Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all. My husband really surprised me with a new Nintendo DS! And it's RED!!! (My favorite color!)

See, I had a pink one that died on me. I tried a new charger with no luck, and then I ordered a battery on line. Dopey me...I didn't realize it was a DS Lite, so I had the wrong battery. I'll just give it to someone with a regular DS.

So Mike says this morning: "I was going to do the flowers and candy thing, but I decided I wanted to do something more special. And I saw you had this 'hole' in your life these days. I wanted to make you happy..."

Oh, yeah. He cracks me up big time--the 'hole' in my life is not having my DS to fiddle with. Honestly, I missed it but not that much, but he knew how much fun I had with it. So he got me a new one.

I think, maybe, I'll keep this guy.

I hope you all are as happy today as I am.

(PS--my gift to him was a CD I burned of some songs he likes. Not much compared to a DS, but he's a guy who doesn't want much. The family is getting lasagna for dinner, and I'm about to look up my spritz cookie recipe to make heart-shaped cookies!)

More Valentine's Decor

I didn't want my last "IMHO' post to sit on the top for too long, so here's some more of my Valentine's decorations. I don't have a lot, not like Christmas or Halloween, but there's a nice touch of red (my favorite color!) around my house these days!

I change the flowers in this wall sconce with the seasons. Sorry the photo is sideways!

Mike gave me this pair of hugging bears way back when we were first going out...some time in the early 70s! I bought these votive candle holders for $5 to 'fill in' a blank wall area in the dining room because I didnt' want to hang a big picture or mirror there! I love the 3-D look. They are about 20 inches tall with 5 candle holders in each. And it's a great place to hang little things. I'm thinking U--S--A for Memorial Day and 4th of July!

Here's more of the shelf with the candy. I also use it as a 'catchall,' which isn't great decorating (hence the green m&ms which will be for St. Pat's) but at least one shelf is totally Valentine's.

My mother gave me the strawberry cookie jar many years ago. I moved it out of the kitchen because strawberries remind me of hearts! In fact, anything red will do...don't think you have to go out and spend money to decorate! Just think of appropriate colors!

Frugal Holiday Idea

I love after-holiday clearances. Not only do you get great buys, but sometimes you can make those clearance items do double-duty. For instance, red things from Christmas can sometimes be used for Valentine's Day and even Fourth of July.

CVS had M&Ms and Hershey's Kisses on sale for 90% off a few weeks ago. That worked out to about 20 cents a bag! I sorted them out and here is what I put out for Valentine's month. (I don't really expect the candy to last until the 14th, LOL!) The ice cream sundae dishes cost me about a quarter each at the local Salvation Army Thrift store.

I think I might tie some red ribbons around the stems.

Obviously, I'll be using the green candy for St. Patrick's Day!

Now, it's too late if you didn't get candy after Christmas. But look at the Valentine's candy after the 14th. I would be you'll find plenty of pink goodies--which can either be used for Easter or Mom's Day or even for a little girls' party's goodie bags!