Feb. 10th Challenge: Share a token of LOVE with someone you truly appreciate.

I gave my two sisters, Julie and Jeanne; and a sweet friend, Dolly one of the candy sodas that I showed you on my BUBBLY post.

I really do love and appreciate these ladies!

Todays challenge: Go and visit someone that you have not visited in a long time. Hopefully, it will brighten their day!

Just wanted to show you a bit of what I have been working on lately.

Guess what? The pics are still not there. I will have to show you later. For now, here’s a little something I’d like to say to you.

Bubbly. . .

What could be more fun than sharing a bubbly with someone special?

Day 7 challenge: Share a bubbly with someone you LOVE.

I’m sort of cheating here because I am going to be sharing bubbly root beer floats with my club friends tonight. Some special ladies that are dear to my heart!

Heart Strings

Do you ever feel like your heart is hanging on by a thread?

Don’t be afraid to give your heart away!

Day 5 challenge: Send a Valentine to someone you Love.

I will be mailing 4 of them to my dear sisters, whom I love with all my heart!

Better Things

I can hardly wait to tell you todays challenge so I can get on to bigger and better things.

Sorry, but I’m finding myself a bit bored with my recent posts.

I’m nice, but not that nice!

Geez Louise, I just realized that it’s only day 4. That means 10 more days to go. Oh, I can do it but I might just have to sneak in something a little more exciting now and then.

Day 4 Challenge: Kiss your sweetie before you say ‘goodnite’

My hubby and I have done a lot of wrong things in our 38 years of marriage.

One thing that we’ve done right is we kiss each other before going to sleep each night and before he leaves for work in the morning.

It’s as habitual as brushing my teeth. I’d be out of sorts if it didn’t happen.

Now that’s done I must share with you my latest.

Not to say that kissing isn’t a good thing – there’s nothing quite like a good kiss!

I went to get a hair cut yesterday, didn’t happen; but then that’s a whole other story.

Found a few finds in ‘The Emporiums’ gift shop.

Look at this pillow sporting my favorite color, red. I adore the muslin trailing flowers. So dang cute!

Also found this wreath to match. It has a burlap base which put a pounding in my heart.  You’d  think I was raised in a potato sack.  My hairdresser, Shalona is a very creative woman.

Now with the purchase of my new treasures my latest dilemma is, “Where am I going to hang that wreath?”

Only my hairdresser knows for sure. :)

SWEET TREAT

Day 3 challenge: Bake, (or take) a treat for someone sweet!

Amanda is one of the ladies that comes to stitching group. She is a real Sweetheart!

Last week I asked her if her hubby would make a frame for a pieced heart that I made a few years ago.

The next day she called me and said that it was done. She wouldn’t let me pay her so I thought I would make some sugar cookies for her and her awesome hubby.

Yesterday my dear friend Ann stopped by needing someone to talk to. Last Saturday her 12 year old daughter, Elise was diagnosed with diabetes. I can relate to how she is feeling because my oldest daughter, Nichole was diagnosed at the age of 11.

Peggy and I are going to take them dinner tonight. I think they will enjoy a few cookies. I know what you are thinking, “What, sugar?”. Those of us who have type 1 diabetics know that anything they eat other than protein goes to sugar in the blood stream. It really is about moderation. One cookie for sweet Elise.

My prayers are with her and her family and hope that she can get it under control and realize with time that she’ll be ok. Kind of hard for a 12 year old to understand.

Random Acts of Kindness

It’s time to take a peek out our own little window and see what’s going on in this busy world. Everyone needs a little LOVE in their life.

Todays challenge: Say ‘HI’ to as many people as possible. Count on, it will be interesting to see how many people we come across in a day.

So many times we miss opportunities to brighten someone’s day. Sometimes a simple ‘HI’ is all it takes.

FEBRUARY

The Month of LOVE

From now until Valentines Day I am going to challenge myself daily to show some type of affection.

Feel free to join me in these challenges and I would love to hear your results.

Todays challenge: Hug at least one person

This should be an easy one.

xoxoxo

I realize that these are going to be things that we should be doing all of the time.  I don’t think that it hurts to bring it to our attention every now and then.  What better time than the month of February?

The Three R’s…

Recycle, Reuse, and Recreate

Thank goodness that there are those, myself being one of them, that believe in the three R’s!

I love finding old treasures and turning them into something else.

There are so many things that you can do with old books or sheet music. Last Dec. a few of my friends, my daughter Kylee, and I went to Connie Pinkneyes home and she taught us how to roll the pages into cones to make a wreath. Looks easy, but there actually is a technique to it.

My sister-in-law has it down perfect. Me, let's just say; I need more practice.

Good excuse to do a give away on my blog. Sign up as a follower and leave a comment by Feb. 14th and I will put you in a drawing for a paper rolled wreath. Practice, practice, practice.
Good Luck and I hope you will LOVE it!

WARNING It can be addicting!

My sister-in-law, Laurie and I found ourselves making a Valentines Day wreath.

Rolled pages from an old book, scrapbook paper, ribbons, posies made from tissue, a funky earring, and add a touch of epherma, (paper collectibles that were originally meant to be thrown away after use) and WA-LA you have a vintage looking wreath.

Originally epherma items were very inexpensive because they were to be disposed of. Vintage ones are not so cheap. Even reproductions are pricey. This baby set me back about $14.

I’m sure as heck not going to throw it away!

Reusing old Valentines for décor is also fun. I created a garland using mini Valentines Day cards that I made in a class at Archivers.

Close up of some of the cards.