How to Be Someone’s Secret Admirer on Valentine’s Day

Could you… Should you… Be a Secret Admirer?

You might want to be a secret admirer because you like someone or you might do it to perk up someone who has been alone awhile or feels left out. Be careful, either way. It’s fun to have the mystery of a secret admirer but it can backfire. If you are sincerely liking someone, make sure the person you admire is worth the admiration. If you are trying to make someone else feel admired be sure they wont feel even worse if they find out the admirer was not really a romantic admirer.

Tips and Ideas for Secret Admirers

Pay attention to the stationary you write on. Pick out something nice from the store or… go to a hotel and ask if you can have a couple of pages and an envelope. You can send your letter on hotel letterhead and add to the mystery.

Penmanship counts. Write carefully, take the time to make your writing clear and easy to read – add a romantic embellishment if you can. If you print the letter choose a font with some curls and swirls, whatever seems kind of romantic to you.

Induce a few lines of poetry or write something yourself. You could note down the lyrics from a romantic song if you aren’t interested in poetry.

Draw a heart somewhere on the envelope at the least. If you have some drawing ability create a romantic design, something individual and one of a kind which will be special for the letter you send. It’s nice to have something you created yourself rather than the store bought card art and design.

The greeting should be personal, not impersonal. Direct your note to the person, by name. Don’t try to be mysterious when it comes to who you are writing to.

Don’t give yourself away. Keep your name and any details which could identify you out of the letter. As fun as it is to write a mystery letter, it’s just as fun to get one and have that mystery – at least for the day.

Begin in a complimentary way. Don’t start by telling them you thought they seemed lonely or you like fat girls/ guys or anything else even slightly negative or critical. Write about why you picked them to admire, secretly but be positive to make them feel admired. This also makes you seem far more sincere too.

While writing the letter itself, be specific. Don’t become timid now and write about pretty eyes. Describe the eyes – the eye colour, the way they crinkle when he/she laughs. Write about where you have seen them and what they were doing, not in a stalker way. Describe and be specific about what you liked, what draws you to them. Why are you attracted and what do you admire about them?

Overall, keep the letter short. Don’t start selling yourself and trying to make a romance in just one letter. A simple letter will keep you from getting into trouble by saying too much or taking it too far.

Most of all, when you write as a secret admirer your letter should not be about yourself. Make it a feel-good type of letter for the person you address it to. Avoid mentioning yourself or your interests so you can keep the mystery of the mysterious, unknown, secret admirer.

Sign the letter with flourish, a nom de plume. Create a made up name for yourself, something not a real name but something dramatic, mysterious and/ or romantic.

Think of something you can include, a small gift that fits in an envelope. Stickers are simple but not something everyone would care for. Think about things which can be mailed like a coupon for a store or a gift card giving a free hot chocolate, something like that would be pretty perfect.

Deliver the Valentine in a unique way. But make sure it isn’t lost, overlooked or ends up damaged like falling into a pile of snow when it blows off the door you taped it to.

Valentine Daisies to Crochet

If you have yarn and know how to crochet a granny square you can make a blanket of daisy squares in all the Valentine colours. It is a simple pattern, the main thing is to change yarn colours to create the daisy. The colours in this pattern are really perfect for Valentine’s day. But you could use any yarn you have, leftovers from other projects, in shades of red.

DIY – Grandma squares with Daisies / Daisy Squares
by BautaWitch

As usual, I have used the yarn Catania, a 100% cotton yarn with lovely luster that is available in about 50 wonderful colors. I have crocheted my squares with a 3.5 mm crochet hook to make them compact and tight. I have planned to make a beach bag and/ or a cushion for my hanging sofa at Landet.

How-to-step-1-daisies-by-BautaWitch
Cast on 5 ch and make a ring from them using 1 sl st. 2. 12 sc around the ring and finish with 1 sl st. Remove the yarn 3. Choose a new color and crochet 4 ch in any st = your first dc. 4. 3 dc in the same stitch.How-to-step-2-daisies-by-bautawitch

5. Pull the crochet hook out of your stitch and thread it through the 4th ch in the first dc, then through your last st and then crochet them together with 1 sl st. 6. A further clarifying image of the above (5). 7. The result is a bumpy petal. 8. 2 ch.
How-to-step-3-daisies-by-bautawitch
9. 1 dc in next st in ring. 10. Another 3 dst. 11. Pull the crochet hook out of your stitch and thread it first through the 4th ch in the first dc, then through your last st and then crochet them together with 1 sl st. 12. 2 ch. You now repeat image 9-12 until you have 12 petals.

How-to-step-4-daisies-by-bautawitch
Finish the round with 1 sl st in the 4th ch in your first dc. 14. Remove the yarn. Your Daisy Collar is ready! 🙂15. New color. 2 ch in any ch-loop. 16. 2 hst.

How-to-step-5-daisies-by-BautaWitch
17- 18. Time for the first corner. 3 pcs, 2 ch, 3 pcs in next ch-loop. 19. 3 htr in the next 2 ch-loops. Next corner as picture 17. Repeat until you have crocheted around the whole flower. Finish the round with 1 sl st and to get to the next ch-loop make another sl st in next htr. You who crocheted granny squares before, will now recognize you!

