It's Love Day, Baby

 

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

I'm not too big on this day of love (yes, yes, I'm one of those "this is a Hallmark created holiday" + "you should show your love everyday" cynics) but I'm happy to share in all of the fun treats that come with it! Those Dove shaped chocolate hearts have pretty much been my best friend over the last week ; )

I probably should have pointed this out sooner, but if you're looking for some last minute gift ideas (or have an upcoming birthday or anniversary gift to give), check out my "Not So Valentiney" series from last year! I featured some fun DIY love projects, including:

special to your heart DIY art

small love reminders for around your home

the start-to-finish scrapbook

Hope all of you have a great day sharing something sweet with the ones you love! xo

photo via

All You Need Is Love!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!! V-Day is the kind of day that's all about sharing the love. I hope 

each of you get to spend today (and every day, for that matter!) with those that you care for the most.

It is the perfect day to share a clip from one of my favorite movies... I've literally watched Love Actually a  million times and this is, hands down, my favorite scene! It's really breathtaking and epitomizes romance.

I think the Beatles got it right- all you need is love.

PS. Looking for a last minute Valentine's Day gift for your loved one? Check out my V-Day gift idea series!

VDay Series

Not So Valentiney: Those Special Touches

I'm sure you've heard it before:

surround yourself with what you love!

And what better way to show a little love to your spouse than by placing little momentos of love around your home. I've already shared with you some DIY special to your heart art around our house, but here are a few other trinkets around our house that remind me and David of special times in our lives.

Lots of fun special things on our office bookshelf, including our box of pictures
(if we ever want to easily flip through), our wedding album, a real Delft plate David
brought back for me from Holland, pictures of our pups, etc!

"D loves M" stamps (found in the clearance bin at Hob Lob)
on a shelf in our bedroom 



a shadow box with my wedding bouquet,
D's boutonniere and our wedding invitation



my wire picture frame (tutorial here!) filled with special pictures,
travel momentos (love the postcard from our trip to San Francisco!), etc.



our moving announcement into our new house!



our favorite wedding photo, above our bed

This post wraps up my little "Not So Valentiney" Valentine's Day gift idea series!
Hope some of these ideas were helpful!

****

Happy Friday to all of you! Any big plans this weekend?

I had intentions of going to shop for a shallow desk, to use in my entryway along the wall next to the coatrack, but I've since decided to go another route in that area. So instead, all focus this weekend
 (as always) goes to the bathroom reno!! Hopefully I'll have lots of fun updates to share
with you on Monday!! Happy Superbowl weekend, friends!

 

Not So Valentiney: Making Each Other Laugh

Whether they're sweet or sappy, a hand-written note or card is always the way to go.

But as you know, I'm not about to go the conventional route and pick up a cheese ball card from CVS.

My V-Day card M.O.? Make 'em laugh. You can never go wrong with a funny/quirky card!

This one is sure to be a crowd favorite.

 

all cards from Tiny Prints

While these are adorable and hilarious, I'm not gonna lie, I write the sappy stuff in a handwritten 

note inside the card : ) Can't leave that out altogether....

PS. Where my girls at? Can't leave the single girls out on these V-Day treats. Here's my card to you!

PPS. Another random thought- you could easily use some of these cards and turn them into special to your heart art. How cute would this one be in a little series of four picture frames on the wall?

Not So Valentiney: the Scrapbook

Hi friends!! More today on my "Not So Valentiney" Valentine's Day gift idea series!

Yesterday, I shared one not-too-sugary sweet gift idea in the form of the fabric backed wall art that I gave David for our second wedding anniversary. I'm that big dork who just loves tradition. So when it comes to wedding anniversaries, I like to play it by the book and follow Emily Post's traditional gifts. Thus the fabric art-- the second anniversary theme is cotton!

For our first wedding anniversary [paper], I gave D a sweet little ol' scrapbook, detailing the chronicles of our relationship. And trust me, I started at the verrrrrry beginning! Here are some of the highlights.

