ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

i love valentines day and the fact that it lets me spend the week leading up to it in a furry of doilies and flour. (oh and i guess that i get to spend it with those that are so special to me in my life and i couldn't possibly live without!! :) ) it is completely necessary that any valentine i give be made by hand. its like an adventure when i go to the craft store every year with no idea what i will make and literally make it up as i go. this year i decided to combine a whole lot of my favorites i found perusing the store including bunting, kraft mini envelopes, heart doilies and paper clips.

no valentine is complete without a sweet treat (duh!) so this year i made red velvet cupcakes (why aren't they red? we didn't add red food coloring. but did you know why it was originally red before people started using the fake coloring? it's a chemical reaction between the unprocessed cocoa and buttermilk. which we used but apparently we aren't scientists because... well it didn't turn red!) with a strawberry marshmallow cream cheese frosting and of course snickerdoodles (a family favorite).

i have a special place in my heart that LOVES LOVE. come on, i get to photograph weddings, how could i not love love?! so i hope you enjoy this special day not for the hype of candies and flowers but to cherish those in your life that you love. because all you really need in life is... love.