February: The month of love. Or as some people call it, the Hallmark holiday. I love decorating my home for the holidays, any holiday. Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving and, of course, Valentine’s Day. Any excuse I have to busy out my crafting skills and make some festive dcor, simple and fun gifts and out-of-this-world sweets I’m all about it.
Besides all the decorations and sweets, I love spoiling my sweetie with love notes and treasure hunts during the month. Why not? It keeps the romance fun and exciting! I was recently reading a book by Ed Young, a well-known pastor and public speaker. He knows of the importance of keeping a romance fun and full of love. He’s been married to his wife Lisa for more than 30 years and keeps his marriage alive by letting her know he cares. Pastor Young says that he always makes her No. 1 in his life and leaves special notes throughout the home, letting her know he thinks about her. Awww! After I read that I started doing the same for my hubby and it has worked.
This year I came across a few wonderful (and might I add cheap and easy) Valentine’s Day projects, crafts and foods. Here are a few of my favorite ones:
Felted Valentine Heart
This easy (seriously, so easy) and cheap (only $5) project will have your friends and family asking you to make one for them as well! It’s so cute and looks like it could be featured in a Pottery Barn magazine for no less than $45 dollars. This idea came from The Rachel Berry Blog and is sheer Valentine’s Day frugal genius.
Supplies:
- Plastic heart plate I’ve seen them at Wal-Mart, Target and any dollar store
- Pinking shears scissors
- Red felt
- Ribbon
- Hot glue
Directions: Use a marker and draw out lots of circles with a circle template ( stencil, bottom of a small cup, freehand, etc.) onto the red felt. Cut out the circles with the Pinking shears. Fold the circle in half and fold once more accordion style, making your half circle into an s shape, then dab hot glue on both inside folds. Glue the pieces of felt onto the back side of the place. Once you’ve completely filled the plate with felt pieces, flip it over and glue a piece or ribbon, string, burlap or any other piece of material you wish to hang with. Voila!
Festive Heart Mason Jars
If you’re like me you love using mason jars with everything: drinks, flowers, wine corks or cotton balls. This easy idea I found on Pinterest takes no time at all and adds a little love to the jars.
Supplies:
- Mason jars
- Bakers twine
- Lace doilies
- Red and pink scrapbook paper
Directions: Take your pieces of paper and cut out heart shapes. . . any size will do. Next cut a piece of bakers twine long enough to wrap around the jar three to five times. Glue your heart to the piece of lace doily and let dry. Once dry, place the doily on the jar and wrap the twine around, securing it in place. Secure the twine with a knot at the back of the jar so it’s not visible from the front. Place the jars on your mantle, your kitchen table or anywhere you wish to display! Try placing candies or fresh flowers inside the jar for some a fun, festive touch.
If you want to add a little extra something, use some glitter and Mod Podge to give the jar some glittery shine. Use one part Mod Podge and one part glitter and mix well. Take the mixture and paint it on the mason jar.
Vegan Heart-Shaped Rice Krispies Treats
Rice Krispies Treats are a love, love, love in my family. We use any excuse we can we make these delicious bite-size pieces of heaven and Valentine’s Day is no exception. While browsing the web I came across a vegan recipe from healthfulpursuit.com and thought I could make it festive by using a heart-shaped cookie cutter. And even better, it only uses five ingredients!
Ingredients:
- 8 cups gluten-free brown rice cereal. Make sure you get crispy rice, not puffed.
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1 cup brown rice syrup
- 2/3 cup unsweetened sunflower seed butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions: Lightly oil a 9×13- inch pan with whatever oil you have on hand (Coconut oil, safflower, sunflower or vegan butter spread works well). Set aside. Place brown rice cereal and ground flax seed in a large bowl. Stir to combine and set aside. In a medium-sized sauce pan add rice syrup, sunflower seed butter and vanilla extract. Heat over medium heat, stirring often until ingredients have liquefied, about five minutes. Pour syrup over rice crisp mixture and stir to coat. Once all the crisps have been coated, drop the mixture into the prepared pan and even it out with spatula and press down firmly. Allow to sit for one hour in the refrigerator then use the heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out your shapes.
