Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A Sailor's Valentine

"The Story of Sailor's Valentines evokes romance - majestic sailing ships and long sea voyages, adventures in the new world, and daydreams of loved ones across wide oceans... creation of Valentines was.. a cottage industry on the island of Barbados. Once a stopping point on long sea voyages, sailors happily ordered and/or purchased a Valentine to bring home and present to a family member or loved one."




This past weekend, I stopped by the Salem Maritime Festival (I'll share more about this tomorrow). They had lots of wonderful hands-on activities, one of which was making Sailor's Valentines.  I'm sure it was meant for the kids, but of course, I hurried over to the table to make one anyway. :)

They provided small wooden circles, glue and a bowl of seashells to create the design.  It was so fun to use these tiny beauties to create a little piece of historical artwork. (I'm hoping that I can tie this activity in with my U.S. history class this year!) 

Here are a couple links to "real" sailor's valentines:




Bri loved and his seaside, summer valentine.. 




DIY Day @ ASPTL

4 comments:

  1. Kerrie, this post brings back memories for me. My grandpa was a merchant seaman. He sent my grandmother star fish, which she glued on the wall above her kitchen sink (not so environmentally friendly nowadays) I remember loving to touch the rough texture of their starry forms; it thrilled me as a child.

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  2. Oh that's wonderful! Where did your Grandpa sail from?

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  3. Beautiful! I think a trip to Salem, MA is in order!

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  4. Kerrie, all I know is that he lived in New York, so I suppose he sailed from there. There's no one alive to ask.

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