Hooray for Love

Happy Valentine's Day !
I thought it would be fun to share some photos of my Valentine decorating.

The display of collectibles on my kitchen cupboard changes through the holidays and seasons.

How cute is that?!  I Like to display things that make me happy:  Pink & green dishes, snowmen & candy.
I have an obsession with Lovely glass jars filled with interesting things, cloche & terrariums.  I have a whole board on Pinterest devoted to my Glass Obsession

Don't you Love the old vintage Godiva Valentine tin? I got it from my sweetheart soooo many years ago. Over the years I've amassed quite a collection of them and I've saved every candy heart & card!

That brown chunk is a hunk of Callebaut chocolate, a premium Belgian chocolate that is exquisite.  I got it from Whole Foods for about $5 to make hot cocoa with by grating it into a saucepan of milk over low heat. mmmm


Don't you Love the way the Valentine candies look in the displayed in the jars?

Hope you all had a fun Valentine's Day filled with Love & candy

After Xmas Meeting of Glittery Nutcracker Army

My Glittery Nutcracker Army - 2013

I simply adore Christmas.  Everything about it is so festive and exciting.  Except after Christmas, and the drudgery of packing it all up and putting it away.

I'm a bit obsessed with Nutcrackers.  I cannot resist their charming painted faces with that mischievous and dashing moustache, silly nutty toothy grin,  as they gaze coyly back at you.  Aren't they terrific?  They always make me smile.

Like every collection, this one started out with a modest purchase years ago of 2 chubby Nutcrackers that I bought for each of my daughters.  Every Christmas we'd add another well-dressed friend or two to stand guard over our other Christmas decorations.  Over the years we have amassed an army, which struck me as funny, when I was collecting them all together to pack away and perhaps worthy of a post on my shiny new blog?

Taking down Christmas decorations is always a bittersweet, time consuming, rather tedious project.  Am I right, ladies?  Definitely, not as fun as decorating.  Everything look so bare afterwards ... and dusty!

Even though my Glittery Nutcracker Army will soon be tucked away in a box in my attic to slumber for the next 10 months and rest up for their Christmas 2014 debut.  I'll still have all the cute colorful photos of my Darling Treasures saved to peek at when ever I need a tiny fix of Christmas magic.

As you pack away each wonderful piece, from your children's darling handmade gems, the Hallmark Baby's First Christmas ornament,  to the lovely vintage Shiny Brites that belonged Gramma,  you can't help but ponder where your life will take you when you next see all these marvelous keepsakes again.  What changes will the new year bring?

                    ~    It's been Lovely chatting with you, now go have some fun