My Valentines

This Valentine's Day was another good one here in the Shelton house.  It was Poesy's first year of being in school and having a party, so I had to bring my class-mom game back out.  I haven't made a box for Valentine's Day in YEARS, and I was definitely a little rusty.  It served its purpose, though, and we had a lot of fun making it together.

After Poe made it home from school, we took the girls out for a special lunch, Johnny got us small gifts (that Ron Swanson pin-- aaaahhh!), had our yearly heart pizza for dinner, and snacked sweet treats from our wonderful neighbors.  After the girls were in bed, Johnny and I got dressed a little fancy and went out for a bit.  I love having babysitters we trust these days!


How was your Valentine's Day?  Did you do anything fun?  Did you pamper yourself?  I've been loving seeing all of my Galentines opening their gifts!  Thank you to everyone who has sent me a little something in return!  I hope to continue this tradition every year!

Valentine's Gifties

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!  This year I had a lot of fun participating in the Crybaby Club Galentines exchange.  I just gave you a photo spoiler of what I sent out to 15 ladies in my group. Oops.  Pretty hankies with encouraging words were exactly what my crafty heart wanted to gift this year.  I'm well aware that Valentine's Day isn't the happiest day for everyone, but I love helping to make it a little better where I can.  Let's just scrap the whole "you've gotta be in a relationship to enjoy V-day" vibe and see it as a day where we remind each other of how great caring for someone truly is... whether it's romantic or not.  Also, can we just take that mindset into every other day of the year?


Here's a behind-the-scenes peek at my crafty project.  Hankies, an iron, and some fusible letters can make a pretty gift in a jiffy!


I can't wait until my ladies receive their gifts!  I even saved one for myself because WHY NOT?  It's the perfect addition to my studio decor.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!  You know my kids take holidays VERY seriously, so we'll be spending our day making it another fun one!  xo.

Be Our Valentine!

I don't know if you're a Valentine's Day lover or not, but I do know that spreading joy and love is great any day of the year!  I'm partnering up with one of my very favorite clubs, The Crybaby Club, to do just that!  If you'd like to receive a valentine from me or one of these other fantastic women, check out their blog and sign up!  This is time sensitive, so if you're into it, don't wait!  I hope to send out lots of valentines magic!  xo.

DIY Valentine's Day Barrettes on ABM

Valentines Day is coming this weekend!  Yay!  I shared a DIY for these sweet, glittery barrettes that are perfect for the occasion over on ABM last week.  You can find the post right here AND you still have time to make them!  Hooray!

Happy Friday, friends!

Snapshots + Valentines Day

After Valentines lunch- Poe was ready for nap time // Cheerful flowers in my swan teapot // "Look, Mama, I don't hab a hand" // Pretty things at Aviary // I brought Spring to my living room because I just couldn't wait any longer.  ;)

On Valentines Day, Hope woke up before everyone and cooked us all breakfast.  There were fresh corn muffins, strawberries and raspberries, and handmade valentines.  To say it was sweet would be an understatement.  She is a gem.
In the afternoon we took the girls with us on our Valentines lunch date.  Last year Johnny and I went out for the first time in YEARS on V-day, and it was so crazy we opted for a lunch date this year.  Johnny and Hope ended the night with a heart shaped pizza (much, much later).  It was a really sweet day as always.  No complaints over here.  :)

I've gotten sick all over again and I actually gave myself a "sick day" yesterday.  As someone who works from home and can SEE the piles of work waiting on me, this felt like a big deal.  Of course, I still went supplies shopping, so I really took MOST of a sick day.  ;)

I hope your week is getting off to a good start!  I'm going to go drink some tea and tackle this day!

Will You Be My Valentine?

I asked this Valentine to brave the FREEZING COLD with me earlier this week, because it is so rare that we get pictures the two of us.  Sure, there are the every-once-in-a-while couple selfies, but I thought it would be nice to get a snap or two with the "real" camera.  Or, the "dad" camera, if you will.  (FOTC, anyone?)  Anyway, he obliged, so I popped that tripod right up and ran back and forth like a crazy person, trying to make it before the timer went off WITHOUT getting loads of snow in my shoes.  The things we do for pictures, huh?  I don't care.  These are precious and worth it and I'm happy we did.  Sidenote: must remember to order a remote...

Here are a few more snaps of this amazing dress (that I WILL be wearing again today on V-day) made by 23 Skidoo.  I love every single one of Courtney's dresses and I am so happy to finally own one of my very own!

Dress: 23 Skidoo;  Tights: ℅ ModCloth;  Shoes: NastyGal;  Heart Clip: Ban.do;  Clutch: Gift Shop Brooklyn

I hope you all have a really wonderful Valentines Day.  I hate that it's this weird, alienating day for a lot of people.  No matter who you are and where you are in life right now, I hope every single one of you has a day filled with people you love who love you back.

Oh, Valentine

If you've been reading my blog or following me on Instagram for any amount of time, you probably already know that Hope can take ANY holiday and make it fun.  The girl lives for celebrations and giving.  I've never been a Valentines Day hater or anything like that, but she really took this day and made it something special.

We started the day with brunch and came home to handmade gifts she had thoughtfully put together for us.  She made me a ring from a bead and twist-tie.  In amazement she asked, "Can you believe I found that bead in the fireplace?!"  Cool.  And gross.  Johnny got some awesome customized socks and Poe got a heart bracelet Hope gave up from her personal collection.  Each was wrapped carefully with a different hand-drawn Valentine card.

Johnny and I went out for fancy-ish dinner later that night, and I have to say, the best part of Vday wasn't being out and about with the (stuffy) adults.  Don't get me wrong, I DO enjoy some adult time and don't get it quite often enough, but the best part of the day was being showered with love by two little girls.  Oh, and pie. 

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Happy, Happy Valentines!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day!  Ours was a little different this year.  Johnny and I had grand plans to go out and have a magical evening just the two of us, but everything changed at the last minute and we decided to have a party at home with the girlies.  We deemed the night the "feast of cheese" and stuffed ourselves with truly unhealthy things.  Hope hung up handmade decorations, we laughed a lot and colored Valentines for each other, and then ended the night playing a homemade board game that Hope made us and had been saving for 11 days.  It was so thoughtful and special... just like her.

The "everything changed" part was an unexpected out-of-town overnighter.  Miss Rachel's going away party was Monday night and (just my luck, seriously) it ended up snowing a bunch.  Rather than skipping the party, we just decided to make it down very slowly and stay overnight until it was clear to drive home.  I'll share more about the party soon, but I will say that it was a special and important last hang out for a while, and I'm so glad I didn't have to miss it.  When you have a group of amazing friends, it makes life that much sweeter.  I wouldn't trade those girls for anything.  (missed you so much, Holly!)

I hope your day of love was filled with plenty of it!  xoxo Katie

Etsy Love: Valentine Inspiration

It's time for another round of Etsy love!  This time I'm feeling inspired by all things Valentiney!

I LOVE these new brooches from Giant Dwarf!

A sweet vintage dress would be perfect for a date!

This locket is oh-so sweet!

This card pretty much sums it up.

Happy Friday!  xoxo Katie