a valentine’s day playlist

February 12, 2013

No one can deny that many great events in life are marked by music. Whether it be a song that marks a wedding, a sporting event, or a formal dance. Songs can transport us back to our first school dance or remind us of a favorite movie.

There is definitely a special bond between music and romance, so in honor of Valentine’s Day, I compiled a list of 20 (in no particular order) of the most memorable of all-time (in my estimation anyway).

You should be able to find one or two to set the mood for the day ;) Just click on the song title to bring you to the YouTube link. Turn your volume down first…I don’t want to cause a commotion in your office! To start you off, the first is sung by my favorite musical artist… It Had to be You ~ Harry Connick, Jr….enjoy!

20 Best ‘Set the Mood” Songs of All Time

What a Wonderful World ~ Louis Armstrong

I Will Always Love You ~ Whitney Houston

At Last ~ Etta James

Unforgettable ~ Nat King Cole & Natalie Cole

I’ve Got You Under My Skin ~ Frank Sinatra

Sway ~ Dean Martin

Reasons ~ Earth, Wind & Fire

Over the Rainbow ~ Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole

Lover Man ~ Billie Holiday

Chances Are ~ Johnny Mathis

Moonlight Serenade ~ Glenn Miller & His Orchestra

Can’t Help Falling In Love ~ Elvis Presley

Always and Forever ~ Heatwave

Got to Give it Up ~ Marvin Gaye

Your Song ~ Elton John

Crazy for You ~ Madonna

My Everything ~ Barry White

Just in Time ~ Tony Bennett & Michael Buble

Fever ~ Peggy Lee

I hope you enjoyed my list of the 20 best ‘set the mood’ songs of all time – compiled for you in honor of Valentine’s Day.

Enjoy your Valentine’s Day…I hope you find some music to bring back some great memories and also to create some new ones!

Thanks for visiting, Jackie xoxo

P.S. I made the felt fortune cookie to slip into my daughter’s Valentine’s Day care package :)

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valentine coconut lime truffles

February 5, 2013

There is a certain amount of class in going ‘against the grain’…like wearing white in winter.

To me, this element of surprise adds a certain elegance…the same holds true in creating food…

This is the feeling that is captured in the coconut lime truffles made from white chocolate that I am creating for Valentine’s Day giving. Although my Valentine’s Day confections may look like little snowballs, the flavor is more reminiscient of a tropical locale. The white chocolate is a refreshing departure from the typical Valentine’s Day choice.

A photo of a Valentine coconut lime truffle… sure to steal a heart :)

If you haven’t made candy before, don’t despair…even a novice candy maker can have excellent results with truffles…no candy thermometer is needed, and there is plenty of room for creativity. Try substituting your own favorite flavors and coatings. If you don’t like coconut, you can try crushed gingersnaps as a coating – I have tried them also and the flavor combination with the lime is great.

Valentine Coconut Lime Truffles Recipe (makes 12, 1 1/4″ truffles)

7 oz. of good white chocolate (Ghiradelli or Lindt)
2 Tablespoons of heavy cream
2 Tablespoons of fresh lime juice
1 cup flaked, sweetened coconut (spread onto a plate for easy clean up)

Melt the chocolate, very slowly, in a double boiler. Remove from heat and whisk in cream and lime juice. Put into fridge until firm enough to roll into balls (about 2 hours). Roll into 12 balls – then rolling each into coconut to cover. Store in the fridge, but be sure to let sit a little before serving so they will melt in your mouth :)

Funny that I buy 4 oz. bars of chocolate and my recipe calls for 7 oz. ;)

What better way to a heart than a homemade truffle? Enjoy.

Thanks so much for visiting. Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. I am sharing this recipe at Pinch of Joy, Blissful Whites Wednesday, The Well Crafted Home, and The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush.

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fun valentine ideas

January 29, 2013

Valentine’s Day is coming up and I want to share some of my ideas to make it a little more fun! As I got going on this post, I realized I had gotten really carried away…I had so much I wanted to share! I was afraid it was just too much to read in one post (since we are all so busy!) and I went back and edited it down to my favorite six ideas. Check back the next two Tuesdays for additional Valentine’s Day posts! Enjoy!

