By Shelly Thompson
Many of you are familiar with my book, 'Heart of a Warrior' - A Legacy of Faith, a forty day devotional about growing up on 5th Street in Highland Park in the 1960's. I've written this article from that same perspective, through the lens of my 5th Street childhood, surrounded with a small tribe of faithful women warriors, mostly widows, and my grandparents, great grandparents, and parents. We were lucky, there was a lot of love in that neighborhood, Valentine's Day just gave us a reason to celebrate it in a fun and festive way.
Valentine's Day on 5th Street usually meant a special dinner prepared by my mom when she was not battling health issues. Nothing fancy, but made special by candlelight. Of course, that was a big deal because we almost never did that. My mom would go to the hutch in the dining room and get out long tapered red candles and my sister and I knew...it would be a rare candlelight dinner on 5th Street. I don't remember my parents going out for dinner and leaving us at home, we always had a family dinner on Valentine's Day.
The best thing about Valentine's Day was making special homemade Valentine's Day cards for most of our neighborhood ladies. One year, my grandmother taught us how to make roses out of Kleenex...you'd have thought we discovered a cure for something big, because my sister and I spent literally hours making Kleenex roses and gluing them onto cards, using our best handwriting in colored pencils to write Happy Valentine's Day.
We learned Valentine's wasn't just about candy, it was a time to let people know you loved and appreciated them. It was a time to make others feel special. Since many of our neighborhood women were older, most all of their children and grandchildren lived in other states. It always makes me sad to think of people who view the television commercials for Valentine's Day and nobody remembers them. On 5th Street, we remembered everybody. And, as stated, with all of our Kleenex flowers, I am surprised we didn't create the great Kleenex shortage of the 1967, like the toilet paper shortage we experienced in 2020. If Covid would have been around in 1967...I think our beautiful flowers would have been put to a different use.
Many of you are familiar with my book, 'Heart of a Warrior' - A Legacy of Faith, a forty day devotional about growing up on 5th Street in Highland Park in the 1960's. I've written this article from that same perspective, through the lens of my 5th Street childhood, surrounded with a small tribe of faithful women warriors, mostly widows, and my grandparents, great grandparents, and parents. We were lucky, there was a lot of love in that neighborhood, Valentine's Day just gave us a reason to celebrate it in a fun and festive way.
Valentine's Day on 5th Street usually meant a special dinner prepared by my mom when she was not battling health issues. Nothing fancy, but made special by candlelight. Of course, that was a big deal because we almost never did that. My mom would go to the hutch in the dining room and get out long tapered red candles and my sister and I knew...it would be a rare candlelight dinner on 5th Street. I don't remember my parents going out for dinner and leaving us at home, we always had a family dinner on Valentine's Day.
The best thing about Valentine's Day was making special homemade Valentine's Day cards for most of our neighborhood ladies. One year, my grandmother taught us how to make roses out of Kleenex...you'd have thought we discovered a cure for something big, because my sister and I spent literally hours making Kleenex roses and gluing them onto cards, using our best handwriting in colored pencils to write Happy Valentine's Day.
We learned Valentine's wasn't just about candy, it was a time to let people know you loved and appreciated them. It was a time to make others feel special. Since many of our neighborhood women were older, most all of their children and grandchildren lived in other states. It always makes me sad to think of people who view the television commercials for Valentine's Day and nobody remembers them. On 5th Street, we remembered everybody. And, as stated, with all of our Kleenex flowers, I am surprised we didn't create the great Kleenex shortage of the 1967, like the toilet paper shortage we experienced in 2020. If Covid would have been around in 1967...I think our beautiful flowers would have been put to a different use.
You can imagine our house was decorated with our many, many red heart creations. Remember, when you first learned that by folding a piece of paper in half, and cutting half of a heart shape...when you opened it, surprise...you had a whole evenly shaped heart. Imagine a house decorated with numerous hearts, Kleenex flowers, and sayings about love we made up and wrote on papers everywhere. Perhaps, that's where my love for design was born. In that house on 5th Street, with my grandparents home just a few doors away...cutting out paper hearts and making up Valentine's Day sayings. That's one of the reasons, I love handmade Valentine's Decorations. It takes money to buy a Hallmark card...it takes love to make one, and sometimes true love to appreciate the finished handmade card :)
My sister and I have often recalled our best Valentine's Day memory. My Dad always felt that men should truly be the caretakers of their families and especially their daughters. My mother never gave us a gift on Valentine's Day...she did the nonfancy special dinner with candles for our family, but my Dad...always gave my sister and I a card and a small gift from him. The card was always addressed to his daughter. We didn't have much money in the early years, so the gifts were small, but we loved them. I still have the small wooden doll necklace my Dad gave me when I was around 8. It hangs on my scrapbook window in our 1875 bank building in Walnut. If you've visited The Cafe in Walnut and done our tour, you've seen the window in the long hallway on the floor where the old boarding rooms once were. My best memories were not a box of fancy chocolates, store bought card, or fancy gift...they were and still remain from the memories of love shared in our home on 5th Street, and with our neighborhood. Now that I am an adult, I realize how much our older neighborhood ladies must have also cherished those Valentine Day's when two little neighborhood girls would bring them clumsily made cards, with made up Valentine sayings...but they were made with love and admiration for those wonderful women.
