I ♥ Heart Day

It seems like everyone has an opinion of Valentine's Day.

"It's a Hallmark holiday designed to make money"

"I don't need a special day to show the person I love, I do it everyday."

or you have the opposite side posting pictures of flowers and gifts and love notes to their loved one on Facebook. What? I didn't do that, kind of.....

Blah blah blah blah blah.

I can lean either way and this year I decided to embrace Valentine's Day. There weren't any grand plans or expectations, just talks about how I can't be all freaky about flowers. I get them so rarely since they're quite the luxury that I build up ridiculous expectations when it comes time for me to be the recipient of them. So this year, I knew I could've been getting them, but the minute I started instructing him on where he should and shouldn't buy them and got all anxious about the cost of carnations, I was told to stop. I was glad about that because I can really work myself into quite the tizzy only to get upset over a $40 blue orchid that was actually pretty awesome (I wanted Gerber daisies).

I also got to prove to myself that I can still manage to bake a batch of cupcakes and cut out some Valentine's I printed out last year and forgot about.  I forgot the vanilla in the frosting and when I gave Gwen sprinkles to decorate her cupcakes for her daycare friends she dumped half the container in the sink completely missing the cupcake. But we delivered and it felt great. Nothing's better than any excuse to share cupcakes I tell you, even if it is a commercial holiday that oozes wasteful spending.

Gwen was all cute in her dress with a heart. I was pleasantly surprised at how many professional women dressed in red today as I walked around with my heart necklace and red coat. I got to sniff flowers all day long at my desk and everyone in a 20 foot radius of me got a cupcake. It was a fun day.

However you chose to celebrate it, cynical or sappy, I hope you were able to enjoy it as much as we did.

You can read about our past Valentine's Days, which come to find out, I've always enjoyed, here {2012} here {2012}, here {2009}, A Valentine's Tea Party {2009}, a really crappy Valentine's Day {2009} they all seem to be from 2009. I don't know what was going on there, it is what it is. 

Insta-Friday {15th Edition}

1. Over the weekend we were out and about splurged on a little Starbucks. Starbucks is one of those things that I realized is a complete waste of money so it's a rare occasion when we allow ourselves to kiss $5 goodbye for 10 minutes of coffee goodness. And what luck! They had Valentine's Day cups. It was kind of really cool.


2. We like to give Gwyneth a little free time from her diaper every once and awhile. This is totally ridiculous and we realize this. It has resulted in pee and poo in various places around the house and as gross as that sounds, it's hilarious. This time it resulted in pee all over her mega blocks. You'd think this would deter us from giving her nakie free time, but it's too cute and a kid's butt has to get some diaper-free time, doesn't it?


3. I discovered a box of cake mix makes 24 mini cupcakes and an appropriate amount of cake pops. So the mini cupcakes (which I burnt) were topped with rainbow heart sprinkles..


4.  Our laundry room door is a godsend and the dogs like to sit in front of it and pout when it's closed. It's what keeps little bit away from pouring their water all over the floor and throwing dog food everywhere.

And that was our week in instagrams. Feel free to follow me, my name is RenoSparksMom. I'd love to see what you were up to this week. Do tell!

Our Valentine's Day

Today we went to our MOMS Club's Valentine's party and it was a blast. We were instructed to bring 20 valentines and something for the kids to collect their valentines in. My original idea was to print out the cute valentine's from here but true to its fashion, that son of a bitch of a printer wouldn't print them.  Plan B involved leftover red cardstock and the Cricut. Luckily there wasn't any cussing or breaking of it this go around.

Gwen's Grandma had her covered for all Valentine's Day related fashion and even sent her a cute little owl receptacle for her valentines. 
And since I wanted an excuse to bake, I made another attempt at cake pops and by golly they were a success. We packed them up and took them to the party with us instead of unloading them on the husband's office as originally planned for failure. 

It was a cute little party at another mom's house. She had cookies and sprinkles for the kids to decorate and the kids ran amuck while the moms got to socialize. Then it was time for everyone to exchange valentine's. How cute are all the different boxes?

We came home after missing a nap and Gwen played with all her valentines. 

She went a little bananas over the peppermint patty and stuck stickers to the floor. I, on the other hand stole her chewy candy and introduced her to the proper way to eat a fruit by the foot. 

And that was our Valentine's Day! How was yours? Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some romantic veggie burritos to tend to for the mister and I.

Our Valentine's Philosophy: Less Complaining.More Sexy Rumpus.