NOSTALGIC When I was growing up, there were some ‘given’ items my grandmother would always have on hand…like, fried potato sticks in a can or candy that looked like orange circus peanuts. These were items she could purchase at the local discount store that was within her walking distance – since she never learned to drive. Every year around Valentine’s Day, one item she was sure to have on hand was a big box of chocolate covered cherries…the kind with the super gooey centers. As a tribute to my grandmother, I am serving my own version of chocolate covered cherries (minus the gooey center) – now a standard on Valentine’s Day. Simply dip some fresh strawberries in melted chocolate…I added slivered almonds…yum :)

REFRESHING Forget the sugary sodas or diet drinks this Valentine’s Day. Try a refreshing glass of water lightly flavored with fruits and/or vegetables. I like cucumber flavored water – adding a few raspberries to give some Valentine’s color! Just let the water sit overnight for a wonderfully subtle flavored water in the morning…a refreshing change from soft drinks.

SALUD If a more potent drink is you or your sweetie’s preference on Valentine’s Day, shot glasses fashioned from ice are a ‘cool’ way to deliver it. These were made from a shot glass mold sold by Fred Flare, but if you wanted to be inventive, you could make your own from two disposable cups – one inside the other . To make them a little more romantic, I floated a couple of flower petals in the water before freezing. Salud!

CREATIVE If champagne is your beverage of choice, be sure to save those cages! I guess chairs fashioned from champagne cages are nothing new, but I only recently became aware of this activity. There are even established competitions on the best designed chair! Who knew? You may want to start your own competition! For my first creation, I designed a chair with a heart-shaped back in the spirit of Valentine’s Day. To make a basic chair, all that is needed is a leftover champagne bottle cage and some pliers. Fun! This may have started a whole new interest in champagne drinking for me :)

SURPRISE Don’t forget the kids.! Valentine’s Day is on a weekday this year and a strategically placed note in a lunch box is sure to brighten a little one’s Valentine’s Day. (Some of my best work has been slipped into a grammar school lunch box!)

Anything a little different from the usual can make your child’s lunchtime special. It has been a long time (longer than I want to mention) since my kids have been in grammar school…but, one of my favorite things to do for them was to make surprise packets from brown paper. I would cut two identical shapes from brown paper. On one, I would use the sewing machine to make a decorative pattern. (If you don’t have a sewing machine, you can hand stitch.) I would then sew the two pieces together – leaving a small opening to insert treats. After enclosing the candy, raisins, etc., I would sew up the opening – totally enclosing the items between the two hearts.

The fun part was that the packet had to be ripped open to reach the treats inside! If your kids are new to this, you might want to stamp the words “open me” or “rip me open” on the outside so they aren’t hesitant to do so. If you are a room mother (like I was), these make great party favors for the class Valentine’s Day celebration.

If you would rather give something nonedible, another great little surprise are these really fun temporary tattoos I recently found online. Key word here is temporary! These are sure to put a smile on your littlest valentine’s face!

THOUGHTFUL I originally made these cute felt hearts last year after I found easy directions to make them on Purl bee. I filled them with candy and slipped them into the packages I sent out to the college students for Valentine’s Day.

Since then, these cute little items have found a much more valuable use. When heading to the gym after work, earrings worn during the work day are tucked into these felt pouches as a way to protect them and to keep them from getting lost. Now, I make them to give to others as jewelry cases. They are also great to house odd buttons…a thoughtful Valentine’s Day gift.

I enjoyed sharing some of my fun Valentine’s Day ideas with you. I am also sharing at The Inspiration Gallery & Craftionary. I hope you will try one or two…or, be inspired to create something new.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Jackie

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merry christmas!

December 25, 2012

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philly traditions

December 21, 2012

Recently, I had to make a quick trip to Philly and, even though it was dark and rainy and I was pressed for time, I wanted to use what little extra time I had to check out any local holiday traditions to share with you for Friday field trip…I didn’t have to go too far to be able to see a couple as we passed through Center City.

The first stop was to Love Park. This is the plaza in Center City nicknamed for the popular Love sculpture. During this time of year, the park is transformed into a Christmas Village…little shops surround the plaza representing many different cultures and traditions of the season. Because the weather was so cold and rainy, we did not spend much time at the Village, but it was fun to walk through…especially after finding the holiday “Wish Wall” where passersby left their wishes for the holiday.

