Lovely Hand Made Gift

Hi Everyone,

Have you ever received a hand made gift that is beautiful and you know took many hours to make?  Well, my neighbor, Margaret, did this lovely table runner with heart shaped twigs and leaves and roses embroidered on it and 4 big napkins with roses in the corner of each one.  I really appreciated all the time that went into this creation and will enjoy using it for years to come.

I took down all the Christmas decorations and put the runner on the dining room buffet and used it with some Valentine decorations because I am now moving on to Valentine's day decor!  I really love Valentine's day! Maybe it is because I have such great memories of it as a child.  At school, we all made a decorated shoe box to hold our valentines from friends. I always won first prize for best decorated (not to brag)! I loved wrapping the box in red paper and making pretty hearts, coloring them and cutting them out to decorate the box. For weeks before Valentine's Day we made hearts all decorated up for our friends and tucked them into the decorated boxes. On that great day, we were allowed to open them and see how many valentines we got and who they were from.  Maybe there would be a special one from a little boy that "I Claimed".  Isn't that funny?  We always, in those long ago days, "claimed" someone as a boy friend. I have to laugh at the use of that word, now.  It sounds so ancient and these days, very out of date!!

Then. we had a big Valentine's Day party in our classroom, with delicious refreshments made by all the mothers.  The teacher gave every child a special Valentine, too, and a hug as we went out the door of the classroom toward home when the great day was over.  At home I played with my valentines and the box for several days, enjoying my popularity with the other children!  It was a contest to see who had received the most valentines.

Do you have memories similar to that? Do tell!