DIY Valentine Greeting

Gosh, I am SO excited that I just had to share this with you. I love serendipity and this is certainly it.  First of all though, let me just say that things have not been all rosy at the old O-P abode. Mr. O-P spent Christmas in the ICU and New Year's in a rehab facility as the result of the ravages of chemotherapy that he was undergoing for bladder cancer, that put him into renal failure. His cancer diagnosis came last August, following fairly closely upon, first a hip replacement, and then a knee replacement. As if this isn’t enough, and, trust me, it IS, he lost both his younger sister and older brother during the holidays. The mister is 20 years my senior (he was my college professor, scandalous, I know), so this has been pretty rough on him. As caregiver, it hasn't been peachy for me either.

Why am I excited, you ask (if you haven't hanged yourself by now)? Because Mr. O-P will be released on Valentine's Day and I have just come up with a wonderfully clever Valentine idea that I know will make him smile. The mister is one of those guys (and, really, aren't they all?) who struggles to throw anything away. While he's been gone I have been doing a bit of, ahem, “organizing.” In the doing, I discovered a plastic bag that contained hinges from the shutters on our former house, an American Victorian farmhouse that was built in 1892. The shutters had been ripped off during a tornado, the hinges scattered everywhere. He collected them and saved them in a bag. 

I'm not sure what gave me the idea, but I wanted to use them in a table setting somehow. While I was ruminating, the phrase “you unhinge me” popped into my head. So, I took a photo of our shutters, edited it to remove all color, added the text and a couple of hearts, printed out four on white cardstock, cut them out, and placed a card at each place setting along with one of our antique hinges. 

A cute, original idea that cost me nothing, and is guaranteed to give the mister a smile. The process of this was very cathartic for me, and took me back to the good old (and I do mean OLD!) days when kids used to make cards for Valentine's Day. 

Hope this helps to get your card-making juices flowing.

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Thursday Favorite Things

Create It Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday

Show and Tell Friday 

Friday Unfolded

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Fridays Flash Blog
Simple and Sweet Fridays

A Romantic Postmark for a Romantic Day

A stack of Valentines in decorated envelopes ready to be packaged and sent off to a city offering a special cancellation in honor of the day.
Which one will I choose?

I know you're probably telling yourself that it's still January, and way too early to start thinking about St. Valentine's Day, but you're wrong.  Now is the PERFECT time to think about it because, if you plan ahead, you can delight the recipients of your Valentine's Day cards with a romantic postmark to match the day. Did you know that over 30 cities across the nation offer special cancellations for St. Valentine's Day?  If you've never participated in getting a special cancellation, then you are in for a treat.  Here are some examples:

Here is what you do:

To get a special Valentine-related cancellation, Valentines must be signed, sealed, addressed, and with stamps affixed.  Place them into an outer envelope addressed to: 

Postmaster 

Valentine Cancellations

Participating city and state 

Be sure to address one of the cards to yourself so you can get the special cancellation back.

Here’s the entire list:

                          Bliss, NY 14024-9998

                      Darling, MS 38623-9998

                      Deary, ID 83823-9998

                      Fidelity, IL 62030-9998

                      Hart, TX 79043-9998

                      Hart, MI 49420-9998

                      Harts, WV 25524-9998

                      Honeyville, UT 84314-9998

                      Juliette, GA 31046-9998

                      Kissimmee, FL 34741-9998

                      Lovejoy, GA 30250-9998

                      Lovejoy, IL 62059-9998

                      Loveland, CO 80537-9998

                      Loveland, OH 45140-9998

                      Loveland, OK 73553-9998

                      Lovely, KY 41231-9998

                      Loves Park, IL 61111-9998

                      Loveville, MD 20656-9998

                      Loving, NM 88256-9998

                      Loving, TX 76460-9998

                      Lovington, IL 61937-9998

                      Romance, AR 72136-9998

                      Romeo, CO 81148-9998

                      Romeo, MI 48065-9998

                      Sugar City, ID 83448-9998

                      Sweet, ID 83670-9998

            Valentine, AZ 86437

                      Valentine, NE 69201-9998

                      Valentine, TX 79854-9998

                      Valentines, VA 23887-9998

                      Venus, PA 16364-9998

You have plenty of time to hand select special Valentines and dress up your envelope as I did here.  A couple of additions of clip art and a recipe for Café Au Lait for Lovers, and you have a card and envelope that people will treasure for years to come.  As a veteran rubber stamper and envelope artist, I've been sending out decorated envelopes for nearly 10 years.  Some people have developed quite a collection of them, and this pleases me to no end.  Why not start your own similar tradition?  If you have children, get them involved as well; the post office will thank you, and the kids will learn that not all mail is electronic.


Café Au Lait for Lovers 
Serves 2
¾ cup whole milk 
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar 
¼ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder 
One 2-inch cinnamon sticks 
1 strip orange peel, about 1/2" by 3"
5 whole cloves 
1 to 1 ½ cups hot brewed strong coffee 

¼ cup cold heavy cream
Ground cinnamon, for garnish
Cocoa powder, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, the 1/3 cup of sugar, and cocoa powder until smooth. Add the cinnamon stick, orange peel, and cloves and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar and prevent the cocoa from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whip the heavy cream with the remaining teaspoon of sugar until thick, frothy, and soft peaks form. Set aside.

Strain the milk mixture into a coffee pot or carafe and add 2 cups of the hot coffee (or up to 1/2 cup more, to taste.) Pour into cups or mugs and top each with a dollop of the lightly sweetened whipped cream. Serve immediately.

(The recipe is by Emeril.)

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