Weekend Recap & Valentine's Day 2011

Whew! What a busy weekend!!! I like being active and having things to do, but I have to say - I am looking forward to some down time this coming weekend. Last Fri. was my day off of work, and I spent it running errands - some enjoyable (Michaels), some not (post office). On Fri. night, I volunteered for an event for Junior League and met some really fun ladies, but it was LATE when I got home and I was wiped out. Thank goodness P and I didn't have anything to do Sat. morning so we slept in and made awesome blueberry pancakes. I found this recipe from Martha Stewart, and let me tell you - my husband and I thought we had died and gone to heaven while we were eating these :)

(image from Martha Stewart)

Sat. afternoon I was crafty :) (maybe I was channeling special Martha Stewart vibes from the pancakes) I made the Valentine's Day card for my husband while he was at work for a bit, and I made cake balls. The card turned out nicely; the cake balls were not all that I had hoped that they would be but they were much better than the last batch that I made (which was a total fail!). I think I just need to tweak a few things, and they'll be Bakerella-perfect!

I kind of realized after I had made the card that I might have made my husband the girliest-looking valentine ever, but I gave it to him anyway and he thought it was "cool" :)

 

My smile of relief after the cake balls turned out 100% better than before!

Sat. night my church hosted a super fun square dance to raise funds for the youth group's mission trip to Jamaica this summer. The square dance caller was a hoot and totally looked the part with his cowboy boots and bolero tie! He threw some disco and 50's tunes in with the country while we were dancing :) Peter and I always forget how much fun we have square dancing until we do it again. We're doing to have to find a way to dance more this year! Sun. we went to church and then we went out to lunch with a big group to celebrate the baptism of one of our friends. We spent the rest of the day getting some chores done around the house and talking to our families on the phone. 

We had decided last week not to celebrate Valentine's Day on Mon. since we didn't want to be pressed for time trying to go out to dinner and do something special on a weeknight. I gave Peter his present and card, and we ate cake balls but that was about it. That turned out to be a very good decision because Valentine's Day turned into a bummer for me with a really shocking and sad announcement at work. I can't go into details, but it just wasn't a great Valentine's Day from that perspective. After my day at work, I didn't feel like celebrating anything so I was only too happy to stay at home and enjoy some relaxing time with my husband. Peter has a belated Valentine's Day outing (a surprise!) planned for Sat., and I'm really looking forward to it :)

Valentine's Day DIY Cards

This year for Valentine's Day I would really like to make a card for my husband. That said - I am certainly not the most crafty person in the world. For example, I spent 4 hours trying to make one bow out of ribbon for a decoration for my wedding and it turned out to be an utter disaster :( But I aspire to be crafty so I think I'm going to give it a shot this Valentine's Day. The card might turn out looking like something a 4-year-old made, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Doing some research, I've found several really fun ideas. I'm not sure which one I'll pick yet, but I think these are all super creative and possibly doable for me :)

Martha Stewart:

1. Quilled Open Heart Valentines

 

This looks like the most challenging of the designs, but I love the result! I have no idea who sells quilling paper, though. (Michaels? Hobby Lobby?)

2. Queen and King of Hearts Valentines

 

Simple but cute. I could pair it with a homemade envelope for a little more cuteness.

3. Antique-Style Valentines

Lots of complicated folding, but I think P would really enjoy opening this :)

4. Ribbon-Punched Valentines

I think I did something similar to this in Girl Scouts back in the day :)

Real Simple:

Real Simple had several great Valentine's Day craft ideas. Love the button card! I need to buy some buttons anyway so I could just buy several pack of red ones while I'm at it.


The Sweetest Occasion:

This is my favorite, but I think I'm going to save this idea for our anniversary in April because I just don't have the time to do this right now! This project is called the "Library of Love" which, of course, is oh-so-fitting for me since I'm a librarian :) Basically you create library catalog cards replacing the call numbers with important dates in your relationship, book titles with memories and significant quotes, and publisher info with cities where you have traveled and then file them in a decorated box. I especially like this idea for an anniversary because you can add cards to it every year.

I'm also going to attempt to make cake balls for him as a little Valentine's Day treat. I tried to make cake balls for the first time for my office Christmas party, and they were a gigantic fail and I couldn't take them. But Peter thought the ugly results were quite tasty so I vowed to try again. I will not be defeated by cake mix, frosting, and melted chocolate :)

(this is what my next batch will look like!)

(images from Martha Stewart, Real Simple, The Sweetest Occasion blog, and Bakerella)