valentine’s day – Francois et Moi

DIY Asymmetrical Bar Cart Garland

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Dress up your bar cart with an easy, lush asymmetrical bar cart garland you can make yourself, and while you’re at it, load up on tons of links and ideas for throwing your own Valentine’s Day gathering! How do you combat post-Holiday blues? Well, my friend, Morgan of Construction2Style, gathers friends together for an afternoon of celebrating friendship and girl power in honor of Valentine’s Day, or Galentine’s Day, if you will. She hosted an amazing brunch with highlights being chocolate dipped strawberries, heart-shaped waffles, and floral-infused lattes + cocktails. I mean, how does she dream up this jazz?! She also created a DIY Valentine-making Station for everyone to make + take, enlisted Lea of Creekwood Hill to design a paper fan photo wall, and she asked me to make a fresh greenery garland to style the bar cart. You guys know, I freaking love making garlands, so of course, I was up to the challenge! Here’s the play by play for making one for your next gathering: Materials: A mix of leafy greenery such as silver dollar eucalyptus, baby blue eucalyptus, cedar, etc. I used about 6 bunches of various greens + a half bunch of purple sprigs that […]

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A Very Valentine 1st Birthday Party + 5 Planning Essentials

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 12:00:27 +0000

I’m awestruck as we round the corner into February; our little valentine is turning one! Though the weeks were sometimes long, year one somehow flew by. I look at Sylvia and think, ‘You’re not my baby anymore!’ Okay, okay, she’s still a baby, but not the teeny, tiny 7lb swaddled peanut she was a year ago. It’s amazing what a year can bring, and nothing highlights the passage of time more clearly than watching your child grow. Kelly from The Greenspring Home graciously invited me to join a talented group of bloggers in a ‘Valentine’s Day at Home’ Blog Tour, and it was perfect timing as I was just starting to scheme on Syl’s 1st birthday party plans. Get scroll-happy here with lots of party prettiness and make sure to read through the 5 planning essentials at the bottom of the post. I used these as my go-to for pulling everything together. Sylvia came into this world just over a week late on February 15th 2017. As she gets older, unless she specifically asks for it, we probably won’t do Valentine’s Day-themed birthday parties as we want her to have her own day that doesn’t get lumped in with V-day […]

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DIY du Jour: 4 Light-hearted Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:23:50 +0000

Valentine’s Day is a pretty cheesy romantic holiday. I mean a little bit, right? If you’re not into the commercial schmoozie-ness this year, here are a few non-sappy, outside the box ways to celebrate the day. Make latte heart art on your valentine’s morning coffee. I’ve watched several videos because I want to become a MASTER, and the video clip below is a pretty good tutorial. Or if you don’t actually want to make lattes, pick them up à la coffee shop and add a “punny” note for your Gal-entines. Make soft pretzels! They’re already in the shape of a heart, so they totally satisfy the “valentine’s theme.” What better way to celebrate V-day than with pretzels and craft beer? I mean really? UPDATE: after reading all the reviews on the pretzel recipe above, I decided to make this pretzel recipe instead from Alton Brown instead. They were super good and straight forward to make. Definitely watch his video for extra tips! If all else fails, pick up a handful of these vintage inspired “I AM LOVED” pins and sprinkle them around like pixie dust. #spreadthelove Anti Valentine’s Day Ideas to Show the Love Montage Photo Credit: Latte Photo | […]

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Valentine’s Day Flower Wall

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:45:50 +0000

I don’t typically do a ton to decorate our place for Valentine’s Day, but this year in an effort to combat the foggy, grey disposition outside, I decided to create a cheery flower art installation on our living room wall using a combination of fresh and silk flowers. (Silk flowers have come A LONG WAY in recent years–they’re not your Grandmother’s faux flowers!) The glorious invention of decorative washi tape makes this diy’s effort to impact ratio totally worth it. Just adhere the flowers to the wall with washi tape in an overall heart pattern and then pour yourself a glass of wine, because you’re done! Our flower wall functions as festive art in our home, but this project would also be right at home as a photo backdrop for a Valentine’s Day gathering too. Cruise on over to Homedit.com for the full project just in time for V-day!

