​Recently I was taking part in a discussion in a FB group about why a single person would bother to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It was sparked from a comment from a person who said as they were single they wouldn’t be bothering to craft things or decorate this year. I had to admit that I too had been wondering if I would take much notice of it this year. I’ve just put the house back to order after all the Christmas decorating, did I have the energy? Did I want a lot of hearts everywhere?
But when I thought about what I wanted to say to this lady, that she deserved hearts and flowers and to give them to herself, I had my answer.
It’s sad when someone feels Valentine’s day is just a reminder of their loneliness so I wanted to turn that around.  I posted a comment that suggested they make it all about self love. Doing it for themselves. Hearts and flowers for her to enjoy basically. I also needed to remember this applies to me as well. I’m not single now but I was for a long time before Sam came into my life.
To generate love in your life it helps enormously to start with yourself. Filling your well with self appreciation and beautiful things can be done on a very small budget.
I suggested she frame photo’s of her enjoying life, doing things she loves and making some new floral displays. I also suggested she make or buy a Valentine’s day card for herself and write words of all the things she loves about herself in it.
Most crafters have a stash of supplies they can dive into to put some charming vignettes together with a romantic theme. But if you can’t afford flowers a cheap card from the dollar shop can be put in a frame you already have. Displaying some pretty china from your cupboard on the kitchen sink draining rack is so charming. Using cheap gift wrap paper, cut out hearts to either put on the table or glue to a string for a cheap banner. A pink candle in a jar from Kmart is only 75 cents. Tea light candles look pretty in old jam jars that are tied around with ribbon or lace.
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I’ve re-purposed a Christmas wreath to make a romantic floral one for my kitchen.

​For Christmas, I’d hung a wreath on the range hood flue using a command hook. I liked it there so much that I decided to keep it there but make it over. I pulled off all the red berries and wound some jute twine around the branches pulling them in tight to the wire base. This gave it the look of a mossy base. 

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I love crafting for the joyful feelings it creates. It’s an act of self love and so perfect for creating a Valentine's Day atmosphere. Because I’m now married I’m doing it not just for me but for both of us. Sam enjoys all my home made creations and decorating and celebrating our love is a big reason for both of us.
While I’d been wondering if I would bother to decorate for Valentine’s day, this lady’s post helped me clarify what I’d be missing if I didn’t.
Everyone loves someone or is loved by someone. Life these days seems to be full of distractions and pressures. When we distance ourselves from the commercialization of the day, shops pushing expensive roses and jewelry, and keep it simple and personal the true meaning emerges.

Carving out a small amount of time on one day each year to notice all the love in our life, in all its forms can’t be wrong. Making handcrafted decorations and displays for Valentine’s day helps to shift the focus to what really matters for you and your loved ones.
 
Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.
The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover
The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby
Follow Dora on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest
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As much as we would have loved having a video of our wedding, we didn't have the budget. But we loved the idea of watching our photos in way that tells a story. I'd been playing around with Movie Maker before and decided to give it a try. I am thrilled with the results. In this blog, I uploaded a shortened YouTube version to show you what is possible.

​Using the tabs in Movie Maker, I  loaded our photos into a project and played around adding animation, transition effects and soundtrack. The result was a video slide show that lets us relive the wonderful experience of our wedding day. Keep reading to see how I did it.

y​It was easy to add photos to Microsoft Movie Maker and later music. I've circled the function taps on the home screen that walk you through the process. Just do it in order and they'll load perfectly. If you want to change the order, it's easy to click and drag a photo to a new position.

Once you have loaded all your photo's and chosen how many seconds you want each image to play for, you can add a sound track from your computer music files.

​In the Video Tools tab you can find functions for adding transitions and animating the photos. It's easy using the functions on the top of the screen. Individual photos can be clicked and the function plays when you hover the mouse over it to give a preview of the effect. If you click on the drop-down box you'll find another big list of extra animation options including zooming in or out. I decided to choose different animations to suit individual photos but chose the same transition function for the whole video which unifies it.

​Below is a short two and a half minute video I made to show you what can be done. I've used copyright free music so I can post it on my blog, but the music for our personal use video/slideshow is uploaded from my computer library.

Another option is to combine photo's with short video clips that friends and family share with you of your wedding day. I've recently discovered that my sister-in-law has our service recorded on her phone. Once I get a copy of it I will insert it that into our video using the easy upload video tab in Movie Maker. So there will be then be a mix of photo's and video making up the story of our wedding day. I will alter the soundtrack volume down for that section so you can hear our voices. So far I'm delighted with how this turned out and have given copies  to our wedding party. 

It's a great option for anyone who was married and doesn't have a video of the day. If you were married back in the day's before digital photography, scan your photos at your local photo shop or Officeworks and then you'll have the digital files to create a video like mine.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.
The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover
The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby
Follow Dora on Instagram Facebook and Pinterest
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