makey valentine’s day cards

yayyyyyyy! it was our yearly ~ let’s makey valentine’s day cards for everyone!

i love doing this every year with olive and love that she has fun decorating all the cards. i can’t wait until ellie is old enough to do this with olive, it’ll be cuteness overload when that happens!

i rummaged out all the fun decor i had stored away and created a fun little space of heart explosions, lots of red, and crafty stuff galore. olive was so excited to dig into all the valentine’s day goodness. she started out with painting the heart cards but became restless and went crazy with the stickers. she totally loved putting all the festive stickers all over the cards and loved the little, what she called alien, poms! those were her most favorite items, although they were just for fun and wouldn’t mail very well in a flat envelope! ha!

ellie joined in on the fun for a bit but soon olive finished up all her valentine’s day cards in style. this mama then addressed and mailed them out to all her sweet little friends! we hope all her buddies enjoyed their sweet little surprise in the mail! olive wants to know if you will be her valentine?! muwah!

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[long story: i bought one heart envelope on sale {super cheap, yearssss ago} and ordered it to get embroidered with olive’s name. it arrived not embroidered! i was super upset but apparently i must have ‘deleted’ the personalization part of my order and that was why it arrived blank. i called the company and figured out what had happened and i wanted to order another one because i wanted olive’s name on it! the customer service person was soooooo nice and helpful and told me to not bother to send the other envelope back because it was so inexpensive and it wouldn’t be cost efficient to send it back. well, thought, what will i do with an extra envelope? i almost gave it away but ended up keeping and found it in my valentine’s day box of decor this year! how perfect?! i then got the second envelope personalized with ellie’s name! it was meant to be!]

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[copious options]

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[she loved her ‘aliens’]

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[painting away]

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[she did such a great job!]

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[i love her]

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[she’s so fun]

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[gahhhhhhh, i love these girls!]

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[i couldn’t help but post every pic of her making the cards…she was so into it!]

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[her favorite items from the day!!]

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xoxo

heart pies

mmmmmmm yum yum!

i made heart pies the other day in lieu of valentine’s day! every year, i try to think of something fun to make/bake in celebration of valentine’s day. thank goodness for pinterest!!! i definitely need it to be easy and fun, stress the easy part…’cause this mama ain’t got time for that. bahhhahaha!

i found this idea and thought, perfect! easy and fun! just what i wanted. i bought the ingredients and waited for a good moment in time {maybe ellie’s nap?} to execute this cute recipe!

you could either make your own pie crust or buy the store bought kind. it depends on how much time you have carved out for this type of activity. i was stressed for that so i did the latter but i highly recommend making your own pie crust…it’s more delicious that way {my favorite pie crust recipe is here}. i felt the store bought pie crust was a bit too bland, good but homemade is always better!

anyhoo, time was the factor so pre made pie crust it was! i rolled out the dough, cut out the hearts, filled each heart with cherry filling, buttered the edges, fluted the edges with a fork, then brushed the tops with egg, and then sprinkled it with sugar! phew! that was a mouthful!

the best part when i was making these pies? olive! she wanted to help and i was over the moon! it made my heart so happy to see her interested and so eager to help me put together the pies! she rolled out the dough, she cut out the hearts, she helped scoop out the pie filling, flute the edges, and she even cut the x’s onto the pies! yes, i gave her a sharp knife and she x’d all the pies! she did a great job handling the knife {with my guidance of course!} and i was so proud at how well she cut into the dough and made the x’s! such a big girl!

she was so excited that she had helped out with making the pies and was even more excited to watch the pies bake! i told her that once the pies were done, she could eat one and that just made her eyes sparkle! my heart was so full seeing her eyes light up when i gave her a sweet little cherry heart pie pop! she devoured every morsel! yum!

i definitely want to make these again…maybe round pie shapes instead? we had so much fun baking together, i can’t wait to conjure up some more creative treat ideas so olive and i can have more mommy and me time! yay!

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[ellie chillin’ while olive and i make pies]

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[mama’s little helper]

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[rolling the dough]

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[she loved pressing the dough into a heart shape]

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[she was so excited to see the heart shape she pressed!]