How-to-step-6-daisies-by-BautaWitch
21. Time for ordinary “granny squares”: 3 ch. 22. 2 more in the same ch-loop and then 3 pcs in each ch-loop BUT when it’s time for corners you make 3 pcs, 2 ch, 3 pcs. 23. Voila, your box is ready! If you want the larger one, crochet one or more rounds according to picture 21-22. 24. The more the better, right !?

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark Movie Macabre

I started typing in this post and then the Internet decided to die. Usually, the post would manage to be saved as a draft, this one didn’t make it. So, although it only matters to me, this post is being written a second time around. Kind of right when thinking of Cassandra Peterson, better known as her character, Elvira. She wasn’t finding huge success in movies and TV, until she became Elvira. A reinvention of herself from her career and personal life.

I had thought she was a Vegas showgirl who found a better career path, until I read more about her. She started liking the horror genre as a young person due to being burned and left scarred as a toddler. She was a showgirl, but also acted in movies, modelled, etc. At the time she started as Elvira she had been working in an office, typing, filing, all of that. Her story is inspiring for those who think they’re just going to become forgotten in some mediocre job.

Elvira comes back into media attention at Halloween, for the month of October issues of this and that. It’s too bad but, good for her marketing to have a schedule and maybe she can take some of the year off for planning and even sleeping. Cassandra Peterson is no slouch, good posture and clever merchandising. Whatever you think of the Elvira character and her cleavage, the woman has taken a small part as a horror movie host and turned it into her own empire. Instead of pay raises, she built up her ownership of Elvira and all things connected with it. Fan art may be ok, but she has 100% ownership of her image and all the goodies. There are a lot of goodies, take a look at her site and others to see Elvira on games, comic books, movies, dolls, mobile phones cases, clothing, food products, pretty much anything you can think of, Amanda Peterson’s Elvira has been there.

I found an Elvira Christmas ornament. It’s cute but odd to have no eyes, or blank eyes, however you look at it.

Don’t Lose Your Poppy Pin Before Remembrance Day

I buy at least one poppy pin from the Canadian Legion boxes or the people standing at the door of the grocery store, every year. I like the pin itself and I like supporting the Legion. The real problem is keeping the pins on. Also, not getting stuck by that long pin several times a day.

The solution I have found for both of those is to remove the long, bent pin and replace it with another pin, not from the sewing box but the jewellery box. I have been using a pin I got from an event in my town. It has the name and logo of the city I live in. Another idea is to put something on the end of the long pin to keep it from pricking you. But, this doesn’t seem to work as well as taking the pin out and changing it for the short pin.

But, the Legion would prefer people wear the poppy correctly and remember the purpose it was intended for, both of them (fallen soldiers and helping the Legion financially).

So someone (probably more than one by now) came up with the idea of poppy centres. A pin which looks just like the original black centre of the poppy pin. A great idea! You can buy them online, but there will be a lot of orders as November gets close so order ahead.

You can also make your own poppy centre with a little glue and a blank pin from a craft supplies store or one of your own which you don’t mind to cover with the black felt poppy centre (the one that comes with the poppy pin) and some glue. Instructables shows how they re-make the poppy pin centre this way. It’s a great idea, simple and easy to do.

 

Did you know…

In 1915,  John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Forces Artillery, wrote his famous poem, In Flanders Fields. Inspired by McCrae’s poem, Moina Michael, an American professor and humanitarian, pledged to wear the flower year round. Anne GuĂ©rin, of France,  began to sell handmade cloth poppies for people to wear. She donated money from the sales to help people after the war.

A poppy should be worn on the left side of your body, just over your heart.

The poppy came to Canada as a symbol of remembrance in 1921.

Traditionally, the poppy should not be worn after November 11th. They were meant to be left at the graveside after the ceremony, the moment of silence, on November 11th, at 11:00 AM.

The period of Remembrance is from the last Friday in October until November 11. So you could begin wearing a poppy in October.

If you find a fallen poppy, pick it up. The pins should be worn and disposed of respectfully. I keep mine pinned to a curtain. I don’t like throwing them away and they look pretty in a group. I add more to the curtain every year.

The centre of the poppy pin was originally black, but changed to green in the 1980s (which I remember them being). The poppy centre went back to black again in 2002 because the original flowers in France were/ are red with black centres. The green centre was to represent the green fields in France.

There is a campaign, from the Peace Pledge Union, for a white poppy. The white is said to include everyone who suffered during war, the families, civilians, and soldiers. You may see purple poppy pins which represent service animals lost in war.

Take a look at the Poppy Store online, to support our Canadian Legion all year round.

Royal British Legion – In the UK they have a different, paper, poppy pin.

 

Hello… Happy UnBirthday to You (and Me)!

I have wanted to have a holiday and events site for years. But, I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. So, this site is taking awhile to pull together. I have artwork, from my ASCII art. I have posts and loads of ideas I’ve been gathering, collecting and curating. I found software which I can use to set up a calendar for all the recurring holidays and events. Most of all – I got the most excellent domain!!!

Coming soon, isn’t quite right. Coming along seems a little better.

Denim Christmas Stocking with Fake Fur

I really like this Xmas stocking I noticed on Etsy. But, with shipping added, the price is more than doubled. How does that work? Shipping must cost sellers a lot of sales on Etsy. In this case, it likely isn’t the only Christmas stocking made in this style. Not even just looking at Etsy shops.