i spy: conversation hearts

I've been seeing some interesting twists lately on the old V Day standby, the conversation heart. Here are some I especially loved and wouldn't mind enjoying in place of the little boxed sugar hearts we've all known and loved since elementary school.

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cake pops | garland | stickers | pillows | necklace

And how about the quilt in the pillow photo? Bonus eye candy. I also have one more thing to share with you today.. the winner of Megan's giveaway!

 And the randomly drawn number is..

 ..number one! Congrats Heather! Expect an email soon with the details of your prize!

Hope you're all having a great Monday!

february call for sponsors

I do apologize for the silence around here lately. I've essentially started a new job where I'm on call and never know when I'll be home anymore so a lot of my plans got tossed to the wayside. But I'm adjusting, and a few lovely ladies answered my plea for help on Twitter by telling me about how they plan for the unexpected and the magic of scheduling posts.

So February is a new month and I have a lot of fun posts planned and a blog schedule that allows me to have posts ready for when I have to run on a moment's notice! I think I'm getting this working lady thing down, which is good because come Fall, I'll be a five-days-a-week gal while I do my student teaching.

Anyway! This leads me to my February call for sponsors! I already have some new great ladies lined up along with some familiar faces and I'd love to add more! Check out the sponsor page for all the details of swapping or purchasing an ad space. It's a good month to advertise your V Day projects, shop items, recipes, and more!

Oh, and if you like the vintage valentine above, click here for the original post and the pdf downloads of some old valentines my Grandmom let me have! Just print on some cardstock and cut! I might try to update them soon because I created better images of the photos since then. :)

Have a great weekend!

valentine's crafts for kiddos

| 1. melted crayon shaving hearts | 2. lollipop butterflies | 3. garland cards | 4. popsicle stick jewelry box | 5. valentine fortune cookies | 6. celery stamp flowers | 7. tissue paper puffy heart |

Normally I don't feature stuff for the young ones on this blog, probably just because I don't have kids so it's not really on my mind. But last week I was asked to sub art for the first two weeks in February so naturally, I've been stockpiling some fun art projects I can do with the kids for Valentine's Day! I'll have kindergarten, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th so I need a broad range of projects that will include something easy enough for five year olds to handle and something fun enough to keep 13 year olds at least semi well behaved. ;) 

I actually received the fortune cookies last year in a Valentine swap so I know just how cute they are to open up! What do you think about these crafts? Are there any other fun projects you'd do with kids that aren't to costly or time consuming? I'm kind of excited for this little craft time I'll be leading! :)

Have a great week!

valentine exchange

Yay! I got the cutest little box of Valentine awesomeness today. This little package is from Kody over at It's Kody with a K.


I opened the box to find these adorable little felt fortune cookies and a couple of chocolate hearts! Such a good idea.


These cute little messages were inside the cookies. :)


And did I mention there was chocolate?


Thanks Kody!!

If you want to see other super cute Valentine's from the exchange hop on over to Good Times Never Seem Sew Good and check out the links being posted!

This was a fun exchange. I mean what's better than getting a little something in the mail and connecting with other bloggers? If you didn't get in on the fun this time around, check out Caroline's blog for updates on future exchanges! The more the merrier. :)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you have a special day full of love, happiness, and chocolate. ;)

you're the..

I've always wanted to try making resin covered pendants. After being inspired by a certain special Valentine card, I figured now was better than never.

This was definitely trial and error with quite a few obvious errors.


I went to bed shortly after pouring the resin and didn't catch these pesky little bubbles that crept up in the night. I did a good job of blowing the original ones away but then these guys came out of nowhere.


I also didn't do a killer job at sealing the image so all that darkness around the edges is where the resin snuck under the image. Yes, resin is a sneaky little beast.


As always though, I'm glad for the experience. I have a ton of resin left and now I'm armed with a little more know-how. I foresee pretty pendants in the future. :) Just another thing to add to the shop!


This was sort of made with the thought in mind of it being given to that special someone that you think is the bee's knees! (Yes, I forgot the apostrophe on the pendant too!) Or by all means, keep it for yourself if you think you're the bee's knees!

mug cake

I decided to tackle the infamous mug cake today since I've been doing research for the dessert I want to make for Valentine's Day. This is a quick and easy thing you could make after going out to dinner or while watching a movie with your guy.

I was actually kind of amazed that it tasted as good as it did. I like to save money as much as the next person but I'm always skeptical when something is "too cheap". I also get this way about food that is "too easy". But I was pleased! And it was made even better by this super quick cream cheese frosting I whipped up with it.

You go from this..


to this..

in five minutes or less. Not too shab. Or as the good people of bloggerland would say.. amazeballs. :)

I got really nervous about how high this thing rose out of the mug but it just went straight up and didn't fall or anything so don't be too alarmed when watching it grow. There was just one single chocolately drip down the front of the mug but that was it.

I originally tried to style the frosting on the other side to look really nice so I could shoot the clean side of the mug but I sort of fell in love with the little drip and embraced it. I think that's some weird designer thing, falling in love with a drip. What can I say.

