Category Archives: Celebration
Celebration – Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day … the holiday of love and romance!
Valentine’s Day is celebrated every year on February 14 in many countries around the world. It is a day to remember and honor your loved ones with cards, flowers, candy, etc. I personally think that we should be celebrating our love every day of the year and not just one single day. I know that I feel very happy when my husband brings me flowers unexpectedly … a guaranteed smile on my face!! But, how did this romantic holiday start?
The legend of the patron saint, St. Valentine, goes back many centuries and the origin of the tale has become something of a mystery. One legend says that Valentine was a priest during the third century in Rome. At the time, Emperor Claudius II decided single men made better soldiers and prohibited them from marriage. Valentine defied the Emperor and continued to perform secret marriages for the soldiers. The Emperor discovered this, Valentine was sent to prison and the Emperor ordered his execution. While Valentine was imprisoned he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer and before he was executed, he sent her a note and signed it “from your Valentine”. There are several other stories about Valentine, but he is always portrayed as a sympathetic, heroic and romantic person.
In the Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem, “Parlement of Foules”, which is said to be the first recorded association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love. By the 15th century, Valentine’s Day had become an occasion for lovers to express their love by presenting flowers, offering confectionery delights and sending handwritten sentimental notes, known as valentines, to their loved ones. By the 19th century, paper valentines became so popular in Victorian England that factories started mass producing greeting cards with popular symbols of love such as: the heart, doves or lovebirds and Cupid with his bow or arrows.
In the United States, it is estimated that 190 million valentines are sent each year making Valentine’s Day the second largest card holiday. According to those statistics, women purchase and send 85 percent of those valentines. Those numbers do not include the mass-produced character themed valentines that students give to each other and their teachers. The idea of exchanging cards has extended into gifts such as: roses, heart-shaped boxes filled with an assortment of chocolates and in the 1980’s the diamond industry began to promote giving jewelry to that special someone! Now, with the Internet, it is estimated in 2010 that over 17 million e-valentines were sent.
l remember as a child, sending and receiving valentines in grammar school! Luckily, my mother saved us boxes filled with our school papers, art projects and within those boxes were the valentines cards from my fellow classmates. It is fun to see the old fashioned style of these 1960s valentines and remembering all those friends from so long ago. I kept up that family tradition of saving the valentines for my kids. For my daughter I found a cute Valentine-themed box and this is where she has saved her valentines from school. Every year she likes to sort through them and remember her old friends back in California and her new friends here.
Do you do any special ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day? I would love to hear from you, send me a comment with your traditions or ideas.
Celebration – Last Minute Valentine’s Day Ideas
Sometimes with our busy lives the holidays come too soon and we are not prepared!! Valentine’s Day is one of those times; it comes after Christmas when most of the time in we have just finished packing the holiday decorations and moving them into storage. Well, Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and here are some ideas for last minute projects that are easy to make and take very little money.
“Showered with Love”
This a great project to do with the kids! All that’s needed are a couple of bags of balloons, I used red and hot pink balloons, but you could also add white balloons. A variety of colors keeps the display visually interesting. You can blow up all the balloons in advance and store them in a place hidden from the person you are surprising. You can fill the balloons with fun messages. Just write the notes on small pieces of papers tightly roll them up and insert them into the balloons. Fill the shower stall with the balloons and close the shower curtain. Tape a large note to the shower door that says, “Good morning! You have been showered with love!” It is a lot of fun and the kids will love writing the notes and surprising the person!!
This is also a great idea to surprise someone with on a special birthday!! Just attach a note to the shower door that says, “Happy Birthday! You are showered with love!”
“Heart Attack”
This is another great project for your spouse, family or friend. The supplies needed for this project are simply some construction paper or scrapbook paper and tape. You can get fancy; I used red glitter foam left over from the Queen of Hearts Party. Cut the paper into the shape of different size hearts. You can use red, pink and white for a great look. Be sure to include one larger heart that says, “With love from your name(s). Attach the paper or foam hearts with tape and please be sure not to obstruct the front window. Now, you have one of two chooses: decorate the special person’s car at their home either parked inside the garage or outside on the driveway or street. Where you decorate the car should be determined by the local weather because snow or rain will definitely affect the paper hearts, please keep that in mind when you are planning this project!
This is another project that could be used for a birthday or anniversary, you can use others colors of paper or foam hearts for the decorations.
A Trail of Kisses
Here is a fun project to do for your kids or adults, too! Buy a bag of Hershey’s kisses, any flavor. Leave a trail of kisses on the floor leading to a special gift, maybe a stuffed animal, Barbie, Lego set, etc. Decide if you want one special gift or several, it is up to you! It’s easy; the child would follow the trail of kisses to get to the special present!
SPECIAL NOTE: Please be advised that chocolate can be very harmful for dogs, so take caution when you are doing this activity, we don’t want any dogs getting sick.
Celebration – Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2 and originally began here in the United States in central Pennsylvania as a German custom. According to folklore, when a groundhog emerges from his burrow and sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It is a grand social event with food, entertainment and speeches and the groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil makes his appearance at some time during the day.
