printable: love birds valentine's day card

Have you noticed the slow creep of hearts and every shade of red into your blog feed lately? Perhaps it's because Valentine's Day is exactly a month away! Are you one of those people that plans elaborate displays of affection for the day of love? Or do you panic on February 13th when someone reminds you Valentine's Day is tomorrow?  Love it or hate it, it's coming! Oh and if you hate it, spare yourself the trip to the craft store right now...unless you're prepared for a pink, purple, and red explosion.

Today I'm sharing the love early to all of you by offering a free printable Valentine's card. No more searching the day before for the perfect card in a picked-over card aisle with twenty other procrastinators. Stay home. Print the card on cardstock. Fold. Write a little note. Put in an envelope or leave it as is. Ta da - done!

I was given Photoshop as a Christmas present and I've been busily experimenting. Oh the wonders of Photoshop. I'm enjoying the whole editing and creating experience. Expect more printables in the future! Anyway, using the incredible editing tools I turned this photo I took years ago of a flowering tree in Hong Kong...

...into a cute, but simple love birds Valentine's Day card!

Choose which format you'd prefer: 4x6 notecard or 8.5x11 folding card. Note: a link to Dropbox will open and from there you'll be able download the printables (for personal use only please). Let's not discuss how aggravating it is that blogger does not have an easier option to share downloadable files...

You can choose to leave the printable as is or give it a little extra something. I added some silver paint embellishments with a tiny paintbrush and a small clay tool. I painted silver wings on the love birds and added a sprinkling of silver dots. I love the extra pizzazz the silver brings, but if you're in a rush - forget the paint.

Happy printing!

P.S. If you're single and V-Day makes you want to hide under the covers and watch re-runs until it's over, I will not judge if you go Mr.-Bean-style and send yourself this card and some chocolates. Promise :)

P.P.S. Check out other Valentine's Day ideas at Skip to My Lou's Made By You Mondays, the Party Bunch, and Link Party Palooza!

 

celebrating in style

We had a lovely frugalish two-part homemade Valentine's. I thought you'd like to drool over the pictures...

The weekend before love-day hubster made a scrumptious dinner of Maple Glazed Salmon with Dill Tomato Couscous. It was incredible! It's comforting to know his cooking skills are improving beyond omelettes and coffee...not that he doesn't make delicious omelette or a perfect cup of coffee :)

man in the kitchen woot woot!

On Valentine's Day I attempted to recreate our favorite date night dinners at home. A combination of P. F. Changs and The Melting Pot dinner! We've made fondue at home several times before. It's the perfect frugalish splurge while still keeping your $50. 

First Course: Cheddar Cheese Fondue with italian bread and veggie dippers. I halved the recipe and used half white wine and half milk for the liquid.  I'd suggest not skimping on cheap kraft cheddar - go for the good stuff. I found a $1.99 sale on Cracker Barrel that week and stocked up.  So SO good! A wonderful cheddar zippy flavor especially if you use extra sharp.

cheese: one of the hubster's love languages :)

Main Course: Asian Lettuce Wraps...spicy but delish! I added water chestnuts (eliminated the peanuts) and made it with ground chicken to make it a little more P. F. Changs-like. If you aren't a spice person, then you might want cut back on the ginger. Sorry, no pictures...we were too busy chowing down...

Then the piece de resistance: Mocha Fondue! Chocolate and coffee mingled together in a smooth creamy perfection. I made orange almond biscotti and marshmallows (look for a marshmallow post soon) and cut up fruit for dippers. My personal favorites were the biscotti, marshmallows, kiwi, and banana...I told you I had a lot of favorites! I cut the fat (sort of) by using half and half instead of heavy cream. Words cannot quite describe the deliciousness! 

To all my Stellar Living ladies (aka fondue connoisseurs) - try this recipe!! 

And to work all that food off we spent the weekend in the land of snow and mountains. Went snowshoeing, ate more incredibly delicious food (if you're ever in southern Vermont eat here!!), drank tons of coffee, snuggled in with books, and played settlers like a pro. Ahhh family weekends in Vermont!

lichen!

peaceful frozen riverside

a little love for covered bridges

the beauty of a birch tree

peanut butter chocolate swirl fudge

Nothing says love quite like peanut butter and chocolate. Reeses Pieces, peanut butter MMs (my favorite!), nutella and PB sandwich, chocolate cake with PB frosting...you get the point. Peanut butter and chocolate are simply meant to be. Where there is one the other also exists happily alongside. (Have I used enough sicken cliches yet?? No? Keep reading.) In honor of v-day and all things couple-like I present peanut butter chocolate swirl fudge. Peanut butter and chocolate mingled together in a creamy sweet culinary perfection.

I have even better news...fudge is easy to make. Most recipes involve some heating over the stove followed by some mixing. I actually chose to make this fudge for some company because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of cookies. Lazy? Yes. But if something this delicious comes out of my laziness, than I am totally ok with that!

Give these to your hunny or make them for a crowd (a great way to proactively make sure you don't enter a sugar-induced coma from gobbling them all).

Ingredients
1 stick of butter
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. semi sweet chocolate or more if you'd like a more chocolaty taste

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
2. Stir in brown sugar and milk then bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for two minute, stirring often.
3. At the same time, heat semisweet chocolate chips in a double boiler over simmering water. Remove from heat as soon as the chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. Remove from brown sugar, butter, milk mixture from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla.
5. Pour peanut butter mixture over powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. A stand mixer works best.
6. Once fudge is smooth, pour into a 8x8 inch pan.
7. Swirl in chocolate by alternating pouring some peanut butter then some chocolate. Or simply pour chocolate over top to create a thin chocolate layer then take a knife and swirl the mixture around. I haven't quite mastered the pretty swirl yet, but the good news is it still tastes fantastic!
8. Chill fudge until firm then cut into squares. Use a sharp knife...a butter knife makes crumbs ahem...

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes' Easiest Peanut Butter Fudge