Tuesday, February 14, 2017

T Stands for Valentine's Day


A couple of weeks ago, I started thinking about what to get Himself for Valentine's Day. I think it's so easy to come up with ideas for women, but men? Not so much. Himself doesn't wear ties, jewelry. Doesn't drink hot beverages. Has enough geek tee shirts to clothe a small nation. Though chocolate would be appreciated, it's more or less a fall back gift. What to do?

Himself enjoys gardening and last year started a garden using straw bales. He also bought an Aero Garden and has started some tomato plants. Ok, a gift that has to do with gardening. He's got lots of gardening tools and if he needs to know something about a plant, or growing, or fertilizing there's alway the Interwebs for the information. Surfing the Web looking for ideas for gardeners, I hit upon plant stakes made from flea market spoons. Perfect! Instead of flea market spoons, I found open stock flatware at Walmart. I decided instead of teaspoons, I'd opt for soup spoons as they had the greater surface area. They came in packs of 4 so I bought 3 packs for 12 spoons.

I used Arches Text Wove from the scrap box. It's a nice, soft paper and would mold to the bowl of the spoon. Or so I thought. When I went to position the first drawing, I saw how the bowl of the spoon was angled so the drawing would point to the ground and wouldn't be seen. Oops. But it worked fine on the back of the spoon. A Sharpie pen was used to outline the drawings. I debated painting them with acrylics, but opted to use colored pencil instead as the drawings are so small. less than 2 inches by 2 inches. Tore the paper to fit the spoon better, because of the curvature of the spoon the paper wouldn't really lie flat so some of the labels have small pleats. Glued it with Modge Podge and sealed it with 4 or 5 coats of an acrylic sealer.

For the first two spoons, I did Tomato, Tomahto as I sure he would plant tomatoes. We have chipmunks in the yard and they love the garden. I named one of them Timex. So Timex holding a sign: Free Lunch.  I wasn't sure what else Himself would plant. Casually asked and was rewarded with peppers and cucumbers.

I was able to complete two spoons, but the best laid plans aft gang agley. The days I planned on working on the stakes, Himself had snow days, or he came home from work early. So the day before Valentine's Day and another snow day, I had to try to get at least 2 more spoons done. So while he was out shoveling snow and raking the snow off the roof, I began working on the cucumber and pepper drawing. Later, when he would watch TV in the bedroom and nap, I'd be able to glue and seal the spoons.

He had transplanted the tomato plants to pots and put them on the dining room table as the chandelier has bright white lights to help with seasonal affected disorder, and the dining room window gets a lot of afternoon sun. I tested the spoons to see how they would look in the pots. Pretty good, if I do say so myself.

You would think with all the cups and mugs around here one of them would have a heart for Valentine's Day. Nope, so there is my trusty, blue Fiesta, mug emptied as I worked for T Day.

Finally got the spoons done and since I wanted to use them for the T Stands for post and because he sometimes reads my blog, I asked if I could give him his Valentine's Day present early.  So ta-dah! Plant Stake Spoons.



Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang are up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Happy Valentine's Day <3



37 comments:

  1. Nice idea. I hope the hubby enjoys them. I hope this snow melt so gardening-at least the cleaning- can start in April. Right it seems like we'll never see the ground.

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    1. He liked them and hopefully, will be able to use them once the snow is gone. Temps are supposed to get close to the 50s this weekend so hopefully a lot of this stuff wil melt.

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  2. Super idea! Happy T-Day and Valentine's Day to you!

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  3. What a great idea! Did he like them? I'm sure he would appreciate something made by your fair hand.
    Happy Valentine's T-Day,
    Lisca

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    1. At first, he thought I gave him soup spoons and his first thought was WTH? :-D But he did like the spoons

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  4. what a really lovely and thoughtful gift. The spoons came out brilliantly and I'm sure "himself" appreciates them very much. Happy T day and happy Valentine's Day!

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    1. I'm pleased with how the spoons turned out. And also pleased Himself liked them.

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  5. Hope your husband loves his spoons. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

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  6. Wonderful plant stake spoons and a very clever and thoughtful gift :-). Wishing you a very Happy Valentine's Day this T Day! J :-)

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  7. What a wonderful idea. You are so creative.
    We'll be anxious to hear what your honey got you.
    Happy Valentine's Day, my friend.

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    1. Blush. What he got me is scheduled for Saturday
      (-:

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  8. What a clever idea. I have used old forks purchased at the thrift store to hold plant stakes made of free laminate chips found at the hardware store I painted with the name of the plant. Unfortunately, I'm not as artistic as you, so names were generic and not artistic like yours. On the other hand, mine cost about a nickel ($0.05) each. I admit, I prefer your choice of spoons, because they are fantastic and drawn with such detail, even for a small canvas like the back of the spoon.

    Thanks for sharing these clever ideas with us for T this Tuesday.

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  9. Forgot to wish you and Himself a lovely Valentine's Day, too.

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    1. Since Himself has read the blog for today, I can tell you the cost of the spoons was $1 each. As I was surfing, I saw something like you described, but I wasn't sure how well they would stand up to weather. And I wanted something durable. Hopefully, these pokes will last more than one growing season.

      Thanks for the Valentine's wishes

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  10. Well thats a really nice idea and shows that you really thought about what he would like... Happy happy T day to you and Happy Valentine's Day too!!! Hugs! deb

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    1. I try to come up with something he'd like and not be underwhelmed with. Thanks for stopping by

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  11. Enjoyed your post...so true about gifts for guys, and you came up with a brilliant solution! so cute, and useful too! Happy T and Valentine's Day! ♥

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    1. Glad you liked it, Dianne. I find women are just easier to find gifts for: scarves, tea, coffee, perfume, candles, soaps, gift certs for mani-pedi, and the list goes on. I hope he'll find the plant stakes useful

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  12. CJ....what an awesum eye dea.... hope himself liked them...

    eye dea......where the H am I...trout towne???

    IDEA ~~~~~~

    happee heartz day oh lovez frum all oh uz two ewe ~~~~ ♥♥♥ yea...now thatz......trout towne !

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    1. For a minute there, I thought you were from Boston. eye-dea, though the 2nd syllable would have been more pronounced. eye-de-AH.

      Well, it wasn't an original idea, but I'm pleased with how the stakes turned out.

      Happy <3 Day to you and the Tabbies

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  13. Its a fantastic gift idea, I'm sure himself loved these marker spoons.
    Happy T day.
    Yvonne

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  14. Oh Wow! What a great idea and they look so good - I bet himself loved them! Happy Valentines and Tea day! Chrisx

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  15. What a great idea!!! Made with love! I really love this!

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  16. Very clever! They turned out great! :D

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  17. Very cool idea!!! Love the way they look ♥ Happy T Day!

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  18. Your spoons are darling, CJ! And what you went through to get them done makes quite a story. It made me think of O Henry's "The Magi."

    Since Himself reads your blog, he probably appreciates the gift even more.

    Lovely, lovely post and story ;-)

    Happy T Day!

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    1. Thank Eileen. With a compliment like that, you'll make my head swell so I'll have to wear two cowboy hats! :-D

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  19. What a lovely gift!Hope your hubby enjoyed it!I love your header. That black cat is sweet!Happy belated T Day!

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    1. The spoons went over well. Ink, the black cat was my fur baby

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