Next stop was a short walk to Macys to see the Christmas Light Show. A tradition since 1956, the light show is an annual outing for many families. I was surprised to learn that there was a tie to my home state of Connecticut to this infamous light show…it was devised by Frederick Yost – a Yale University theatre-lighting graduate. The tremendous show that captivates so many children (and adults), is displayed every hour on the hour in the Grand Court of the store. The Wanamaker Organ that accompanies the show is worth the trip on its own!

A photo of the location of the Macys Christmas Light Display – a tradition since 1956. Although the red carpet is empty in this photo, it was soon filled with children looking up to the third floor tree to witness the amazing display of lights and the light show. The tree alone contains 34,500 LED lights.

A photo of The Christmas Light Show at Macys in Philadelphia, PA.

The best part about the show was listening to all the people gathered around talking about how many years they had visited the display…and the gasps of wonder from the little children! Even though it was a very quick trip, and not the best weather (and terrible for picture taking!), it was fun to share the holiday traditions of the locals in Philly.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday traditions during this special time of year.

A Macy’s holiday window at the Philadelphia store…a tribute to the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Wishing you much love and peace and pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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focusing on family traditions – holiday lollipop recipe

December 18, 2012

Every family has traditions surrounding the holiday season. Our family certainly has plenty…making our annual ornament from a slice of the Christmas tree trunk…getting woken up on Christmas morning by sleigh bells…to name a couple. And, as in most families, baking is a part of our holiday tradition. In recent years, I have cut back on the huge variety of cookies I always baked. Instead, each family member can pick their favorite variety to be included in the baking selection.

In addition to the family cookie selection, it is a tradition to create some treats to wrap for giving. It is nice to be able to hand out a homemade treat to an unexpected visitor, or to bring a pretty wrapped treat to a neighbor while on a holiday visit. This year, my wrapped treats will be holiday lollipops and rosemary shortbreads.

I made the lollipops out of white chocolate and added dried cranberries and pistachios. They are very easy to make and can be personalized to your own taste. Crushed candy canes, or any combination of your favorite candy and/or nuts can be added to the basic lollipop.

Be sure to use a good white chocolate (like Lindt or Ghirardelli). 10 oz. of chocolate will make about 8 lollipops that will measure approximately 2 1/2″ in diameter. The perfect size for each lollipop is 2″ – 2 1/2″…anything larger may break off the stick.

You will need:

lollipop sticks
10 oz. of white chocolate
dried cranberries, fresh pistachios, or chosen addition
large cookie sheet covered in wax paper
double boiler

TO MAKE: gently melt the chocolate in a double boiler, just until melted. Using a large spoon, or pouring carefully from the pan onto the wax paper covered cookie sheet, make a circle of chocolate approximately 2″ to 2 1/2″ in diameter. Take a lollipop stick and insert into the chocolate by laying it onto the circle of chocolate while slowly twirling the stick until it is embedded into the chocolate. Position it so that the end of the stick is about half way on the circle of chocolate. Gently press the cranberries and pistachios into the lollipop. Continue with the rest of the chocolate…if you have a large sheet, you should be able to accommodate them all – approximately 8. If you have a smaller sheet, you may need two sheets to fit all the lollipops.

After they are firm, package them in cellophane bags tied with ribbons or raffia. I added a book print gift tag (purchased from the West Elm clearance section last year after Christmas).

In addition to the lollipops, I made shortbreads made from a recipe modified from Family Circle magazine. I simply added 2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped rosemary to a favorite shortbread recipe. (If you want a recipe and don’t have one, send me an email and I will send you out one.) I made these in a traditional cookie size from Christmas tree cookie cutters for wrapping. I also made some with mini cookie cutters to put into bowls for tasting. They are wonderful…such a great rosemary fragrance and great flavor.

A photo of rosemary shortbreads….some wrapped to give and others in a bowl for tasting.