What will Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction be for this year? Actually our weather here in the Midwest has been relatively mild. We have had some very cold temperatures for the last couple of months with only had one significant snow fall in December that gave us over a foot of snow and that was enough for sledding and building a huge six foot snowman that we traditionally called Frosty! I’m hoping Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction is that warm weather will be in the forecast! We are in the process of planning spring and summer vacation trips, thinking about the beaches in North Carolina and Florida, so we are in the mood for warmer weather.
One of my husband’s favorite movies is “Groundhog Day” and he loves to watch it over and over and over again. Sometimes I resort to hiding the movie but he always seems to find it. (I’ve got to find a better hiding place!) I must admit that it is a very clever and entertaining movie to watch … did I just say that!
“Groundhog Day” is a 1993 film directed by Harold Ramis and the comedy stars Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. The brief synopsis of film is that Phil Connors (Murray), an arrogant Pittsburgh weatherman, and his news producer, Rita (MacDowell), are given the dreaded assignment to cover the annual Groundhog Day events in Punxsutawney, PA. After being forced to stay in town overnight due to a blizzard, Phil wakes up in the morning and finds himself in an endless time loop that has him repeating the same day, February 2, over again and again. Confused, Phil comes to realize there are no consequences for his horrible actions because in the morning everything was like it never happened. Through this process, Phil finds himself falling in love with Rita and he takes advantage of the situation to learn information about her to try and win her over. After finally confiding in Rita about everything, she advises him to take the time to improve himself and change his bad behavior to become a better person. Eventually, Phil is able to use the experience to the help people in the town. He winds up giving an eloquent report on the Groundhog Day celebration that gets a lot of attention and after the evening dance, he finally wins over Rita. He wakes the next morning and finds the time loop is broken; it is now February 3.
“GROUNDHOG DAY’” MOVIE TRIVIA
- The movie was NOT filmed in Punxsutawney, PA but mostly filmed on location in Woodstock, IL which is coincidentally 45 miles from Bill Murray’s real hometown of Wilmette, IL. Since the film’s release Punxsutawney has become a major tourist attraction.
- There is a small plaque on the curb in the town of Woodstock at the spot in the film where Murray filmed the movie scene where he repeatedly steps into a puddle; it reads “Bill Murray stepped here”.
- The director of the film originally wanted Tom Hanks to play the lead character but decided against him because he was “too nice”, he also considered Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and John Travolta.
- Bill Murray was bitten twice by the groundhogs used in the filming; he had to have anti-rabies injections because the bites were so severe.
- The time period depicted in the movie is believed to be close to 9 years, when it is considered that the character of Phil Connors becomes a master piano player, an expert ice sculptor, etc. the time needed would be more likely closer to 30+ years.
Celebration – Queen of Hearts Party
With Valentine’s Day coming in February, it is never too early to brainstorm a party idea and I have a great theme – Queen of Hearts! This theme could be used to set the table for a fun family dinner or an elegant tea luncheon or late dinner with close girlfriends.
Valentine’s Day is not always about romance and couples, it can also be a time to show love and support for your family and friends. With our busy lives and everyone scattered to school, work and athletic activities sometimes we need to stop and spend some quite quality time together. This would be a great occasion to celebrate with your family and show them how much you love them! Fix a great dinner or maybe order take-out, it doesn’t matter, just take the time to talk and share together as a family.
Maybe there are other important people in your life that you want to show your love and support. Another idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day is to invite other mothers in the neighborhood or your child’s school. What a wonderful afternoon it could be sitting around the table with friends, enjoying a relaxed lunch and sharing the happiness or difficult times of motherhood. (We’ve got to support each other!) Or maybe you are single and want to get together with your girlfriends for a celebration. Schedule a late dinner after work to eat a great meal and sit around a beautifully decorated table talking about love, men and dating … besides who wants to be alone on Valentine’s Day!
Basic supplies
- Red tablecloth, size is determined by the table dimensions
- White or ivory napkins for each guest
- Rose floral centerpiece
- Red rose buds for each place setting
- Beautiful plates, glasses, utensils for each place setting
- Red ribbon and red sparkle netting for chair back decorations
- The photo shown above shows our dining room table set for a tea luncheon.
Start by setting the dining room table with a red tablecloth. Set each place setting with beautiful plates, cup and saucers, glasses and utensils. I used a large white dinner plate with a smaller red salad plate on top. As a cute touch I cut a slice large jelly heart and attached it to the rim of the teacup. Next, I used white napkins with a red rose bud tucked into silver napkin rings. To complete each place setting, I used small white frames, tied with red ribbons for place cards. To add festive look to the chair backs, I used two yards each of 1½ wide ribbon and 6 inch wide red sparkle netting tied into bows. I also cut a large heart of red sparkle foam for each chair and attached it to the chair back. Finally, to complete the table I wanted to enhance an existing deep pink rose floral arrangement, so I added red feather sprays and three red glittered hearts on sticks. I think the table looks very festive and I think it is perfect for a Queen of Hearts tea luncheon for friends!
