It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Valentine's Day....

Valentine's decorations are going up around here, and the house looks red and festive. I've got hearts on mirrors, hearts hanging from the mantel, and more hearts hanging from the chandeliers. I surprised my husband with two heart-shaped balloons yesterday, and they've become part of the party decorations. That is, they will be, if Mickey Kitty can let go of them for a few hours.

The heart-shaped balloons have a long ribbon attached to each of them-- they're filled with helium so they'll float up near the ceiling unless I tie them down to something. Mickey Kitty discovered the ribbon and started to chase it. Then he discovered the balloons that were attached to the ribbons, and he became a Kitten With A Mission.

His mission: Capture the balloon. And lord, how he has tried. He played with the ribbons for hours yesterday, and for hours today. He played with those ribbons so much that he forgot to chase after AngelBoy and ShadowBaby, which was his previous mission. I told my husband that instead of spending money on catnip and cat toys, I should just buy some balloons, get them blown up with helium, tie ribbons on them and let them float around the house. Instant kitten-sitter for the baby cat.

All the gift bags are filled and tagged and ready for the party on Saturday. The centerpieces for the tables are all sitting in my closet and waiting to be set out on Friday. For the dining room table, I have my little Valentine tree which is chock-full of frilly heart garland and small glass heart ornaments. The tree itself is white, but there's so many pink and red ornaments on the tree that the white is just a subtle background.

There will be two tables set up in the living room.... one centerpiece is a huge clear glass vase which I've filled with red glass hearts--- each heart has a red ribbon tied to it, and there are red-ribbon streamers spilling out of the top of the glass vase. The other centerpiece is a red heart-shaped basket that's filled with vintage Valentine postcards from the turn of the century. The table in the breakfast room is the smallest table, and I'll use one of the heart-shaped velvet boxes for that centerpiece. Or a heart-shaped candy dish filled with chocolate..... a centerpiece that people can eat. That would work just fine.

I'm guessing that our two young 14-yr-olds will be popping in on Saturday morning, so I've got two red plush teddy-bears waiting for them. The red fur is soft and squishy, and I took a bright rhinestone heart and fixed it onto the bear's fur, right over the spot where its heart would be. So the bears will be their surprise on Saturday morning, and they can easily take them home with their bicycles. Those girls are still in the Barbie Doll/teddy-bear stage, which is nice. Living where we do, most of the 14-yr-olds are 14 going on 15, rather than 14 going on 27. (I wonder how fast that's going to change when C's family moves to Vegas..... Jeez..... don't get me started on that.)