Tag: Valentine’s Day

Phun – Happy February/Valentine’s Decor

On By TimelessladyIn PhunLeave a comment

Valentine’s Day is a spot of brightness in the middle of winter, yet I often shortchange the house of decorations to celebrate this special day. This year I found a satisfying, but also easy and inexpensive approach to create a bit of February cheer.

I cut about 25 paper hearts out of red-toned paper, punched a hole, used leftover Christmas ornament hooks, and hung them on a lightly twisted ribbon of burlap. A little hint here: you can NEVER have too many ornament hooks. I use them for so many projects throughout the year. They are durable, near weightless, and can be twisted into so many shapes and sizes. I always keep a bag of them in my desk drawer. The green wire hooks are my favorite.

I also found some old cardstock tags I had crafted years ago with swirls of words and twirly lines. The pressed flowers I glued in place with rubber cement have faded, but still are holding on firm. I hung these on drawer pulls, clocks, light fixtures—anywhere an almost weightless tag could hang. I’m pleased with my easy and LOVE-ly decor. Happy February!

Project – Color Your World/120 Days of Crayola – Scarlet Heart

On By TimelessladyIn ProjectsLeave a comment
Stained Glass Valentine Heart
Stained Glass Valentine Heart

The calendar will turn over to the month of February on Monday. I decided this beautiful Valentine’s Day stained glass heart was a perfect choice for today’s Color Your World – 120 Days of Crayola. color choice of SCARLET. You can find a quick video below of the process below. There are also step by step directions here: Stained Glass Crayon Hearts

Project & Pressed Flowers – Valentine Tag Tree

On By TimelessladyIn Pressed Flowers, Projects4 Comments

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Ask most people what comes to mind when they hear the word, “February,” and they will answer, “Valentine’s Day, Love and Flowers.” I’ve combined these three themes into one, and created a Valentine Tag Tree. This project was very economical. The only item I purchased was the pack of tags. I had pressed flowers on hand, and the twigs were free, gathered during a Winter walk.

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I created the hearts out of maple keys. A few years ago I collected hundreds, small and large, in colors of green, beige, pink and red. I cut away the seed and pressed them within the pages of books. I love finding new ways to use the keys.

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I chose Winsor & Newton’s Iridescent Medium to add a bit of sparkle to the keys.

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The medium didn’t cover evenly, but I liked the rivulets and blots it created…they added more interest and sassiness.

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The maple keys were easily trimmed into half a heart shape, and glued together, creating beautiful and unique Valentine hearts.

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I glued on a few pressed flowers. Hydrangeas, while not as vivid as the day they were picked and pressed, still added a hint of blue or a green hue.

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I used a fine-tipped permanent marker in brown and added words of love and a few swirls on each tag.

Valentine Sampler

I enjoyed creating a Valentine Sampler with the finished tags. I was tempted to glue these down and frame them, but decided to stick with my original idea…a Valentine Tag Tree.

The base was easily constructed, a piece of floral foam, a bit of hot glue, and a ceramic urn. Spanish moss hid the mechanics of the container. A substitution for floral foam would be a grid of tape across the top of the container. Aluminum foil could also be used to wedge the twigs securely in place.

If you don’t have pressed flowers you can use bits and pieces of magazines, seashells, twigs, moss, heart shapes…there are so many choices for these tags. Most of all enjoy yourself.

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Pots & Pans – Valentine Goodies

On By TimelessladyIn Pots and PansLeave a comment

heart tarts

I found a terrific idea for Valentine Tarts in Sunday’s Parade Magazine. For those who aren’t familiar with Parade, the magazine is an insert in many papers in the U.S.A. I doubled the recipe and used four sheets of pie dough. Do not double the filling recipe below as it makes a large amount.

You can find the recipe here: Parade Magazine Homemade Valentine Heart Tarts

The basic instructions and recipe are on this site, along with some filling ideas. I searched around the Internet and found a cream cheese and raspberry filling recipe that I adapted for my tarts. A step by step photo tutorial is pictured below that will show you how I put my tarts together. I also added any little quirks or tips I thought might be helpful.

Filling:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Beat these ingredients together.

Heat jam on stovetop until smooth. A wire whisk works well.
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

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I was able to get eight to nine tarts out of two pie sheets.

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Just a little filling, less than a tablespoon, was plenty. I realized I had made WAY  too much filling early on.

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If possible leave some wiggle room around each heart, especially near the edges of the pan, my crimping with a fork was very cramped!

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The egg wash did add a nice finish to the top of the tarts.

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Oh my! I definitely overfilled. The filling bubbled out. The raspberry baked like glue onto the pan. I had to soak them and work at the burnt areas with a teflon safe spatula.

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The burnt raspberry jam turns rock hard in moments. Remove the tarts to a cooling rack immediately upon completion of baking.

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Let the tarts completely cool before frosting. I should have made a double batch of the frosting. I forgot I had doubled the amount of tarts I had baked.

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I had so much filling left over, I crushed some vanilla shortbread, added some butter, and made some small cheesecakes. They turned out terrific.

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Although it is a bit expensive to make this special dessert. I will definitely make them again. The tarts are a departure from the normal cookies, large pies, and cakes.

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Postcards – Valentines Part 1

On By TimelessladyIn Postcards3 Comments

Valentine 2

Collecting antique postcards and reading the messages is a favorite pastime of mine. I think these beautiful postal Valentine’s are lovely. The postcard above has no message or address. I wonder if it was purchased early, slipped into a drawer, and forgotten. Or perhaps the loving sentiment for the intended departed before the day arrived. We’ll never know.

Here are a few more with the messages translated as well as I was able to read the old-fashioned script.

The one below is my favorite. I delight in long and rambling messages.  I also love this style of postcard, a painting with a landscape scene included.

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postcard 1

Dear Morgan,
You ought to come (?) – while the sledding lasts it is fine. Come (?) all are well Mrs Hines is with us now sick. With love, Henry

This card above was mailed from Ardmore, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia in February of 1910.

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postcard 2

This card reads, “From Catherine Knight”

The card above was mailed on February 14, 1910 from Robbinston, ME.

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I love the gorgeous writing on this postcard. There is no message, only a name and address written in a beautiful hand. The  postal pictured above was mailed on February 13, 1907.