Are You Ready?

I was reading Melissa's post here and she mentioned how she is already starting to think about hearts and Valentines and I thought to myself ~ so am I! It always seems like such a let down when we have to pack away the Christmas decorations. After all the coziness the house exudes from being adorned with pine boughs, berries, candles, stockings hung by the fire, and the beautifully decorated tree, everything starts to take on such a bare appearance when they are gone. So visions of hearts ~ the symbol of love and Valentine's Day ~ is a welcome sight right about now. I noticed that some stores were bringing out their Valentine merchandise before Christmas even arrived and I find that a bit ridiculous. But after Christmas ~ even on the 26th of December ~ is perfectly acceptable as far as I'm concerned. We need something to carry us into the new year and to brighten the cold, gray days of January (if you live in the midwest, that is) and what better symbol than the heart!

The hearts pictured in the photo above are actually Christmas ornaments, but these will not get packed away with the santas and snowmen. They will remain out on display in a different setting. The white feather tree in my front hall (pictured near the bottom of this post) will get "re-dressed" with a wide variety of pink and red hearts. I'll post pics of it when the redecoration is complete.

{Photo Borrowed From Artsymama}

To help us get into the spirit for Valentine's Day (as if we needed any help) there are several swaps going on here and here and here.

Something else that I signed up for in order to beat the winter blues is the Winter Bella e-zine hosted by the McFabulous Teresa! She is sharing special projects 3 times a week throughout January. It's not too late to join in on the fun.

Then looking further ahead, Miss Heather (of the 12 Days to Christmas Swap fame) is hosting a similar type Easter swap here which sounds like a lot of fun.