February is almost upon us and you know what that means! A deco Valentine’s Day Party.  According to my vintage party go-to book, The Party Book by Mary Breen, “This is the one day in all the year when you may indulge in unabashed sentiment.” (You go, Mary!  Wait, I didn’t mean the way it sounds.)

Needless to say, the theme will be red and white balloons and hearts. Lots and lots of hearts. Big hearts, small hearts, broken hearts and mended hearts. Hang them from the ceiling and hang them on the walls. Miss Breen suggests, if you are rather ambitious, you can stretch a large paper heart with a jagged tear down the middle that your guests can make a “heart-y” entrance through. (Her words, not mine.)  My suggestion is to augment the heart theme with color copies of vintage Valentine cards.  I’ve sprinkled a few examples throughout for your enjoyment (and horror!).

I thought this was a sweet way to start.

Start off the festivities by having each guest randomly pull a heart cut from card stock from a bowl. Each heart has the name of another guest. Supply crepe-paper, ribbons, doilies, scissors, paste and anything else you can think of for them to create a “special” valentine for their “love”. (Which in our more liberal times could be quite entertaining.) Each person is encouraged to write a poem, or sentiment to their intended – be sure not to sign them! The finished valentines are collected by the host (that would be you) who “delivers” them. In turn each valentine is displayed and read aloud. The other guest have a delightful time guessing who sent it.

Hmmm! What exactly does he mean?

For those of you who have ever had your hearts torn out by past love (something that I have never experienced – cough, cough!) here’s the game for you. Each person is given a piece of red construction paper. With their hands behind their back, they tear out a heart shape. No paper folding and no peeking! The results are examined and the person with the beast torn heart wins a small prize!

Although there are several more games given for your guests to enjoy I’ll only give you one more.  This one is for the ladies and a partner of her choice.

This isn’t suggestive at all.

Hang a wire across a room about 6 feet off the ground. From it, hang hearts from strings at various lengths. In turn, each lady is given safety scissors (no Lorena Bobbits please!), blindfolded and spun around several times. She is then handed one end of a piece of string several feet in length and her partner holds the other end. The object is, with only three snips, to try to cut down a heart. The partner may not speak but can tug on the string to assist the player toward success. Any lady who succeeds in cutting down a heart, wins a small prize. (I’m thinking a few pieces of chocolate – yum!)

After all this fun, refreshments are served. Sandwiches cut into heart shapes. Sponge cakes iced with strawberry icing, red Jello molds with whipped cream (the real stuff, please) and fruit punch (soft and hard). The table can be set with – you guessed it – the ever easy deco-rations outlined in previous post. Just substitute a red heart or if you are feeling really fancy, a red heart against a doily.

Whatever you elect to do this Valentine’s Day, be sure to let someone know you care about them. Hugs to all and Happy Valentine’s Day!

This one’s for Anthony.

Chris & Anthony

“The Freakin’ ‘Tiquen Guys”