Sweet & Simple Valentine's Day

It boggles my mind to think that the cost of a dozen high-quality roses can skyrocket to more than $100 in the few days leading up to Valentine's Day. As commercial (not to mention expensive) as Valentine's Day has become, I am still a fan of the day. Even though I tell my family that I love them each day, it is still fun to have one special day filled with hearts and confessions of love and lots of pink. There are a lot of simple ways you can make your family's Valentine's Day sweet on a small budget.

Lunchtime Treats  

On the workdays leading up to Valentine's Day, I slipped little treats into my husband, Derek's, lunchbox. There are ideas and printables all over Pinterest, but I downloaded these printable tags from Six Sisters' Stuff, and printed them on some pretty card stock I had on hand.

One day I sent You are the apple of my eye! with a bag of apple slices, and the next he got I'm nuts about you! on a package of mixed nuts.

Some other treats were:

• You are one hot tamale! ...with a spicy hot meat stick
• I wouldn't chews anyone but you!  ...with a sour fruit chew
• I think you are sodamazing! ...with a can of pop
• We were mint to be together! ...on a tin of mints
• I'm bananas for you! ...on a banana 
• I would be so mixed up without you! ...with a bag of spicy trail mix
  
•  Life would be unbearable without you! ...with a bag of gummy bears

He saved the tags from all his treats, and stuck them up all around his desk at work, so he is constantly reminded that he is loved!

Valentine's Day Cards

I stumbled across this idea on Pinterest and loved it so much, I used the concept to make our Valentine's Day cards for Emma's grandparents. Derek helped to distract Emma while I traced her hands on some pretty pink paper.

I cut out her hand-prints and wrote "I LOVE YOU..." on one and "THIS MUCH!" on the other. I wrote on the cards freehand, but you could use transfer letters if you'd prefer. I made an accordion fold with the remaining paper, and connected the two hands together.

Valentine's Day Breakfast

For breakfast on Valentine's Day, I made heart shaped cinnamon rolls. I found the idea over at Craft and Creativity and, although her recipe sounded amazing and I am a big proponent of cooking from scratch, mornings can be a little hectic around here. So I cheated and used refrigerated cinnamon rolls.

I simply unrolled the dough halfway, rolled up the other side, and pitched the middle to arrange them into a heart shape. They turned out fantastic!

I also made Derek a Valentine's Day Coupon Book. I downloaded the printable coupons from Elegance & Enchantment. It was really easy to make - not to mention, FREE!

I printed the coupons on the white back of some cardstock, and tied them all together with a pretty ribbon. I had a hard time coming up with my first few coupon ideas, but once I got started, the ideas came fairly easily. 

You control the remote: watch the TV show or game of your choice - no complaints!

One free car wash: I'll wash your car by hand or run it through the car wash for you!

Free ice cream run any time: I'll run out for a treat and bring it back to you!

Get out of trouble free: present this when you want to skip the fighting and get right to making up!

Hit the links or the slopes: an afternoon of snowboarding or a round of golf even though there are chores to do!

A few of your favorite things: I'll cook a meal of your choice in any outfit you choose!

One massage: any area of your body of your choosing!

The last few are a little too intimate to share publicly. I'll let you use your imagination.

Emma (with a little help from Mommy) made Daddy an adorable card inspired by In Lieu of Preschool. Emma colored on a piece of plain white paper, then I folded the paper in half like a card.

I traced a heart shaped cookie cutter on the front - because I am terrible at freehand drawing - and cut out the heart. Then I wrote "My" above the heart cutout, and "belongs to You!" under the heart. This is a wonderful way for a toddler to "make their own" valentines!

Valentine's Day Surprise!

Being a stay at home mom means that I may not always be able to buy everything I want. But, while I may not be able to afford to have a Valentine's Day gift delivered to my husband's work, my time is my own! Thankfully Derek's office is not far from our home. So after a morning play date, Emma and I swung by to deliver a Valentine's Day surprise!

Apart from fresh chocolate chip cookies, Girl Scout samoas cookies are probably Derek's favorite treat. So when I saw these knock-off cookies (let's be honest now, Keebler) on sale at Cub, I snagged a box. The pretty little potted plant was on sale for $1.99 at Aldi this week, and will brighten Derek's desk at work for months to come. The card was the real steal though. I got a coupon code for a free card from PhotoCardsDirect.com where we had ordered our Christmas cards. They were also running an offer for free shipping at the time, so the beautiful personalized card cost a grand total of zero dollars and zero cents!

Valentine's Day Dinner

Homemade pizza is in our regular dinner rotation, so it was no chore to prepare. I simply cut the pepperoni slices into heart shapes using a small cookie cutter before topping the pizza.

I also added little hearts to our breadsticks instead of plain sticks.

How did you make your family's Valentine's Day special this year?

My 3 good things for today are:

1. I love God and am loved by God.
2. I love Derek and am loved by Derek.
3. I love Emma and our new baby boy, and am loved by them as well. The last one is still a little iffy as I have not officially met the little man yet, but I have high hopes :)

Happy Valentine's Day!