Take Back the Holiday!

5:54 AM


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).

After cutting the hearts out, some with white borders, some without, I  glued them down to scraps of leftover scrapbooking paper. I made sure to leave enough room between the hearts so that I could cut them out with ease. Some were glued down to a second sheet of paper (just to get a good variety) and cut out again. 

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!


If you don't have time to make this for Valentine's Day, consider Easter eggs for Easter or flowers for Spring!

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10 Creative Thought(s)

  1. This is a cute idea. I think it's so sweet that your husband participates in these projects with you. Mine wouldn't have torn himself away from TV long enough to do something like this. :)
    Very clever.

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  2. Fun and creative idea! I bet you and Chris had a good time doing this.

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  3. Laure! What a wonderful idea and creation! Great blog and amazing stuff! God bless!

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  4. Laure what a great way to get out of the journal and think out of the box! I love the tree idea.

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  5. we are going to make some things for a tree using our two foot high christmas tree. gotta start today i think...will post on blog when done! love your idea...the gratitude hearts and the wire tree is precious! i love the taking over of the holiday!! go us!!!

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  6. What a fun idea - and a great activity for you and Chris to share.

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  7. My grandkids are coming to visit for their grandpa's birthday. They'll be leaving on Valentine's Day. I think a garland of hearts would be a good project to keep them busy!

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  8. Really cute idea Laure! and you're so very correct! This is something we could apply for just about any of the holidays!!!

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