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Printable Ombre Valentine: You Are Loved

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 13:55:36 +0000

Remember those old school buttons that radiantly proclaimed, “I Am Loved”? My Grandma gave me one when I was little, and somehow the phrase always stuck with me. Such a simple phrase with a clear message. Since the phrase “I am loved” is not the most appropriate phrase to write on your valentine’s valentine, I modified the phrase to read “You Are Loved,” and layered it on a pink ombre card with gilded cursive lettering, because who doesn’t love a gold and pink ombre card on V-day? Print them out, add a hint of gold leafing and hand out to your faves! Materials: “You Are Loved” template printed on white 8-1/2″ x 11″ cardstock Scissors Extra fine point gold Sharpie paint pen Gold leafing pen Ruler White notecard envelope, 4-3/8″ x 5-5/8″ 1. Print out the template and cut out card along light grey lines. Don’t cut the center grey line, this is the spine of the card. 2. Starting with the extra fine point Sharpie, trace the light grey letters. Follow up with the gold leafing pen for more metallic shimmer. 3. Place ruler on top of the face down card. Bend the card upwards using the light grey […]

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Tulip Lovefest

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 13:27:15 +0000

Ken gave me a beautiful bouquet of tulips for Valentine’s Day, and I couldn’t help but take some pictures of them as they began to open up over the weekend. Life can be so crazy busy, but photographing these gorgeous tulips from every angle got me thinking about how important it is to appreciate the little things in life. I hope you enjoy!

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Happy Heart’s Day

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 13:35:32 +0000

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! I hope you’re able to spend time with the ones you love today and over the weekend. Ken and I hadn’t planned far enough ahead to snag a table tonight at our favorite restaurant, Bar La Grassa (their Gnocchi with Orange & Cauliflower is life changing!), so we’re placing a take-away order, and then heading home to eat by candlelight. After being away last weekend and the crazy week that ensued this week, I’m really looking forward to a private, quiet dinner together at home (with incredible food!) and my man. Do you have any plans? I’d love to hear about them! Whatever you do, I hope you feel the love this weekend!

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Sweet Nothings

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 13:28:03 +0000

Ken and I don’t usually do extravagant gifts or grand gestures for each other on Valentine’s Day. Instead we try to find smaller, more meaningful ways to show each other how we feel, because at the heart of Valentine’s Day, it’s not about what you spend, as much as it’s about taking time to enjoy and appreciate each other. And in my book, those sweet, small things always count for billions more brownie points than store bought gifts. Last year, I got up early and made blueberry muffins and white hot cocoa–from scratch!–for Ken. And this year I’ve written a series of simple notes–some have a phrase or poem written on them, and others list my favorite characteristics of his–then I hide them all over the place: in his shoes, coat pocket, next to his toothbrush, in his work bag, etc., so that he’ll slowly find them and know I’m thinking about him throughout the day. Materials: One sheet of paper–I chose a Papersource Decorative Paper depicting a map of Paris since we’re deep into planning our trip abroad and will be there in just a few months. Scissors Pen Sweet sayings that describe your Valentine Washi tape (optional) 1. Cut paper into […]

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Graphic Heart Photo Backdrop

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 14:19:48 +0000

Throwing a Valentine’s Day Party? Check out this low cost, high impact Valentine’s Day photo backdrop that you can easily put together in under 15 minutes using only paper plates and strong adhesive tape. I used heart shaped plates from Target, but with all the paper plate designs out there, this backdrop could easily translate to any party theme. Materials: Two – 8 ct packs of heart shaped paper plates: I picked these up at Target. Since they’re a seasonal item, they’re only available in stores. Strong adhesive tape. Ideally, duct tape works best, because of the strong adhesive. However, it can leave behind a residue, so if you use packing tape or making tape, you’ll want to use a lot of it to make sure the hearts stay adhered to the wall during the party. 1. I started by placing all the plates upside down (red side face down) and sticking a bubble of duct tape on the back of each, so they’d be ready for quick access. If you’re using packing tape or masking tape, you’ll want to several bubbles of tape. 2. I eyeballed the center of the wall, and placed four plates “point” side facing in toward […]

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Valentine’s Day Ideas

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:53:27 +0000

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