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[the sweetest face]

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[my favorite jelly jam]

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[spooning on the filling]

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[buttering the edges so the pie seals together]

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[sealing the heart]

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[the finished product!]

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[devouring her pie pop]

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[she’s the cutest]

xoxo

it’s a girl!

eep! happy valentine’s day!

yay! and it’s going to be another baby girl for us! yup! we are pregnant with a little baby girl! how exciting! i knew it! i knew it! when we announced our pregnancy on christmas eve and day to our families, i told everyone that it was a girl before i really even knew. haha!

it was definitely hard to keep it a secret. oh my. everyone and their grandma asks. i would definitely say being pregnant is a cause to not telling the truth. you deny that you’re pregnant the first twelve weeks…you tell people you don’t know the gender because you know peeps are going to harass you. it goes on and on but i am sooooo glad the cat’s out of the bag and we can talk about it, get excited, and plan for this baby girl!

i am all about olive having a sister! she does have grace but grace is so much older and unfortunately, not around as often as we would like. so, a sister close to olive’s age is going to be so much fun, so much fighting, so much craziness! i am looking forward to it. i feel like sisters are built in best friends. i think women really hold families together. i love our mother/daughter bond and i can’t wait for olive and her baby sister to do things together, hand in hand. i am ready for some crazy girl time!

as hc always says, it’s almost impossible for him to have a boy. he has a group of best friends that all have little girls. between the four of them, i think they all have 9-10 girls? and no boys! they call themselves the X men. haha!

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via tandeminlove,com

[my favorite! look at her pose]

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[i love these pics so much!!! obvs, this is not a maternity dress…haha, but even when i was skinny, these darn pockets still stuck out!]

well, happy valentine’s day indeed my friends! we are so excited to welcome our baby girl! we can’t wait to meet you sweet lady, we are so in love already!

xoxo

easy vday treats

oh time. it’s always so limited in my life but i always want to be creative and do something special, festive, and fun. i really wanted to whip up something sweet, simple, and cute for valentine’s day. i used to be obsessed with pinterest but now it’s an outlet for me to quickly find creative ideas or get inspired.

i jumped on pinterest last week and found a pic of valentine’s day chocolate dipped wafers. yummy! i just remembered seeing the pic but never clicked on the site nor did i dig any deeper. so, one day, while grocery shopping, i decided to make them! i mean, they are that simple that i didn’t even need to know what the ‘recipe’ called for.

i picked up vanilla wafers {i liked how the strawberry flavored ones looked but i am not the biggest fan of the taste…i am partial to vanilla!}, a bag of white chocolate morsels, and i already had different shapes of sprinkles at home.

i melted about a cup of white chocolate {maybe just a tad more than a cup} in a double broiler. i dipped some wafers and drizzled the others. i alternated between the two. as i coated the wafers, i placed each one on a large sheet of wax paper to dry. before i dipped the next wafer, i sprinkled each one with just enough fun and used different styles of sprinkles.

one after another, i coated each one and actually had a lot of fun doing so! they were turning out so lovely! i finished dipping the entire package of wafers and stepped back to look at all the festive prettiness going on. it is such an easy, quick dessert to make! i think next year, olive will be able to really assist me with making these goodies!

fyi, if you are interested in making these wafers for the masses {like giving them away to neighbors or co workers}, definitely purchase several bags of wafers. one package will probably gift 3-4 people. i was able to package 6-8 wafers per cellophane bag {festive valentine’s day patterns of course!} and give them to some family members and saved a package for miss olive to eat!

