Love is in the Air.....

1 John 1:19

 19We love, because He first loved us.

We live in an apartment currently. 

 I'm sure I have complained about mentioned that before.

 Because of the face that our walls are standard apartment builder's grade beige (blah.) I try to decorate for the seasons as much as I can.

 Within reason. 

 I do not put something "seasonal" on every surface in our house; but I do try to add a little holiday fun to the kitchen, living room and Lauren's room.  Since Lauren turned 2, holidays are so much more fun for her! (probably because she is aware of the holidays....yes, probably.)

And although the true meaning of different holidays is often forgotten, I try to teach Lauren what the holiday is really about.

Case in point: Christmas. 

 I emphasized as much as possible that Christmas was Baby Jesus' Birthday.  Lauren is ALL about birthdays right now.... so for me to tell her that we were celebrating the birthday of Baby Jesus (whom she loves to talk about and see pictures of), she was super excited! We even had a little mini birthday party for Baby Jesus one day before Christmas (amongst all the chaos that was Christmas this year!)  Wish I had thought to take a picture of our little birthday cupcake for Jesus.

Anyway, here we are to Valentines' Day and I want to teach Lauren about LOVE and GOD'S LOVE for us!

Did you know that the word love appears in the Bible 697 times (give or take)?! 

 Yes, I googled that to be sure.  Guess I could have counted, but I did not.

Lauren has already started associating hearts with love.... remember?

And so in the spirit of love, I have been adding some "Valentiney" decor to our apartment a little at a time.  (It is still January after all).  

I found these little heart-shaped plates at Kroger last year after VDay for like 90% off.  This made them about .10 each!  Are they BPA free? Maybe not...I do hand wash them and I don't heat food on them, so hopefully we are ok.  They are great for sandwiches!

 This is the top of our corner baker's rack in the kitchen (the bottom 2 shelves hold all our cookbooks!) :)

This plate came from Kohl's and just says "love".  Lauren loves the little cupcake!

 The next shelf down holds a little framed Mary Engelbreit picture and our candy jar.  It's a tiny little glass jar from Cracker Barrel (last year) that holds our cinnamon hearts currently.  The heart on top says "hugs and kisses".  I will probably fill it with VDay colored m&m's next. It was about $5.

These kitchen towels are also from Cracker Barrel (last year) and say "Hugs" and "Kisses" in the hearts.  I love the red and white pin stripes!

I think they were about $5 for the 2 of them.

 I found this little red napkin holder at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago on the 66% off clearance aisle.  It was $1.56.  I might repaint it a brighter red color, or I might just leave it.  I love it!

 These towels are new this year and hang on our oven (obviously).  They are from Kohl's and these fall under the "look at, but do not use" towel rule.  :)  I had to teach that rule to Jason recently.  

 This was a $2 craft project that Lauren and I did. I found the heart picks at Dollar Tree for $1 each (pink and red).  We already had the mason jar and the ribbon.  I let Lauren put all the heart picks into the jar (she took them in and out happily for about 30 min. one night while I made supper!)  And then I tied the bow and voila! I think it looks cute on our table next to our napkin holder.

And finally, this is a sandwich cutter from Walmart that cost around $1.50 maybe?  It cuts the cutest little heart shaped sandwiches that are just the right size for Lauren to pick up and bite and it cuts the crust off at the same time.  We use this year-round, but I will be sure to use it especially in February!

I also have some small and large heart-shaped cookie cutters that I bought last year on clearance after VDay. I will use these for cheese and turkey and also fruit (maybe apple slices?) Lauren seems to eat her food so much better when it is cute! :)

I also throw some of the cheap plastic cookie cutters into her playdough tub and let her go to town and make hearts to her little heart's content! 

I will post more of our VDay items throughout the next few weeks!

7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

1 John 1:7-14