I am focusing on family and family traditions this Christmas and leaving many of the seasonal trivialities behind… in light of this past week. The aspects of what is important about the holiday have come so sharply into focus…

Thanks for visiting. Wishing your family peace… and, pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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dreaming of a pink christmas

December 14, 2012

I’m dreaming of a…pink? Christmas…

I know many people associate red and green with the holidays…or, like I do, many decorate with whites…but, how many fest the Christmas halls with pink?

I found a shop in Seymour, CT that embraces pink for the holidays. For this week’s Friday field trip, I would like to share some photos from my quick stop at Tickled Pink and a little bit of the Victorian vibe that fills this quaint little place in the center of an old factory town off Route 8 in Connecticut. I was passing through and had very little time to spend in the shop, but I did find out that the annual holiday open house is held in October. So, I guess I missed the shop when it was fully stocked with Christmas treasures. But, I was able to capture some photos to share. Enjoy.

Decking the halls with all things pink at Tickled Pink in Derby, CT.

A “Tickled Pink” Christmas

I hope you enjoyed these photos of a “Tickled Pink” Christmas. Have a great weekend.

Thanks for visiting and, remember to take pleasure in simple things :)

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diy favorite glass ornaments

December 11, 2012

There are so many ways to make a simple glass bulb ornament look lovely, aren’t there? Just adding some sand and sea glass or a white feather and some glitter… or, using etching cream to add a simple initial – all great options. I have tried all these…and many more! Today, I want to share my two very favorite (and really easy) ways to embellish a clear glass ornament.

The first way is to use a paint marker, white acrylic paint, and a little sparkle to create…what I call…a ‘pussywillow’ pattern. “Stems” are created with a silver metallic paint marker. Next, the white ‘pussywillows’ are added. Do they remind you of anything? Maybe the top of a cotton swab? That is precisely what I used to paint them! I put some white acrylic paint on a cotton swab to add the ‘pussywillows’ onto the stems. After the paint dried, I used some silver glitter dimensional paint to add a little sparkle to the bottom of each ‘pussywillow’ bud.

Lovely, aren’t they?

The second way I like to decorate a glass ornament is to put strips of book pages into the bulb. It seems everyone is adding book pages or sheet music to ornaments bulbs now…I think the best thing about this is that you can add so much significance to an ornament by your choice of book or song. How cool is it to put the sheet music for the wedding song of a newly married couple into a first Christmas ornament gift to them? The significance of the writing or music is what makes the ornament really special.

The ornament here is one I made last year for one of my book groups…and, I put pages from the books we had read throughout the year. If you know in advance that you will be creating a book group ornament, you can copy a page of your book selection each month throughout the year for that purpose. If not, there are a couple of ways you can get copies of the pages. One way is to make a trip to your local library. If you want to make pages without leaving your home, this can be done pretty easily by looking up the books on Amazon. Most of the books sold on Amazon have the option of looking at the inside pages. Once you have a page on your computer screen, you can print the screen to use for the ornament.

For my ornament, I printed the pages on an off-white paper and put a little sparkle on them before I cut them into strips. I used a few strips from each of our book selections during the year. I then used silver glitter dimensional paint right out of the tube to add the year onto a piece of white felt I had cut into a leaf shape. After the glitter dried, I used a glue gun to attach the leaf and added a ribbon to complete the look.

I hope you enjoyed these diy glass ornaments and they helped spark some creative inspiration for someone on your holiday gift list!

I will be sharing at Blissful Whites Wednesday.

Thanks so much for visiting, Jackie

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and the stockings were hung…

December 5, 2012

Maybe not by the chimney, but certainly with some care :) I was up into the wee hours last night to hang the Christmas stockings, largely because, even though I don’t have much holiday decorating done, I really want to link up to the mantel party at The Lettered Cottage and the link party at Craftberry Bush.

I made these stockings two years ago after purchasing a sewing machine at one of the big discount stores, because I was determined to create burlap Christmas stockings for my family.

Well, I did make them. And, for my first sewing project, I have to say… I was pretty darn proud!

I created my own makeshift pattern, lined them, and attached pieces of linen with stamped ‘names’ on each. My junior high home economics teacher would have been proud!