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ta da! simple, easy, fun valentine’s day treats for everyone {ok, almost everyone}! i am looking forward to making these desserts next year with my little helper in tow {and my other little one, but that baby won’t be able to help just yet!}!

happy day y’all!

xoxo

deeelish cookies

i’ve been making sugar cookies almost my whole life. it was what i did and do. every holiday season went hand in hand with making sugar cookies. yup. i actually have never kept a recipe. i would go from one version to the next because you can always find a sugar cookie recipe.

but i have searched no more. i have found the most perfect sugar cookie recipe. i’m in love.

so let me back this up a bit. i’ve been a bit obsessed with copper cookie cutters. yes. i want to buy 50 styles of cookie cutters but that would cost an arm and a leg. they are expensiiiiiive. well, i’m collecting a bit here and there so i can build my collection. anyhoozle, when i purchased a batch of cookie cutters from copper gifts, they came with a cute little booklet with a few recipes inside. i decided to try them! boy oh boy. it turned out the most delicious, buttery, perfect sugar cookies.

they had great tips {unlike the traditional way i use to make them} and it was sooo much easier and practical. the cookies came out substantial in size, thickness, and were perfectly baked to buttery goodness. mmmmm.

they also had a recipe in the fold over for royal icing. unfortunately, this was a last minute baking bonanza and we didn’t have any meringue powder in the house, nor could hc find it on his excursion out. so, i made icing without it and it was just fiiiine. it took longer to harden but it was, nonetheless, tasty good. my other problem or lack of effort?? i didn’t have the time or the energy to pipe my frosting. it was already soooo late {and i was damn tired} and i wasn’t in  the mood. shame on me, non? i just hand decorated each one, so my lines are a bit wonky…c’est la vie!

2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks room temp)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

gently mix butter and sugar, then beat until light and creamy. beat in eggs and vanilla. gently stir flour before measuring. combine dry ingredients and add a cup at a time to butter mixture. beat until completely blended. roll cookie dough between two sheets of parchment paper. continue rolling all dough between parchment paper and placing in stacks on a cookie sheet (that fits in your refrigerator or freezer). cover cookie sheet with foil. chill dough overnight or 1 to 2 hours. remove one sheet of dough at a time and cut into shapes. bake on baking sheet at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or just until the edges begin to slightly brown. this recipe will make at least 2 dozen, 4 to 6-inch cookies.

for the icing, i used powdered sugar, warm water, clear vanilla extract, and food coloring. i made small batches of different colors to ice the cookies.

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[♥ xoxo i lov~e]

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overall, i was a happy gal on how they turned out {despite it being a last minute baking session}! annnddd, they were oh so delicious. i.can’t.stop.eating.them.

well, i hope y’all try this recipe! it’s so yummy. happy baking my lovies!

xoxo

love day part 2

on valentine’s day evening, we swung on by my parent’s house for some love day fun. the boys were over and wanted grace and olive to come by to play. plus, we also had their vday gifts to give as well!

we started with a valentine’s day themed meal. we were crazy about anything heart shaped! we ate a heart shaped pizza, finished off our meal with a heart shaped cake on heart shaped plates! natch. the pizza was ordered by kim and the cake was made by terry’s mom, barbara! how sweet!

we munched away at our dinner and then our cake {delish!}, while the kids played and ate…well, mostly played! they were itching to open up their gifts. oh, kiddies…they have no patiences do they?!

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[how adorbs is this heart shaped pizza??]

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[twinning]

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[heart shaped chocolate cake by barbara]

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[b really wanted to be in the picture]

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we finally gave them the green light to open up their gifts. they were super excited! we lined them up and they were ready to go.

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[ready for presents!]

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thuy and the boys gave olive the cutest gifts! pretty outfits, toys, and make up! yes, you heard that right…make up. she loves to watch all the ladies of the house get ready in the morning. that’s her thing…sit on top of the toilet and watch me{us} put on make up and get ready. she loves to brush her teeth {baby toothbrush}, comb her hair, and put on bronzer. so, auntie thuy gifted her with bronzer, make up brush, and a hair brush for her purty hair. so fitting.

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[she loves make up and getting gussied up already…]

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[my cute tiffany blue colored pouch from thuy]

after the kids opened up all their gifts and reveled in the goodies, thuy surprised us with a little gift! how sweet and thoughtful! she gave me a beautiful tiffany blue zipper pouch…how cool. i love the color and the bag.

well, that was our valentine in a nutshell {or really in a two part blog 😉 }. we had a wonderful, blessed day celebrating with our loved ones. 

