Wilderness: valentine's day party decor

Monday, February 10, 2014

Be Mine Party Time

As you all know, Valentines Day is coming... Wait! Before you roll your eyes at me for wasting time on an over-commercialized corporate pay-out... read on...

Whatever your thoughts are on this slightly obnoxious cheese-fest of a day, it's still a good excuse to get together with people you care about. Love is worthy of celebration, even if its only for your cats. But I'm going to assume you have some friends too... I'm all about positivity- and if you can dedicate a day to it, what's the harm? Perhaps you too can plan to get together with loved ones- even if it's just to complain about how silly the day is- just share it with people you care about. This year I'm helping my friends plan a Valentines party at their place and I'm not gonna lie- I'm pretty excited. Any excuse to decorate is a good excuse. I've been collecting images from all over to get inspired for their little shindig... And plan on getting creative enough to not have to give big corporate America my hard earned cash- because us crafty people get a kick out of throwing parties without throwing away our money on stuff we can make ourselves! Oh yaaaa.

1. Photo Heart Collage | 2. Kissing Booth | 3. Paper Bag Valentine | 4. Oragami Hearts

5. Paper Book Heart Art | 6. Paint Chip Valentines | 7. Wooden heart Labels | 8. Valentines Tree

1. Pepperoni Pizza Heart | 2. Be Mine Cookies | 3. Decorated Cookies

4. Striped Cake | 5. Moustache Lollipops | 6. Lace Cookie Pattern

1. Lace Twinkle Lights | 2. Colorful Ribbon | 3. Twine & Clothes Pins

| 4. Hanging hearts | 5. Cupcake Wrap Garland | 6. Book Garland | 7. Poms

8-9. Strungs Heart | 10. Heart Doorway | 11. Sewn Decor | 12. Photo Hearts

1-2. Floral Heart Arrangments | 3. Whimsical Night Table

4. Colorful Outdoor Valentine | 5-6. Pink Table Top

Sunday, February 2, 2014

40 GREAT HEART-THEMED GOODS FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

It seems like hearts are everywhere lately. I have to admit, I love it, and not just for Valentine’s Day. The heart is one of the oldest and most universal icons. There’s a lot mystery surrounding the early roots of the heart symbol, but it is thought to have originated in botany, in the rare, now-extinct plant silphium. Silphium was primarily used for seasoning, but it was also used as a method of birth control. During the seventh century, the plant was such an important part of the economy of Cyrene that the city-state issued coins depicting the plant’s seedpod, which looks a lot like the heart symbol. A similar symbol was also seen on Greek, Roman and even early Christian gravestones — the ivy leaf — and was used to represent eternal love. Whichever botanical explanation gives us the heart’s origins, the symbol didn’t become universal until the Middle Ages, when it came to represent sincerity and clarity and was changed from green to red. The heart icon became so symbolic of medieval heraldry that it was synonymous with the Holy Grail. (Early playing cards actually used the Holy Grail instead of the heart symbol as an icon.) Though scholars began to understand the anatomy of the organ in the Renaissance, the heart icon was still used to symbolize eternal faithfulness and courage. I had a tough time narrowing down my heart favorites, so I put the extras on our Valentine’s Day Pinterest board.