Week of Love: Gifts from the Heart

My 10-minute "heart strings" table decor for V-Day.

Daddy Bird and I don't traditionally exchange fancy Valentine's Day gifts. A poem, some flowers, a nice bar of dark chocolate, a quiet dinner at home...these are more our style. This year, inspired by Bo Bunny, I plan to give my honey a Love Notes Journal. This is a hand decorated blank journal where we can leave each other little notes and thoughts. It includes "his" and "her" tags to tuck into the pages when a message is waiting for the other to read. I'm so excited about this idea. All it requires is a blank notebook and some imagination - I plan to craft mine from scrapbooking papers & ribbon I already have in my craft closet. With our lives so consumed with children, work and so forth, I think it will be a heart-warming way to remind each other of our love.

For other family members, Selby is helping me create Joy Jars, inspired by SouleMama in her book The Creative Family. These hand-decorated, recycled jars are filled with strips of paper that contain a bit of joy written on each one. Little messages to make the recipient happy (after all, "making people happy" is how Selby defined love).

Two affordable, handmade gift ideas that pull at the heart strings. I just had to share, in case you want to make them too! (Check back for pictures of our finished projects later in the week.)

XOXO