~ The Valentines Party ~

Welcome to 

The 2011 Valentines Party!

An ongoing party 'till Valentines day.

'Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony' 

Valentines day may just be my favorite holiday as it can be simple, fun, loving, and precious. A day where a token of affection means so much more. 

This week I put together a Valentines Tablescape for my family.

Did a little Valentines day planning:

Made some Chocolate Covered Cherries.

And I found this wonderful cake at: 

i am baker. 

(Click here to see her easy heart cake tutorial)
And her mommy blog here: i am mommy.


And here you can find  A Collection of Valentines Ideas from my posts last year.
Now it is your turn, share a link to your Valentines ideas.
This is an ongoing party and you are welcome to add links anytime until Valentines day. Crafts, decor, recipes, stories, whatever you blog about as long as the subject is Valentines day! (Family friendly only). Multiple links, and older links (within a month or so), are welcome. The more ideas the merrier! Have more questions? See the blog parties tab at the top of this page for the full rules. 


Please add a link back to Holiday Haven within your post, if you would like to use the party button you can copy and paste this code: 

</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Lucida Grande"><a border="0" href="http://www.aholidayhaven.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae144/jessadloesch/valentinesblogparty.jpg"/></a>
To enter: click the link below the party entitled 'add you link' and follow the instructions. Once your link has been added you will see a red x next to your entry, this is so you can change your entry and is not visible to anyone else. AND your entry will show up in my side bar too!

This is a blog hop! Which means, if you would like, you can take the whole party to your  blog as well! Please mention and link back to Holiday Haven as the original host, but then you are welcome to ask your followers to link to you. Click here to get the InLinkz code.

Holiday Haven's home page.

Vacation Idea #43 - Craigdrroch Castle

WISH i was on HOLIDAY

Every Monday January-September

Vacation Idea #43

Craigdrroch Castle

Victoria, B.C.

Click the Vacation ideas tab at the top of this page to see more. 

(For those of you who follow this feature you may recognize this post as a repost from last September, somehow it was lost amongst the others and did not get counted towards the Vacation Ideas totals so I am sharing it again. Next week we will be once again onto new ideas).

Not far from Victoria B.C.'s touristy down town you can find the Craigdarroch Castle.

It was built in 1890 by Robert Dunsmuir. The castle was used as a home originally, then a hospital, college, office space, conservatory of music and is now being restored to its original beauty and serves as a museum.

The front entrance. 

Stain glass windows are everywhere and amazing.

Beautiful details are everywhere in this four story castle.

 See the half circle window and the lovely red lamp?

Another of the beautiful bedrooms.

A fireplace in the back of their 'information' room.

Beautiful light fixtures and wood paneling are throughout.

And for my tablescaping friends, I couldn't resist a few shots of their dining room.

See the etching on the salt and pepper and vinegar and oil set?

And an antique highchair in the corner.

An amazing bronze and glass centerpiece. 

And blue floral china with gold edging.

A tea scape, with cups that match the dinner plates, on the hutch behind the table.

Another amazing fireplace.

The bathroom. Doesn't it look comfortable?

This is tiling on the floor of the tower. It was part of an i-spy game that was given to my children when we first entered the castle. The object of the game was to find details in each of the rooms, which worked well to keep them interested in the castle.

This was my favorite spot in the whole castle. It was a sitting area in a bedroom near a fireplace. Imagine with me soaking in the fire while drinking tea on a cold day.

There were so many amazing features throughout this castle it was impossible to capture them all! You can see more about the castle at their site: CraigdarrochCastle.com & click on the video in the sidebar to see more photos of the castle. (No affiliation, just sharing the link for fun).

Holiday Haven's 2011 Valentines Blog Party {Reminder}

Just a little reminder:

It's coming Up!
It has started!! See the party post HERE

A Link party for Valentines ideas, crafts, decor, tablescapes, stories, beauty tips, recipes, what ever you blog about as long as the theme is Valentines day (family friendly only). See the full rules here: 

::Blog Parties:: 

It will be an ongoing party 'till Valentines Day! And a blog hop (which means in addition to adding your link, if you want you can take the party to your blog).