Valentine’s Day has been a touchy subject for years in our house. As a fan of any and all holidays I would make grand plans for the 14^th and they would never live up to any expectations. Jake would sit back each and every year and propose the idea that perhaps we should just go out the night before or after Valentine’s Day. I of course responded with a gasp and the following statement, “Go out for Valentine’s Day NOT on Valentine’s Day? Blasphemy!”

And then it happened. After years of mediocre Valentine’s Day dates we had the worst one ever. Naturally it happened to be the one I put the most planning into. I had done my research and found a highly rated (and expensive) restaurant in a quaint mountain town an hour away. I made our reservation months in advance. It was going to be perfect and dreamy, I knew it.

Lets just say it was snowy and icy which didn’t do well for my heels and dress I got especially for the occasion. The restaurant and food left a lot to be desired and the romantic atmosphere was ruined by the children who came in for hot cocoa after their day of skiing.

That was the day I came over to the husband’s way of thinking. What’s the deal with this one day anyway? What makes it worth putting up a fight for a reservation, spending all your money and exchanging typically crappy gifts? Why not do it another day that isn’t the 14^th? Does it really matter?

According to this article from the Consumerist there are statistics proving that if anything, staying in on the 14^th and going out any other day is the smarter option and looks like more people are jumping on the bandwagon.

“According to a new survey by the Zagat folks, 44% of couples intend on dining out this Valentine's Day. Even worse, the average expected dinner tab comes out to $147/couple, compared to the regular check for two of around $43.”

So, we’re finally not celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, for the most part. I’m proud to finally acknowledge that this isn’t jaded or cynical, it’s just plain intelligent.

P.S. Go to the Oatmeal and read The Worst Thing About Valentine's Day (a comic). "Less complaining. More sexy rumpus." Amen Oatmeal, amen.

 

What to do this Weekend {Valentine's Edition}

 

 

 

This weekend is full of great (and cheap, I might add) things to do with the kids. I am personally a huge fan of Michael's Make-It-and-Take-It events where you purchase an item (don't forget those 40% off coupons) and they supply you with all the little gee-gaws and tools to decorate it.

If that's too girly for your little boys (which, by the way there are plenty of boys at Michael's if you're concerned) you can always go the Home Depot route.

• Make a Cute Little Foam Mailbox at Michael's, Saturday Feb. 4 @ 1p-2p


• Create a Valentine's Day card at Michael's , Sunday Feb 5. @  2-3pm

A cute hint for the husbands out there. Take your children to this event to create a card for their Moms. Win major points. Moms, just click on an icon at the bottom of the event to share with your husband. An anonymous tip in his inbox wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?

• Make a keepsake wooden Valentine's Day box at Home Depot, Saturday, Feb. 4 @ 12pm

We'd love to see your children's creations! Snap a couple photos and come and share them on our Facebook wall.

There are plenty more great events like this going on throughout the entire month. Visit our events tab to see more.

 

Easy Ruffled Felt Heart Wreath

7 Pretty Things on a Sunday

This post was inspired by the 7 Pretty Things on a Sunday blog hop going on at The Letter 4, Gussy Sews, Matchstick Molly, and Much Love, Illy and was such a fun post to put together. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of these 7 pretty little things I found as I did. Happy weekend!

Source: lilblueboo.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Easy Ruffle Felt Heart Wreath

From the archives:

I came across this tutorial from Amy at the Idea Room and was intimidated. Cutting that many circles out of felt? Due to my fear of cutting circles out by hand brought on by an attempt at printed cupcake toppers, I decided it’d be too hard. Alas, I found myself drawn to it and all its beauty.

Well guess what! It’s super easy and fun!Felt is very forgiving so your circles look like perfection, no matter what. ¾ yard was perfect.  I had one or two extra circles even after filling in a couple of holes. It was an all night affair, beginning with the tracing of circles onto fabric, cutting them out and pinning.

I finished it in between dinner and watching TV. The quick pace of progress makes it easy to see what your goal is and how close you’re getting to your finished product.

 

When out buying your supplies, be warned that Michael’s, Dollar Tree and WalMart do notcarry the Styrofoam heart wreath. No matter how convenient those stores are (like 2 minutes down the street) you do have to go (all the way across town) to Joann’s Fabric for the heart wreath.

Cost of Project
Styrofoam Heart Wreath $3.99 org. price - 50% coupon available at store  $2
Straight Pins $2.79
Fabric ¾ yard @3.99/yd - $2.99
Total cost: $8!

 

::I'm linking up to these parties::

Ruffle Felt Heart Wreath

I came across this tutorial from Amy at the Idea Room and was intimidated. Cutting that many circles out of felt? Due to my fear of cutting circles out by hand brought on by an attempt at printed cupcake toppers, I decided it’d be too hard. Alas, I found myself drawn to it and all its beauty.