Right before I was married, my oldest brother gave me a book titled The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. At that moment in my life, I had time to read, so I did just that – I read it from cover to cover, absorbing all of it’s contents with hopes of adding more information to my knowledge file for marriage!
Out of all of the relationship books that I’ve read over the past twelve and a half years, by far, this book still tops my list of “books worth reading!”
The book speaks about the five love languages of humans:
- Words of Affirmation
- Quality Time
- Gifts
- Acts of Service
- Physical Touch
As the book progresses, the author poses the challenge of
figuring out what your love language is and how you can use it to maintain and
strengthen the bond you have with your significant other.
I found it very hard
to choose just one from the list of five, but searching deep within my soul and
assessing my true personality; I realized my Love Language is #3, Gifts.
Not
only do I like to receive gifts, I LOVE to give them. There is a certain
satisfaction for me to see the reaction of the person who receives my gifts
(I’m sure that’s one reason that I love Christmas so much).
I am not one who has to be told fifteen times a day that I am
loved (although when my two year old tells me she loves me, it melts me!). I
also don’t constantly need a certain amount of time set aside for “quality
time” – we spend A LOT of time together as a family during summer and winter.
Acts of Service, to me, are a general part of my daily routine, so I feel like
that isn’t anything I am consciously doing to “show” love. And last, physical
touch is fine and has a place in our marriage, but I don’t have to be hanging
on my husband every waking moment to feel like I’m showing love.
Gifts are definitely ME!
Because I am creative and art and
crafting are my biggest passions in life, I look at most projects as a “gift of
myself” to be given to people I love. I scrapbook for my kids knowing someday
they will get their books and not only do the albums reflect their childhood
and upbringing, but they also contain pieces of me through artwork and
journaling.
For this Valentine’s Day and for this specific post, since I
am a Gifter (not to be confused with a re-gifter!!), I created some fun little
projects (gifts) for all of the Expert Canary Followers. I have attempted to
include many different types of crafting hoping to inspire all of you to
recreate them for someone special for Valentine’s Day!
For the Paper Crafter:
I give the gift of a Decorated Wooden
Love Sign. The unfinished die-cut sign was purchased at a local craft store,
and I covered each letter with a different patterned paper. Once covered, I
used embellishments from the K&Co. Brenda Walton Sweet Talk Line and
different types of ribbons to decorate it. It’s perfect to hang on your front
door to celebrate the holiday.
For the Card Maker:
I created two cards with simple
Valentine sentiments. One uses some easy sewing techniques while the other one
combines many different elements to accomplish a layered look. Step-by-step
instructions can be found by clicking on the photo.
For the Needle Crafter:
I did needle felting on two hand towels for the bathroom or kitchen to help support the holiday. Needle felting
is very easy to do and the results can be fun and many times, beautiful. After
felting the hearts, I sewed ribbons to the tops for a little extra touch! These
towels are the perfect gifts for moms or grandmas who love to be in the
kitchen.
For the Jeweler:
Last, but not least, I created a necklace and a pair of earrings for the jewelers who follow! The crystals, rondelles and heart charm
used in these pieces are all part of the Jolee’s Jewels line by EK Success.
Although I am just beginning in the jewelry facet of crafts, I am enjoying it
so much and am challenged to create unique pieces. Continue to check back for
future blog posts about some of the jewelry I have been (and will be)
designing.
No matter what your love language may turn out to be, my
hope is that it is embraced completely and that a conscious effort is made by
everyone to spread their love to those around them. After all, it is love that
makes the world go ‘round - especially on Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Karen (Kabby )