David and I met in elementary school. That note on the top of the page is actually a diary entry I wrote in 3rd grade-- yes, its blurry, you think a girl would really let you read her diary?! Protecting the names of the innocent, ha!-- it says "David asked me out today. I said no. Ew, boys are gross." Seriously.

Seriously how precious was he?!

Our fun at UGA football games.

Our proposal! David popped the question while we were on a hike, at the top of the mountain.

Our wedding!

Our first house! Actually kind of fun to show all of you for the first time- it was a complete bachelor pad when I moved in and I didn't really have the funds or the heart (didn't love this house) to decorate.

Don't judge! I was still learning on the decor front : )

A business trip I hopped on with D to the Netherlands.

My law school graduation.

A fun little beach trip we took.

Making a scrapbook is such a cheap, easy, fun and sweet project. It couldn't get more personal and lovey. You can just oooh and ahhhh you're way through your life together!!

I'm sure that any of your Valentines would be thrilled to get one. Who wants to make a scrapbook?!

Not-So-Valentiney: Special to Your Heart Art

Every year since I can remember, I've really disliked Valentine's Day. 

Call me a Grinch, but my gut reaction to those guys running around the aisles of CVS on V-Day Eve, searching for that perfect plastic rose just makes me want to roll my eyes.

Now you're probably thinking, Oh come on, Michelle! Where's the romance in you?!

It's there, I promise! David and I just choose to spread the love around all year. 

The things that really slap a smile on my face are less expected- random notes, my morning coffee drill, 

funny emails, hanging a pocket door (ha!) etc.

So we try to keep things special and lovey-dovey around our house all year long by surrounding ourselves with little momentos of our love. And I'm going to share some of those with you in this series. 

Hey, you might even find a corny Valentine's Day gift out of this!

Today's sappy piece?

SPECIAL TO YOUR HEART ART

Nothing says "I love you" more than personalized art. 

I try to contain most of our lovey dovey decor to our master bedroom. You know, so our family and friends don't have to stare at a "I heart David" poster when they visit :)

To the left of our bed, there are two pieces I made for David for our second wedding anniversary last May.

The lovebirds print is from Vol. 25's Etsy shop. The words are chipboard scrapbook stickers that I simply used to spell out the lyrics to an oh-so-sweet Jack Johnson song.

I actually used some fabric (I think from JoAnne's) as the backing for the prints. The traditional gift for a second anniversary is cotton and so I thought that the fabric tied in the traditional gift nicely : )

How easy peasy is that?! Nothing to it. Yet when we walk by it each and every day, it makes us smile and say "awwww, love you hon." Or maybe we just have Jack Johnson permanently stuck in our head, either way  ;)

Here's another little DIY art project that I did. I can't remember if this was a gift for a certain occasion- I believe this was just one of those, "honey, I love you!" moments.

David is sort of notorious for flashing "I love you" in sign language whenever we're out in public. It's his cute way of telling me he's thinking about me without being too PDA. I know, seriously, how cute is that??! 

Seeee, I told you we have sappy in us!

I surprised David with this piece (pulled an image from Google and slapped it on some scrapbook paper) last year. It sits right above his drawers on the dresser, so that every time he pulls out a pair of socks, he gets the "ILY" sign. The print sits with a statue that we brought home from our honeymoon in Mexico (doesn't it look like a couple at the altar?!) and the world's most amazing smelling candle- Henri Bendel's Firewood candle.

Those are a couple of not over-the-top (or not-so-Valentiney!) yet still lovey dovey gift ideas.

Have any of you made any lovey-dovey special to your heart art?! If any of you are inspired and make your love some special to your heart art, email me with pictures!!

PS. For those of you who are wondering, I certainly asked D if he was okay with me sharing some of our silly little romantics and he responded- "Sure, just make me look cool." Ha. 

Sharing with:
Shabby Nest
Finding Fabulous
504 Main
Dittle Dattle
Skip to My Lou
Thrifty Decor Chick

Not-So-Valentiney

 

 Here's a little something to look forward to next week!!

Happy weekend, friends!