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” first corinthians 12:4-8

xoxo

love day part 1

yeah, valentine’s day was probably a three part event. well, kinda. it was quite the beeesy weekend for us. we had people over or did something three days in a row, so yes…it was beeesy. it’s so normal for me to not sit still and boy, i wasn’t sitting still at all this entire weekend.

friday, i spent the morning with my dear olive, then i dropped her off at my parent’s and skedaddled on my way to pick up miss grace {which is such a trip!}. that evening, we had terry and the boys over for wings and drinks {root beer for the kiddos and beer beer for the big boys}. the kids had a crazy time playing together…it was non-stop until they left! phew!

on saturday morning {happy valentine’s day!}, we woke up bright and early, thanks to miss olive, and got ourselves ready for our vday brunch in the city! hc had made all the plans…he made reservations for an early morning brunch at the carriage house, in our old stomping ground. oh, don’t get me started on the city! *sniff* how i miss thee on a daily basis.

anyhoo, we arrived at the restaurant and there was just a wee bit of a wait for our table. it was bustling. i do recall this place being built…hmmm, was it a year or year and half ago? we never ate there even though we lived down the street from it! but now it was our time.

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[grace and her dad]

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[carriage house]

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[i love, love her face in the pic]

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[aannndd this photo…olive’s face is priceless]

i loved the interior…very earthy and rustic. i was excited to try the menu and hc was excited to try the drinks 😉  we were seated in a comfy spot and ready to peruse the menu. we started out with drinks…an old fashioned for the hubs and juice {always orange and grapefruit mix for moi} for the gals. olive nibbled on some crackers and we had ordered her some cheesy grits. she was all about the grits {which were sooo delish} at first but then she turned her nose up at it. whaaaaa? it was so good but oh well, more for us!

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hc ordered the chicken and biscuits, i ordered the mushroom, truffle, and egg {with a side of bacon} and grace ordered the beignets. mmmmmm. it.was.so.tasty. i was a happy camper. the sun was shining. i was brunching with my loves. we were in the city. the restaurant was cool. the food was delicious. it was valentine’s day. life was good.

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[cheers to love]

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[mushroom, truffle, and egg with a side of bacon]

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we even dressed the part! hc had on a red sweater, as well as grace. i wore my red hunters as my nod to the day and olive wore hearts all over herself! happy valentine’s day it was! we had the most wonderful time having brunch together. hc did a great job coordinating it all!

i hope everyone had a fantastic love day with their loved one. we sure did! as i stated it the beginning of this post…i still have more love day goodness to come. stay tuned my lovies!

xoxo

makey valentines

we loooooove making cards…especially valentine’s day cards! it’s always a fun project & i love racking my brain for creative ideas. i didn’t get as detailed with this diy as i typically can get. i was a bit rushed, but nevertheless…we got ’em done and they turned out cute.

we set up the workstation and we were ready to go! olive was excited to finger print her cards {but then her controlling mama got her in a tizzy near the end}. she was a good girl, she finger printed all her cards and was a happy camper to be sticking her finger{s} all over that ink pad.

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[i love the valentine’s day mailer envelope!]

i love, love this table and chair set from auntie kim, terry, and the boys. it’s so purrfect. i have future plans to jazz it up a bit. i definitely want to add a little pizzaz to the set but i haven’t had the time as of late. so i am hoping to be able to accent it soon…just a little color and design to the stems and attach a paper roll for fun, drawing, coloring activities! soon. soon.

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i put out a bunch of fun valentine’s day trinkets to entertain miss olive. she loved the little pom pom creatures. she did such a good job {with the help of momma} stamping all the cards with her ittty bitty finger!

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[my sweet babes…always so serious]

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[ready to makey some cards!]

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[finger printing!]

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[i love this face & those cheeks]

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[swak!]

