St Dwynwen's Day / Love Spoon

Today is St Dwynwen's Day here in Wales, so I thought I would share the story with you and a little 'love-ly' make I created:

St Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, which makes her the Welsh equivalent of St Valentine.

Dwynwen lived during the 5th century and was one of the prettiest of Brychan Brycheiniog's 24 daughters. Dwynwen fell in love with a prince called Maelon Dafodrill, but unfortunately her father had already arranged that she should marry someone else.

Dwynwen was so upset that she could not marry Maelon that she begged God to make her forget him. After falling asleep, Dwynwen was visited by an angel, who appeared carrying a sweet potion designed to erase all memory of Maelon and turn him into a block of ice.

God then gave three wishes to Dwynwen. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed; her second that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers; and third, that she should never marry. All three were fulfilled, and as a mark of her thanks, Dwynwen devoted herself to God's service for the rest of her life.

She founded a convent on Llanddwyn, off the west coast of Anglesey, where a well named after her became a place of pilgrimage after her death in 465AD. Visitors to the well believed that the sacred fish or eels that lived in the well could foretell whether or not their relationship would be happy and whether love and happiness would be theirs. Remains of Dwynwen's church can still be seen today.

(Words from this site)

Quite sad from a 'love' point of view really, but most love stories usually are.

Seeing as today is St Dywnwen's Day, (and Valentine's is just around the corner), and being a Welsh girl I thought I would do a twist on the traditional Welsh love spoon. In true Twinkles style I have blinged it up to the max...

I painted the spoon part in red paint and then encrusted it with red heart gems and sparkly red glitter, topped with a large red heart gem...

...the handle was wrapped in red organza ribbon with 2 dangling heart charms threaded through the hole at the top...

...I finished off the Love Spoon by adding a large glittery heart to the top of the handle. I really love how it turned out!

"If music be the food of love, then play on..." 

Love Spoons...

Originally,they were made by young men as a love token for their sweethearts. There are many different designs demonstrating the skill and love of the hopeful suitor. If the girl kept this present, all was well, but if she sent it back, she did not want him.

As in many other customs, the eating of food seems to have a lot to do with the choice of a spoon as a gift. The practice of using a particular utensil to eat led perhaps to the spoon's being chosen, first for its utilitarian use, but then as a symbol of a desire to help one's lover. No longer to be used for eating, the spoons were given long handles and could be hung on the wall as reminders or as decorations. Elaborate patterns and intricate designs began to proliferate, and Welsh love spoons began to appear in every conceivable size and shape, and in different kinds of wood.

(words from this site).

Hope you have enjoyed the little Welsh history lesson and if you fancy telling your loved one you love them in Welsh then here it is...

Rwy’n dy garu di 

(roo-in dū garry dee)

And don't forget today is the last day to enter my giveaway - I will draw 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winners tomorrow!

Good Luck! (Pob lwc!)

xx