GoodyBlog

Here are some goodies for you:

• Free V-Day Stickers
• Ready-to-Print Valentines

Date Night Necessities

Dinner reservations? Check. Babysitter? Check. Sexy little black dress? Uh-huh! Now all you need to have a perfect Valentines Day dinner with the hubs are a few items in your purse to keep you looking —and smelling!—pretty all night long. Don't worry: All can be found at the drugstore. You can pick 'em up on your way to the restaurant if you need to! May I suggest:

Band-Aid Active Flex Blister Block Stick, to fend off pain in those killer stilettos.

A fabulous red lipstick that stays on through eating, drinking and smooching, like Cover Girl Outlast All Day Lipcolor in Ever Red-dy.

Blotting papers, so you'll glow—not glisten—under the candlelight. Try Bioré Shine Control Oil Blotting Sheets.

A breath freshener to make that post-dinner thank-you kiss even more pleasurable! I like the quick-dissolving action of Listerine PocketPaks Oral Care Strips.

Happy Valentines Day! Tell us: What type of romantic evening do you have planned?

Will You... Eat Mine?

Just in time for Valentine's Day, check out this adorable heart-shaped sandwich cutter (via lilsugar). It's the perfect way to cut off that icky crust, and add a little love to your kid's lunchbox (for only $3.50!). And it even breaks the sandwich into two equal halves that are the perfect size for your little one to hold. Since we already know you GoodyBlog readers have a thing for creative sandwich cutters, I just had to share this one! And on the eve of Valentine's Day, what better way to ask, "Will you be mine?"

Alterna-Valentine's Craft

I've already OD-ed a little on hearts and red and chocolates, and Valentine's Day isn't till tomorrow! Here's a lovely little project from Bleu Arts that's fun and festive without screaming cupid. All you need is some tissue paper and string. I'll take one of these over roses any day!

Found via the always-inspirational craftzine.

Prints Charming: Easy V-Day Cards and Tags

Looking for a cute Valentine's craft project that doesn't involve spending a lot of cash? (Seriously, I made a strict "no huge V-Day presents" rule but I'm still finding myself wanting to buy all of the seasonal stuff that's out there right now. Ugh!) Check out this easy project from our February issue. Our resident craft goddess Amanda (the other Amanda, not me!) made these adorable cards and tags using foam grocery trays and tempera paint. Love it.

Get the instructions to DIY right here.

Eat Your Heart Out.

If you'll be celebrating the Greeting Card Love Holiday™ next week, give your true love something better than diamonds. Give your hunny bunny schmoogie lumps your heart, or at least a cupcake simulacrum of the same.

These bleeding-heart cupcakes are AWESOME. Not only do they look like they've recently been ripped out of your chest, they're filled with strawberry jam for the all-important bleed factor.

I don't know if these would be acceptable for class moms to bring in for V-Day. Perhaps this is a better idea come October. At any rate, I want to make these now.

(Thanks yumsugar! I can't wait to make a batch for my future daughter's elementary school Valentine's party!)

Good Deed Friday: Feel-Good Flowers

With Valentine's Day around the corner, some of you may be buying or receiving (if you're lucky!) a big bouquet of flowers. But now, you can buy flowers for your special someone, and help the world at the same time. I had never thought about it before—where do the flowers I buy come from?? But then I learned that most commercially available flowers are grown in the developing world (which makes sense considering I doubt ANYTHING can grown in this NYC climate). And now you can get Fair Trade Flowers just in time for Valentine's Day. You’ve probably heard about other Fair Trade Certified items, like coffee. The flowers follow the same Fair Trade principles—the workers in developing countries like Ecuador, Colombia and Kenya, the majority of whom are women, receive fair wages; protective gear; training on safe handling of agrochemicals; education and child care; and paid vacation, maternity and sick leave. The growers also receive a premium of approximately 10% on each sale to invest in community and business development projects. It's seems... well... fair, right? So if you're interested, the Fair Trade Certified flowers are available at Sam's Club and 1-800-FLOWERS. To get your flowers in time for Valentine’s Day, 1-800-FLOWERS customers must order Fair Trade Certified flowers by 1 p.m. EST on Feb. 13, and Sam's Club customers must order by Feb. 9 (that's tomorrow!).

Pink Gadgets: Better Than Chocolate?

Valentine’s Day is coming soon, which means every store is packed to the rafters with chocolate. Jewelry stores already have Valentine’s sales. But are these traditional gifts taking a backseat to pink tech gadgets? Apple introduced a new pink Ipod nano, offering free engraving and shipping for the big day. If you head to Best Buy, you can get $10 off on a bunch of their red and pink mp3 players and accessories. And just check out all the wacky pink tech stuff geeksugar discovered at the Computer Electronics Show!

Would you be psyched to get a Valentine’s-hued gift this year? Or does the whole pink-gadgets-for-the-ladies irk you? (If they do, you’re not alone.) Or maybe you’re quite happy with a nice dinner from a restaurant that doesn’t have a take-out window. Let us know in the comments!

Love is in the Air

 

I love it when craftiness and photography merge.  Oh, and Valentine's Day, too.  These photos were taken using a homemade bokeh, a term used to describe the areas in the picture which are not in focus (those little blurred bubbles of light).   You can make a bokeh in any shape like stars, butterflies, hearts and paw prints.  Even though my college major was photography, I find this technique totally fascinating and kind of amazing. 

For detailed instructions on construction, refer to DIYphotography.net for the technical specs.

Thanks to Photojojo.com for the link!

Drink Your Heart Out

        

With Valentine's Day nearly two weeks away, it's about time to start planning the day of amour.   And what better way to say "I love you" then with a heart-filled (or rather, heart-shaped) morning brew.  This teacup and saucer from Bitsandpieces.com would look so precious with a notched heart shaped sugar cube from Surlatable.com. 

Just cook up some heart shaped pancakes and you're done with breakfast.  Now onto lunch...