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once all the cards were finger printed by olive, me, and hc, i went to work on detailing them. normally, i would add more depth, layers, pizzaz, glitter, and details but i was stressed for time. oh, it’s so me…i always take on toooooo much! so, a few paper cutouts, stamping, stickers, and drawing was all i could do. 🙂

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[aaaanndd they are ready to be sent!]

well, there they are! our diy valentine’s day cards by us! signed, sealed, and ready to be delivered!

xoxo

i heart you s’more

now, who wouldn’t want chocolate covered heart s’mores?!

i had been contemplating the idea of making something fun for valentine’s day. i wasn’t sure what. i had sugar cookies on the radar. i bought the raddest copper cookie cutters the other week {pictured on instagram} and totally want to use them {no worries…i will definitely find many uses!}. anyhoo, i love hearts, i love s’mores, i thought why not make conversation heart s’mores?! i got my inspiration from love from the oven but i fine tuned some things to what i preferred. i love making anything s’mores!

my stash: graham crackers, lollipop sticks, a bag of nestle milk chocolate chips & two bags of white chocolate chips, edible ink pens, fluff, and a small {1 1/2 inch by 2 inch} heart cookie cutter.

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[ingredients]

i first cut out the graham cracker hearts. yes. it’s pretty cool to do so and they don’t break! i love it. make sure your surface is free of debris {sweep the crumbs off to the side of the counter after each cut} and evenly apply pressure as you press and ta da! heart shaped graham crackers!

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[graham crackers]

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after i cut out the hearts, i spread half of the hearts with fluff. i then melted the chocolate and spread the melted milk chocolate {for a dozen hearts…i would use 1/4 of the bag…don’t over heat the chocolate!} on the other half of the crackers. i placed the sticks {about an inch} on one half and took the marshmallow covered heart and gently placed it onto the chocolate heart and stick.

i placed the pops into the freezer to stiffen them up and moved onto making the white chocolate. i used food coloring to get the desired color for the hearts. ok, ok. so i know there are so many opinions out there. folks say to not add anything to chocolate, because it’s already such a delicate form and you should use colored chips instead. plus, people also say to not use nestle chips for dipping. that candy melts, almond bark, and chocolate melts are best for dipping. honestly, it doesn’t taste as good! so, nestle chips it was! adding the food coloring didn’t do anything to the chocolate’s consitency but i definitely should have added shortening to the chocolate to thin it out! next time. it will definitely create a smoother coat.

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i let the chocolate dry for an hour or less. after they hardened and cooled, i took my red decorating pen and wrote fun messages on each heart. so cute! i then individually wrapped each heart in a festive cellophane bag and voila! a cutesy valentines’s day treat for your loved ones!!

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via tandeminlove.com

xoxo

love day decor

so, i don’t usually go crazy in the decorating department for valentine’s day but i do love to jazz up the house just a wee bit. nothing big, but i like a spark of color…especially since january {and february} can be such a dreary month!

a few of the banners i hung, i made myself last year. yes…while the little babes was just a newborn. i crafted some quick banners to jazz up our house because being at home on maternity leave during the polar vortex {a.k.a chiberia} was monotonous and bland. putting color in our place was mandatory!

i totally enjoy valentine’s day decor. it’s pretty, fun, and brightens up the home! so, i placed a few banners across the living room window, it looks so pretty when the sunlight is shining through. i strung the festive strand of circle paper cutouts across a wall in our living room as well. i drew up some fun lettering and design on our chalkboard in the kitchen. i also nabbed an awesome gold heart for our front bay window! i didn’t get to snap a pic of it, but maybe later, it’s pretty darn awesome! i ordered red, pink, and white heart lights as well…but they haven’t come in yet. i want to drape it around the gold heart for a pretty, festive effect. there are still a few things coming in the mail that i will add to the decor around the house. once those items come in, i will {almost} be done! 😉

of course, i then snapped a few pics of miss olive with some delightful valentine’s day props. it was too sweet and she is too cute!

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[my handmade banners…doily hearts + crocheted little circles and a hand cut paper ‘kiss me’ banner]

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[die cut paper circles strung together on twine]

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[my valentine’s day chalkboard]

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[baby olive getting into the valentine’s day fun // that’s the gold heart i mentioned above…it was relocated to our bay window!]

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[nordstrom’s baby bling headband, zara scarf & shirt, heart leg warmers, & stitches and soles latte bow moccs]

well my lovies, what fun decorating ideas do you have for this valentine’s day? it’s always so sweet to add a little festive love fun to your abode, non?!

happy decorating!

xoxo