Back in my Happy Place!

I have a bit more Valentine decor to show you, but I have managed to find some time recently to do some things that I love doing but really just haven't had the time to do of late. I have been busy planning the kids' Valentine weekend and my craft gifts to family. I must admit that as much as I love Valentine's Day and all of the vintage images, I am almost always at a loss for new ideas that I want to try.

One reason for that could be that I am just so old, I have done almost all of it before-and, for whatever reason, I don't like to duplicate things! I have been walking in circles this year but, when I saw this cute little image, I knew I wanted to do it. I found the image for sale on a site called "Dear Lillie" but since I actually used to do a lot of scherenschnitte-and sell it at a local craft boutique-I thought it would be fun to get my scissor cutting skills limbered up again. I must admit that the designs I used to do were much more detailed and I used a craft knife to do the cutting. This time I thought I could get away with a pair of small scissors. I did OK with my shaky hands but each little girl looks a bit different and some look down right grumpy. I never realized how just the tilt of an eyebrow could change a pretty little face into a scowl but the more I tried to shave the profiles, the worse they got so I cried UNCLE...lol. In any case, it is something new and at least I have them done in case "life" takes another turn!

I traced the image from the site and blew it up until I got the size I wanted. Then, all I did was flip it over and trace and cut.

I had the perfect rose colored damask paper but only enough for three. I found a similar one in a lighter shade of rose and I think it will actually fit better in a few of my recipient's homes.

I wanted an old looking frame and found the perfect ones at HL yesterday!

Here are two of my old ones that I still use.

And, while I had some time, I actually got in a big grocery shopping and some time to cook "real" food. I watch a lot of cooking shows and have been so happy to see the upsurge in popularity of the cauliflower. I love cauliflower. I can eat it raw like an apple-and, I often do. So when I spied the bag of cauliflower "rice" on a produce shelf in Publix, I snatched it up. I wanted to try cauliflower fired rice and what to my eyes should appear but a recipe right on the back of the bag! I didn't get any fancy pictures of this stuff because everything was getting done at the same time but I will say, if you love fried rice like I do but want a healthier version, you have to try this stuff. I couldn't stop eating it...good thing the whole bag of cauliflower was only 20 calories!

More Valentines to come. Stay tuned.