While the ideas in this article are simple, they can be fun and made with younger people too. Take time to remember those in your circle, or neighborhood, who may not get a Valentine card from anyone and make them a card and maybe a cookie. They will appreciate it more than you know. Sharing your heart is truly what makes a Happy Valentine's Day.
*Click here to learn more about the book Heart of a Warrior - A Legacy of Faith (Currently we offer free shipping through February)
My sister and I have often recalled our best Valentine's Day memory. My Dad always felt that men should truly be the caretakers of their families and especially their daughters. My mother never gave us a gift on Valentine's Day...she did the nonfancy special dinner with candles for our family, but my Dad...always gave my sister and I a card and a small gift from him. The card was always addressed to his daughter. We didn't have much money in the early years, so the gifts were small, but we loved them. I still have the small wooden doll necklace my Dad gave me when I was around 8. It hangs on my scrapbook window in our 1875 bank building in Walnut. If you've visited The Cafe in Walnut and done our tour, you've seen the window in the long hallway on the floor where the old boarding rooms once were. My best memories were not a box of fancy chocolates, store bought card, or fancy gift...they were and still remain from the memories of love shared in our home on 5th Street, and with our neighborhood. Now that I am an adult, I realize how much our older neighborhood ladies must have also cherished those Valentine Day's when two little neighborhood girls would bring them clumsily made cards, with made up Valentine sayings...but they were made with love and admiration for those wonderful women.
While the ideas in this article are simple, they can be fun and made with younger people too. Take time to remember those in your circle, or neighborhood, who may not get a Valentine card from anyone and make them a card and maybe a cookie. They will appreciate it more than you know. Sharing your heart is truly what makes a Happy Valentine's Day.
*Click here to learn more about the book Heart of a Warrior - A Legacy of Faith (Currently we offer free shipping through February)
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This is a super easy Valentine decoration to make, or give as a gift. It's a simple glass, candy hearts, silk or plastic pink or red flowers, and a bow. Kids will love making this (and eating the candy!). This is a great gift idea too. You can also purchase the small clear gift bags at Michael's or the Dollar Store and wrap, placing the bow at the top of the bag.
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Creating this heart garland is easy, inexpensive, and very colorful. Simply buy a deck of cards at the dollar store. Using the red heart cards only, taking a hole puncher to make two holes for the string at the top. The sting can also be twine, but red and white string is available at most craft stores. Cut an assortment of ribbon or material and tie in between the cards. Easy peasy! For an added touch, you could use double sided tape and place small black and white photos on the cards.
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These two Valentine decoration ideas use old wood scraps. You can use milk paint and white wash the boards, or find scraps that are already perfect for creating these adorable decorations. The X is simply two boards wood glued together to avoid a screw coming out the backside. The hearts are pieces of the same board cut and then just painted with a simple heart. It would be fun to add a child's handprint in white to the inside of the heart...making it a great grandparents gift., or decoupage a small photo in the center of the heart. The child could then sign the back with a red permanent marker. The topiary is also easy to make. Using a grapevine heart shaped wreath, just add greenery.
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Purchase wood squares in any size. These can be small squares or larger squares. If you use smaller squares, you can purchase the stamps and ink from a local craft supply store. You can make other words or names. You can also select a different paint (eg. the O and E could be stamped in red). If you are going to do this with a larger block, you'll need a stencil sized accordingly, craft paint, a stencil dabber, and masking tape or spray to hold the stencil in place. These are fun for kids and they love spelling their names. Also...a great romantic gift...(eg KAREN LOVES JAMES). So many fun ideas for these cute scrabble letters!
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This idea is timeless and simply wonderful. Create little love notes, and place them in a double sided glass frame. You can get the words LOVE from the sticker isle at most Michaels Stores. You can adhere your notes to material, or scrap book paper. There is always a large selection of scrap book paper including vintage sheet music, soft pastel floral, or whatever you prefer. You can also use a dark barn wood frame, dark wood, or distressed white. The stickers can be placed directly on the paper under the glass, or on top of the glass. Be creative! This 'Love Letter' will be a keepsake!
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Enjoy this look back at some great vintage Valentine's Day Cards. Happy Valentine's Day!
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