We’ve gathered a trove of ideas over the years…
Read More
post
post
Ecumenical Money Valentine to Give to Lovers AND Friends
We’re thinking a dandy little heart made of folded money would make a nice valentine for just about anyone…more inclusive than the usual romantic stuff like flowers and chocolate…
Read More
post
Valentine’s Day Practice (Jenny Holzer + Yoko Ono)
We’re thinking alternative ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day…
Read More
post
A Valentine from Jenny Holzer (and Improvised Life)
Artist Jenny Holzer‘s sign is a wondrously-expansive view of living Valentine’s Day…daily. We’d love to have this bench in our Laboratory…a fine reminder…
Read More
post
Valentines: Digital, Analog and Otherwise
Creating a one-inch expression of love to be utilized by millions is no slam dunk as seen in this short conversation with designer Jessica Hische, who created a Forever stamp for the U.S. Postal Service. (Video link HERE.) I love the harmonious convergence of digital and analog as seen in her workspace with computer cum hand…
Read More
post
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!!!!!
Ellen Silverman sent us a digital Valentine of hearts she found on the streets of Paris. Hearts seem to be hidden everywhere, if you LOOK.
Read More
post
A Heart-Shaped Boulder for Valentine’s
Graphic Designer Pamela Hovland sent us this image for Valentine’s, with this message: I always look at this big heart-shaped rock in the park where I run my dog. I finally decided to photograph it (pre-storm) in order to use it for an upcoming Valentine’s Day greeting. Thought you’d like it also…There’s a “broken heart” rock later on…
Read More
post
Last Minute Valentine’s Cards and Gifts (Yikes!)
We’re not much for the Valentine’s frenzy of chocolate-buying and crowded dinners out, but DO like to give a Valentine or two. It can be as simple as an origami heart made by following the simple video above but done with a BIG square of swell paper…OR any of our compendium of last minute Improvised Life Valentine cards and gift ideas…
Read More
post
Valentine? A Ring Festooned with Flowers (or Herbs)
This would make an awfully sweet Valentine gift, do-able despite the massive snow (there ARE flowers in the stores; even the ordinary winter ones could work…just tuck a few sprigs in your love’s ring). Or how about fresh thyme sprigs? Fragrant! via Quitokeeto
Read More
post
A Chocolate Valentine’s Cake as Easy as Making a Brownie
With the difficult weather, you may find your self on-the-hook for a Valentine’s gift for tomorrow. If you’ve got the basic makings in your pantry for brownies, we recommend our tried-and-true Essential Chocolate Cake for Improvising recipe. It’s as easy to make as a brownie, with a good deal more bang for the buck, AND there are endless ways to improvise on its essential formula, adding in all sorts of unexpected flavorings to delight your beloved.
Read More
post
70 improvised valentines later — still in love
Bill and Julie got married on Valentine’s Day in 1943, 70 years ago today. He was a GI who had managed to wangle a weekend pass to marry his childhood sweetheart. From the get-go,their marriage was an improv. “We didn’t have a minyan, the minimum of ten people required for a Jewish wedding,” Julie recalls.…
Read More
post
diy woven paper valentine + other last minute gifts
We love the possibilities inherent in the great valentine DIY we found at Mineco Co UK, made of woven paper. All you need is an exactto knife and straight edge and some nice paper. Mineco’s site tells how-to, but there’s lots of room for improvising (were thinking cut up photographs, magazines, ribbon…)
Read More
post
maria robledo’s stealth valentines
Our friend Maria Robledo makes “stealth” valentines for her husband Holton to find. She stitched “BE MINE” onto a curtain, and arranged beaded necklaces into hearts on the carpet.
Read More
post
diy valentine card + life philosophy from fluxus
We’ve been admiring this Valentine for years. It’s by Fluxus, a collaborative whose philosophy resonates with our own: Erase the boundary between Art and Life… Fluxus is an attitude. It is not a movement or a style. Fluxus is intermedia. Fluxus creators like to see what happens when different media intersect. They use found and…
Read More
post
post-valentine’s message (be a chalk graffiti guerilla!)
This uplifting bit of graffiti brings out the guerilla in us. We don’t WE become anonymous graffiti artists and leave uplifting (and impermanent) messages around town? All it would take is carrying a piece of chalk (easy to carry)…
Read More
post
happy valentine’s day ’12 from ‘the improvised life’
Read a Valentine heart shape from top to bottom. and it says the two can become one. Read it from bottom to top, and it says the one can become two with the two still connected. Read a Valentine heart shape as a whole, and it says wholeness is a place to live with room…
Read More
post
last-minute valentine’s cards and gifts
Early this morning we received an email from a friend who was about to make chocolate truffles for her Valentine, and wasn’t sure how to transport them. The email was sent in the wee hours of the morning, and we realized that for many, today means a last-minute scramble to get ready for Valentine’s day…
Read More
post
lemon-scented olive oil (recipe + gift idea = valentine)
Valentine’s Day is next week, which leaves us thinking about gifts that break the chocolate-and-flowers mold. We were suddenly reminded of an email we received from Virginia Del Giudice, a reader in Argentina, who used my simple Lemon Olive Oil recipe from A New Way to Cook to make Christmas presents. We thought this would be…
Read More
post
non-valentine’s day valentines
Since Valentine’s Day, we’ve gotten some wonderful emails of Valentine’s images and stories, so we thought we’d share a couple (and save the others for later). Maria Robledo made this improvised valentine for her husband, artist Holton Rower whose wondrous Pour Paintings we blogged last week. Since Holton uses clothes pins for his artwork made…
Read More