Garden planning

February

~ Week 1 ~

of

::The Holiday Challenge::

Garden Planning

February is just around the corner, and the first week is the time I start looking at gardening goals, supplies, and maintenance. Why start so early? Spring is such a lovely time to garden, if all the preparation and planning are done by spring then some of the more labor intensive gardening can be done during the spring months while it is so nice outside. Making summer a time to relax and enjoy while doing minimal maintenance.

Clearly defining goals for the upcoming year, buy tools, obtain cost estimates, dream, design, organize. Start all this by going out and taking walk though your space then come in and begin writing down all of your ideas.

Some questions: What gardening goals do you have this year? Do you have all of the tools you need, will you need to buy plants, seeds, or hire professional help? WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING IN: A flower bed? Veggies? Fruit trees? Do you need to put down bark, or put in foundation plantings? Can you add bird houses, squirrel feeders, birdseed, bat and butterfly houses, garden decorations? Hardscapes such as walkways, arbors, or patios? Stepping stones? A green house? A container garden? Do you have a spot for gardening tools? What maintenance will your garden need? Are your lawn mowers and weed eaters still running? They often quit working over the winter. What native plants grow in your area? Most native flowers attract more butterflies than the plants usually sold as 'butterfly' plants. Do you need to find a great organic pest control or natural fertilizer?


ARE YOU STUCK FOR IDEAS? There are amazing computer programs, gardening magazines, and blogs that help you to plan a garden.


Here are some of my favorite posts from gardening last year:

How to get rid of aphids

Fairy Gardens

When is it time to start the garden?

Watering plants while on vacation

Egg Shell Starters for Seedlings

May is the month for: Planting Pumpkins

Raised Bed Gardening

Easy / Laziest Way to Compost

Butterfly Gardening

The Deer in My Yard

See more about ::The Holiday Challenge:: 

Holiday Haven's home page.

Valentines Tablescape and First Babyscape

This Valentines we added another leaf, chair, and setting to our table. Or littlest guy has now outgrown his high chair and is ready to join our family table.

Started with an old sheer blanket that has been in our family for some time which I believe has always been used as a table cloth.

It is a bit worn with age now, but the pattern is still one of the prettiest I have ever seen. And these photos do not show its full beauty.

For a centerpiece, roses I made years ago from cold porcelain,

on a cake plate with rose petals, candles and budding twigs.

This year I stumbled across these plates in a second hand shop and just fell in love with them.

With this marking on the back (which I can't read). 

Under that plate which we will use as our bead plate, I have a petal plate for our salad plate, a plain white plate on top of a charger for our dinner plate. 

For our littlest guy I set a fun plastic plate atop of some of our sturdier plates.

Once the candles are lit and everyone is called to the table, I set the bread plates in their proper place,

And the napkins atop the plates.

A side tray for our water pitcher.

Our silverware is mostly mismatched from years of hand me downs. I hardly ever include it in tablescapes but instead set it on the tray with the water pitcher.

The plates are stacked and ready for dinner time.

Chocolate Covered Cherries {Recipe}

A fun and easy recipe 

for the coming holiday!

Chocolate Covered Cherries

1 bag (or about 2 cups) of chocolate chips melted in a sauce pan over the lowest possible heat. For a long time I would not use chocolate chips because when heated and cooled again the chocolate would turn grainy and sometimes white-ish. But I learned a little secret, if you add a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil per cup of chocolate chips your chocolate turns out wonderfully. And now I can't stop covering things with chocolate. It is so easy!

Maraschino cherries, dipped in melted chocolate w/a little oil mixed in,

and set on almond slices to cool.

Some I covered fully and some I only dipped in, both were wonderful!

Roses for Valentines Day {Craft}

Aren't these just so adorable?

 I found these roses made from felted wool at

 Pretty Handy Girl

Such a wonderful craft for Valentines day. 

You can see the tutorial here:

Wool Roses on a Stem

Holiday Haven's home page.