I love the meaning behind Valentine's Day, but not the pressure from slick advertising that makes us think we have to give the "most perfect/most expense/most romantic" gift or else.....we're slackers! So here's a quick and fun way to recognize the blessings in your heart and life....and put them on display—just in time for the big day. (This can be a great activity for families, kids, well, just about anybody who has something to be thankful for.)

Grab some paper (I used my scratch paper journal) and draw/paint/create a page of hearts. Pens, markers, stamps, pastels, crayons—use what you've got to make your hearts. You can choose a color theme or use the rainbow as I did. This is a great way to get our art out of our journals and out in the open so others can enjoy it too!

Scan and print out the hearts. I printed mine on the back of paper that was destined for the recycle bin. I printed out 4 sheets of hearts and varied the size on two pages so that I would have different sizes to play around with. I took markers, stamps and anything else I could think of and embellished the hearts (and forgot to take a photo, but you can see the embellished hearts below).

Once the hearts were cut out, Chris and I sat down with pens and wrote out a blessing on the back of each heart. We had fun writing our blessings separately and then comparing to see where our blessings overlapped. Some were funny, some nutty, while others were heartfelt.

We punched holes in the tops of the hearts and assembled them on a wire tree (from Christmas) along with some bright red heart ornaments and some funky yarn! If you don't have a wire tree, consider tying the hearts to the yarn and use as a garland or gluing the hearts to a wreath.
Have family far away? Mail hearts back and forth with heart felt messages to "share the love!' Your imagination on the type of hearts, the colors, the papers, the embellishments and how you assemble them is without limits!

I hope you'll consider "taking back the holiday" and share the blessings with your loved ones. If you do, I'd love to see how you "render" your tree, garland or wreath!