Unveiling the Valentine

I feel guilty admitting it, but I've had more of a Valentine's Month.  I'm spoiled and I know it. I acknowledge it, and I appreciate it in ways I can't even explain.  My Valentine's Month started in a grocery store parking lot when Johnathan came to the car holding a bouquet of vibrant flowers for me -- no real reason. The first week of February holds no valid significance within our relationship, he just wanted to make me smile, I guess, and it worked.

Well, my flowers died quickly (as flowers tend to do) and I kept postponing their inevitable toss out.  Johnathan even brought it up,  informing me that they were dead and that I should throw them out.  I frowned. I will. Not yet. I know they're limp; they've wilted; they're brown. I just hate the end of a pretty bouquet.

The memory of that bouquet was quickly replaced, though. Two days later, during the second week of February, I received another unexpected bouquet of flowers.  This time they were intoxicating, fragrant Lilies.  I awoke to them, along with a raspberry jelly donut that I had been (verbally) craving for weeks! Johnathan had already left for work and missed my crazed reaction; I was thrilled!

One -- I got my donut! Two -- I have never, ever received flowers two weeks in a row! I wouldn't even fathom it as a possibility!  I just felt...adored.

                                                          

     I am so very lucky.

 I would never ask for these things. I'm not that kind of girl.  If he didn't do these sweet gestures I wouldn't doubt his love; I know he loves me.  Weeks of fading flowers isn't what proves love to me, it's the weeks of unfailing friendship and dedication that does.

The jelly donut on the other hand...I need that. To survive. If it weren't for donuts we probably would have dumped each other a looooong time ago. If you're disappointed in me, I must ask, did you see the photo above!?! ;)

 Don't worry, I don't just take-take-take.  I try my best to be what he deserves too.

As I said in the Can't Buy Me Love post, I don't believe in buying love cards.  Love shouldn't be proclaimed by a Hallmark harper, it should be proclaimed by thee lover. Making your own card also opens up recycling options! Instead of wasting, you're reusing.

So today I'll unveil this years homemade Valentine for Johnathan -- I promised I would!

To accomplish this I cut colorful schnibblets from a local newspaper I had on hand. As I cut them, I kept them in organized color piles so that it wouldn't take too long piecing my seahorse together.  I then drew the seahorse by hand, as you can see I somewhat diverged from my original drawing as I got gluing.  I also made sure to place a few newspaper words within my seahorse, such as "Valentine" and "Love You Easy."

Creating is about getting creative -- there are no rules!

It turned out to be a pretty crazy looking Valentine!  Best part is that this seahorse is an inside joke between Johnathan and I.  As I've said before, linking the crafts you make to the things that hold meaning will always turn out a great success; it's simply more touching and meaningful.  This Valentine took me longer than I thought it would, but it was totally worth it!

The tissue is holding a Lucky Bamboo plant I bought John for his desk...future post! :) And yes, I used my bouquet paper for wrapping gifts. It's pretty!

Did you make a Valentine this year? Perhaps you received a handmade card?  If so, I'd love to see it! Feel free to share a link to your Valentine in the comments section! I always enjoy hearing from you!

Further Donate Donations

 One thing I like about my thrifty lifestyle is that it allows me to be more generous.  I tend to spend less and get more, which supports the gift-giver in me. Why not share when there is so little to lose? Beyond buying for the family and friends I love so much, I also try to support the causes I believe in. One belief of mine, is that talking about social problems is a good and positive thing, but it means nothing if no one offers a hand to help. We need to be the change we wish to see in this world; we need to effect positive change, not simply discuss it.So when I believe in something, I don't just state so, I try to take the steps needed to support it, back it, or incorporate it into my life.

When it comes to aiding charities, my thrifty ways have made helping out feel too easy, like I've done absolutely nothing, but this isn't the case; every action we take in life counts for something. Last week, Minnesota was bone-chillingly cold, -20F cold, and I know it wasn't much warmer back home in WI, either. On the news there was a feature on the Salvation Army, they were keeping their doors open at all hours for people to take shelter from the cold; several homeless people were suffering severe frostbite. I saw people lying on cement floors without blankets, as the news reporter requested that any gently used hats, scarves, mittens, and long underwear be donated.  "Gently used."  We can all donate gently used items at any moment, we all have gently used items in our homes, and even if we're not willing to part with them, we have thrift store donations that can be further donated; throwing an item into a chain of donations could hardly be a bad thing.

All I have here in Minneapolis is my one pair of gloves and my one scarf, so I wandered over to Steeple People.  They had bins and bins and bins of scarves, mittens and hot looking hats.  One bin in particular held several handknitted items, and the kind donator had requested that they be sold for .50 cents each. .50 CENTS! Beautiful, warm, hand stitched winter wear for absolutely nothing.  For only $3.00 I had the ability to make 6 people warmer. Think about that...it's amazing!

50 cents each!

Even a few months back when I conducted Shopping for Sharing in order to collect needed clothing, toys, and supplies for foster children in Milwaukee, my friends and I were able to buy bags upon bags of second hand supplies for close to nothing. Didn't set us back a bit.  It takes so little to improve someone's security.

Sorting Shopping 4 Sharing Donations

 I'm not trying to make a show of charity, that's far from what I care about.  I just want to display how little can make a lot, and how thrift stores really aid in making extreme generosity a possibility, even for poor college graduates like myself. I have very little, but I certainly have a lot to offer.We all do.

SOME of my Shopping 4 Sharing Team @ Target for hygiene supplies. We had so much fun!

Go ahead and donate someone's donation, it's a cycle worth repeating.