Be mine!

I’ve got a preview of Valentine’s day gifts from all over the www to share with you today! Yes I know Valentine’s is almost a month away – and besides the fact that I love holidays, when you’re ordering handmade items I find it’s always good to order in advance. This is especially true if you live anywhere outside of the US as shipping delays can be lengthy at times. Heart shaped lollipops from Calabasas Candy Co

Print is from Rosy Designs

I feel like Valentine’s gets a bad rap some of the time, and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the holiday. I do remember being single and that it was sometimes a bit discouraging not to have a special someone to celebrate the day with. Having said that I’ve always thought that Valentine’s shouldn’t just be a “romantic” holiday, it’s also a great time to celebrate love and to eat chocolate. Not that most of us need an excuse, but it’s great when it feels like we are justified to do so, and especially when it comes wrapped up in such pretty boxes!

Bicycle heart necklace from Rachel Pfeffer Designs

Did you know that Valentine’s day wasn’t originally a romantic holiday, but instead a religious one? I sure didn’t. It turns out that it wasn’t associated with romantic love until Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia in 1381 (at the time of their marriage they were both only 15 years old)! The line from Chaucer’s poem reads: “For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”

Conversation Heart Soaps from So Stinking Sweet

From there Valentine’s Day became increasingly associated with romantic love and by the early 19th century paper valentines had become so popular in England that they were assembled in factories, with fancy valentines being made with real lace and ribbons. By the second half of the 20th century the practice of exchanging gifts also became common, bringing us to the present day, where Valentine’s continues to be a very popular holiday!

More historical facts about Valentine’s can be found here on Wikipedia.