Valentine's Day

 


Valentine's Day is a special day in our family.  Over the years, we've celebrated in many different ways.  Some years we've had a special Valentine's dinner here at home---the house and the table all decorated with hearts and flowers.  Sometimes we've made placemats with hearts and doilies and sometimes we've made woven heart mats or had little paper hearts attached by long threads from the dining room light.  I've often set a little treat at each place or sometimes a little card of love, thanks and blessing for each one. I try to think of sweet ways to set the table, sweet heart-shaped treats to bake or red, pink or white foods to prepare for the meals that day.  It doesn't take much to make it a sweet and festive Valentine's Day.   Whatever the case, it's a time of love... for husband's and wives, children and families and friends: love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of this is love. 

Love Letters...

How about heart shaped muffins, pancakes or biscuits
for breakfast Love notes under the pillows of your children,
and in your husband's lunch.

A bouquet of flowers on the table...
and don't forget the conversation hearts
 
and kisses

 


and gumdrop hearts
and raspberry tea with honey
and maybe some raspberry smoothies for a breakfast treat

Strawberry jello with whipped cream topping
Strawberry-Pretzel Jell-O Salad to go along with your meal

You can make heart shaped cookies, muffins or little cakes for a
special Valentine's Day Teatime with your family. 
Teatime is enjoyed by boys as much as it is by girls...
it's up to you to  make it a special memory for them. 
Remember... the children may not remember all the stuff you did
for them but they will remember how you made them feel...
how it was spending time with you.

You could make Heart shaped sandwiches for lunch by making the sandwich using a large heart cookie-cutter (save the 'edges for snacking), or keep the bottom slice of bread uncut and spread with peanut butter and then raspberry jam and then top with a piece of bread from which a heart is cut from the center (one drawback is this can't be sent along in a lunchbox).   You'll delight your loved ones by just doing *any* special touch... be creative!  Let them know you adore them!!

Bake a loaf of bread in a heart shape. 
Make pizza for dinner---shape the crust into a heart
and top with sauce, favourite toppings and cheese.


Make a bouquet of kisses... You'll need Hershey's Kisses, red or pink cellophane or tulle, florist's tape, floral stems or green pipe cleaners from which to make stems, then place each 'rose' in a vase. 

Make Hershey's Kiss roses by putting two kisses together end to end, wrapping with cellophane from top to bottom, creating a rose like shape, you'll gather the cellophane together at the bottom of the rosebud, and before you twist the cellophane or tulle closed, you'll add the pipe-cleaner or pre-cut floral stem, pushing the leaf close to the bud.  Then wrap the bottom cellophane closed with floral tape, going around the stem and pulling it tight all the way down to the end.  If you have two leaves on the stem, you can press one up against the Kiss and wrap the tape so that it stays that way creating a more realistic rose. 

(Our son and daughter-in-law gave these as favours at their wedding reception
several years ago.  They were beautiful---so were the rose kisses!)
 



Kathryn made these for Valentine's treats... hers were
made with four strips instead of two.  The effect is
beautiful and each recipient was delighted with the
treat basket!

Valentine's Cupcake Cards

I'm going to get out my heart shaped cake pans and make a sweet-heart cake!  I'm thinking of adapting some of the Valentine's Day ideas from Martha Stewart's site for the children and English Cherubs for my husband.

Below you'll find several ideas for Valentine's Day

Lots and lots of ideas, links, poems and more at Annie's!
annies homepage.com valentines links
Valentine's Day

The Valentine’s Day Challenge
by nancy twigg

Does Valentine’s Day have to be expensive? Not at all. Let me tell you a story of how my husband and I had one of the best Valentine’s Day celebrations ever by limiting ourselves to spending $10 or less.

About ten years ago, my husband Michael and I both left good jobs to begin a home-based business. Within a matter of weeks, we went from two comfortable salaries to one sporadic stream of income from our fledgling business. On the first Valentine’s Day after we became self-employed, we both knew we shouldn’t spend much on our February 14th celebration. So we agreed to try something different. We decided to set a $5 spending limit per person for our Valentine’s Day gifts.

To a spendthrift, a $5 spending limit on Valentine’s Day would have been like the kiss of death: "What can I possibly buy for only five dollars?" For us, it became a game: "What kind of cool stuff we can come up for with less than five bucks?" Both of us enjoyed the challenge of searching out items that would fit the bill.

Michael is a woodworker, so for him it was easy. He used his time and only a little money to make me a beautiful oval frame for a wall mirror I already had. He used wood that was salvaged from discarded packing crates, 25¢ paint from a yard sale, and plans he drew up on his computer. The only thing he had to go out and buy was a dowel for putting the frame together, which cost only 76¢ at the hardware store. The end result was a beautiful mirror that hung proudly in our bedroom for many years.

For Michael, I found a desk calendar that had a different quote about love for each day. Because it was February, the calendar was on clearance for $4. I also found a woodworking book at a library discard sale for 50¢. In addition, I made him a homemade card and a plate of his favorite cookies. When you add the cost of the cookie ingredients I already had on hand, I actually went over my limit just a little but he was delighted nonetheless. In fact, we both enjoyed our gifts and the thrill of the hunt so much that we instituted the five-dollar rule for other gift giving occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries that year as well.

Are you and your loved one going through a tough time financially? Even if you’re not, is the thought of saving money more attractive to you than spending a small fortune on Valentine’s Day gifts? If so, I encourage you to try something different this year. Take the Valentine’s Day Challenge. Set a small spending limit—$5, $10 or whatever fits your budget—and agree with your spouse to give gifts that are low in cost but high in creativity.

Use any special talents you have to create a keepsake. Put your cooking skills to work to whip up an inexpensive-yet-irresistible treat in the kitchen. Shop the clearance racks to find some special something your sweetie would enjoy. Visit the secondhand stores to find a gently-used book by a favorite author or CD by a favorite artist. Use your budgeted amount to buy a gift card to the ice cream shop, coffee shop or movie rental store.

Think outside the proverbial box. Make it a game to see how you can use your creativity to give your sweetheart the most Valentine’s Day fun for the least amount of money.


Byline: Nancy Twigg is a speaker and author who loves inspiring others to live more simply. Adapted from Nancy’s newly revised book, Celebrate Simply: Your Guide to Simpler, More Meaningful Holidays and Special Occasions


Thank you, Creative Ladies ministry for the Love bears all things graphic.

Valentine's Day Ideas  Alphabet Soup's Valentine's pages AND Recipes!