I like how it looks a little like an ice cream sundae too!

Hopefully I have time to get my planned craft done for tomorrow as it's the culmination of my week of Valentine posts but we shall see. This week has been busier than I thought it would. I guess it's because I'm now in the full swing of grad school and I'm trying to prepare for the Praxis at the same time. :/

Maybe I should relax and have some chocolate cake. ;)


Chocolate Mug Cake
recipe adapted slightly from Group Recipes

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp baking cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
splash of vanilla

In a large mug combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Add egg and mix well. Add milk, oil, and vanilla and stir until combined. Put it in the microwave for 2 1/2 - 3 minutes. (Mine was done at 2 1/2.) Top with anything you like and enjoy!

a very valentine playlist

Today was crazy busy. My goal eventually became to get a post up before midnight and I just made it! So here is my playlist for your Valentine's evening. It's pretty mellow for the most part but still upbeat.

So I covered some new favorites of mine along with some oldies. I fell in love with that Taking Back Sunday song in senior year of high school and it's still a guilty pleasure. I also wanted to have at least one classic song and My Monday Date by Louis Armstrong couldn't have been more appropriate with Valentine's day falling on a Monday this year. I also struggled with which version of Such Great Heights to put on here. I love the original version but Iron and Wine did such a good cover. It's a little more chill than The Postal Service but ultimately I decided to go with the original.

Give it a listen and enjoy! Let me know if there are any songs you'd insist on adding to this list. I'm curious to know! :)

seeing red

Today's Valentine post is brought to you by the color red. :)

Red is fairly popular this time of year, along with it's cousin pink. I thought I'd show you how I go about sporting some red. I don't have much red in the clothing area and I don't exactly know why. I love the color but I guess it appeals to me in smaller bursts rather than in an entire piece that covers half of your body. So this is how I bring the boldness in small bits!


1. Vintage watch from my grandmom. It doesn't work but I always use my phone as a clock so I pretty much just wear this as an accessory.

2. Bandanna! Add a little Rosie the Riveter to any outfit. Also good for hiding a bad hair day. :)

3. Anchor necklace from Forever 21 circa 2007ish. This is especially fun for the summer. Add a little sailor to a summer dress or tunic.

4. Heart necklace also from Forever 21, probably the same shopping trip. Double whammy here, being color and shape appropriate for Valentine's Day! Can you tell I love chunky, slightly tacky necklaces? ;)

5. Red heels that I bought for my Snowball dance in 2006 to go with my black dress. I felt pretty awesome in these kicks. This is also where I met my current boyfriend. These shoes have super powers. ;) Oh and I also love how they have a little vintage feel to them.

6. Maryjanes that I bought about a year ago. I love wearing these with cuffed black skinny jeans.

The bird necklace stand is from Urban and I love it. Most of my necklaces are super long so this is the perfect size for them.

Anywho, this is how I sport my red. Short but sweet pops of color. It can really spice up a dark colored or neutral outfit. So add a little red and let your wild side peek through! ;)

vintage valentines

Like I briefly mentioned in the last post, I thought it'd be fun to do some Valentine features during the week leading up to Valentine's weekend. I'm kind of bummed that V Day is on a Monday this year, especially because I have a math class from 6:30-9:30pm. :( Bummer. So this year Charlie and I will still spend V Day together but do our actual celebrating this weekend.

Today I thought I'd start off with some vintage Valentines that my grandmom had saved from years and years ago. The first in the bunch are some kiddie ones. Remember the kind you used to get in elementary school with a lollipop or chocolate attached? Yea, those were the days.


Here are a few cute ones for the parents. I love the old illustrations!


Here's another kiddo one with one from my uncle to "Mommy".


Quite a few of these have dates inside ranging from the 50's to the 60's. I think the little house one is my favorite. It's dated 1955 inside. I just love that illustration. So much so that I took the liberty of photoshopping out the message and left it blank so you could write your own if you felt so inclined. :)

I made pdf's of some of the cards and took out some of the specific family-related messages so that they could be customized. So if you want to give a few vintage Valentines this year, look no further! Just click the links below to download the pdf's and put whatever text you want on them. Then just print them out on card stock, cut em out, and give em to the one you love!

Just moved in or purchased a new house with your sweetheart? You could, for example, do a little something like this..


Have fun with it!

Click a link below to download the pdf.
4 kiddo valentines
bouquet of flowers ("mother" removed)
doggie couple (words removed)
little detective
1950's house (words removed)

Enjoy! Hope everyone had a great weekend! :)

valentine goodies

I wanted to put together a collection of Valentine's gifts that strike my fancy as a way to kick off some very vday posts coming up next week. It's going to start with a little collection of vintage Valentines and end with some craftiness.

Here are a few things I found on etsy that I wouldn't mind giving or getting on February 14th.

For a bold Valentine statement, think initials, duos, and sweet words for that special someone.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

These were just a few of my favorite finds for this Valentine's Day. Nothing overly hearted or frilly. Just some things that remind me of having that other person and being part of a pair. :)

Happy Friday!