Junior high home economics class was the only place I ever received any instruction in sewing. I guess you could say I flunked the class, since my mother put the zipper in the purple skirt I chose as my class project. Why purple, you ask? The school colors were purple and gold and I wanted to make something to wear on purple and gold day! I don’t know that I ever actually wore the thing, but thanks to my Mom, I did complete it.

I digress…back to the stockings…

It may be you would like to have your own name on your Christmas stocking, rather than a beach word that starts with ‘s’…what can I say? I think it makes things interesting to add a little personal style, and since my holiday décor is coastal, why not ‘sun’, ‘sand’, ‘surf’, and ‘sea’? My daughter took dibs right away on surf (since she owns her own surf board, I figured it was a no contest)… the guys really were indifferent…as long Santa included a few gifts in the stockings, it really didn’t matter what they looked like!

I hope you enjoyed the photos of my homemade family Christmas stockings. Now that I have the stockings up, I really need to get going on the rest!

It takes a lot of late night televison to get everything done…have you ever seen reruns of The New Adventures of Old Christine?…they are pretty funny! If you are ever up at 1:30, check it out!

And now, I can link up to the party I mentioned (the reason I had the motivation to start decorating)…take some time to visit all the other great mantels and ‘un’ mantels by clicking here to see the Mantel Party at The Lettered Cottage and here to see the link party at Craftberry Bush. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for stopping by, Jackie

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diy animal ornaments

December 3, 2012

Isn’t it great to be able to find a use for something old? Even better if you fall in love with the results! That is what happened for me when I decided to turn old plastic animals into tree ornaments. I am sharing an easy tutorial on how I did it.

This is what you will need:

plastic toy animal
ModPodge (or white glue thinned down with water)
wax paper
pages from an old book, cut into strips
twine or ribbon (for hanging)
straight pins (a couple for each animal)
glue gun & glue
black paint or permanant marker
sparkles (optional)

1. Decide what animal you will be working on. If you don’t have one, you can easily find one at a dollar store or craft store. I am partial to sea creatures, so I started with a dolphin. As it turned out, the dolphin was the quickest because it had simple lines. The more complicated the shape of the animal, the longer it will take because you will be covering the body with the strips.

2. Assemble your materials. I put the ModPodge in a paper cup I had trimmed down – just to make cleanup easier. You can’t see it in the photos, but I used a sheet of wax paper to keep the animal on during the process and for drying.

3. & 4. The first thing I did was to attach a hanger. I used a piece of twine. I decided to use two straight pins to attach the twine since the body of the animal is hollow. (Just be sure it does not come out the other side of your animal.) I then put a big glob of hot glue on the point of attachment – just to be extra sure it stayed attached…overkill?

5. Next, I put ModPodge on both sides of a strip of the book page and attached it to the dolphin. I continued attaching pieces in random directions until the entire piece was covered. (You will want smaller pieces for more detailed areas.) There is no need to cover it all in one sitting…I did mine over the period of a few days because I would work on it when I had a couple free moments.

6. When the animal is completely covered, let it dry thoroughly.

I originally had planned to accent my piece with a thin gray paint wash, but I liked the way it looked and decided to leave it the way it was. I did add some sparkle (great with the reflection of the Christmas lights) and added a couple features with a marker (I wanted to use dimensional paint, but the bottle of black I had was dried up). On the elephant, I painted just the tusks in an off white.

I love the way they came out!

I don’t have my tree up yet, so I couldn’t demonstrate how they will look when they are actually on the tree…for the opening photo, I hung the elephant on one of my houseplants – you get the idea! On this project, I repurposed the plastic animals and the old book…can you tell which book I used? Any readers out there? In the spirit of the season, if you can guess the book, I will send you a holiday gift. The first one to email me the correct title gets the surprise!

I hope you enjoyed this easy diy tutorial to transform your plastic toy animals into Christmas ornaments… Now, to figure out how to repurpose all those Legos and Matchbox cars!

Thanks for stopping by, Jackie

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a valentine’s day playlist

20 Best ‘Set the Mood” Songs of All Time

valentine coconut lime truffles

fun valentine ideas

merry christmas!

philly traditions

focusing on family traditions – holiday lollipop recipe

dreaming of a pink christmas

diy favorite glass ornaments

and the stockings were hung…

diy animal ornaments