Here are a few more “rosey” ideas for Valentine gifts that speak from the heart. Nothing is more romantic than a gift that says that you know who they are and what they’re about.
If she reminds you of Taylor Swift (lucky you), a romantic gesture like this fresh rose heart would hit the right chord.
This project looks harder to create than it is. You need a floral heart form, flowers, and foliage. To create this one I used roses, dianthus, and dusty miller. Thoroughly soak the foam heart, cut the stems very short (1-2”) and insert following the shape of the base.
Check back in about 2 weeks to see how easily this fresh flower heart can be transformed and enjoyed for a few months!
Is your girlfriend’s style more Gwen Stefani? Then “pump” up the volume with a rose petal covered high heel! An old shoe can easily be transformed into a one of a kind arrangement by covering it with rose petals and a soft foliage like lambs ear. Trust me, this will be the gift that she never forgets!
Valentine’s Day 2015 is right around the corner! This year’s day of love falls on a Saturday, so why not make this year’s celebration an entire weekend of romance by staying in surrounded by your special someone. Here are 15 activities that you can do to add some excitement to the weekend – all from the comfort of your own home.
Tackle a recipe together. Is your pinterest board filled with dishes and treats you like but never actually planned on making? Take this opportunity to actually take a shot at that difficult recipe – after all, you do have a sous chef to work with!
Make it a rom-com movie night. When the temperatures are approaching freezing and the restaurants and stores are over packed, there’s nothing quite like snuggling up with your significant other over a romantic comedy. Grab a warm blanket, some movie night snacks, and cozy up in front of the TV with some of your favorite movie romances. Bonus points if it’s a Valentine’s Day theme movie!
Recreate your first date. Take inspiration from your first date and recreate the highlights from the comfort of your own home!
Make it a musical day. Bring out that old guitar or keyboard and celebrate the day by collaborating on a karaoke session together. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, you can even create an original song incorporating both of your musical skills. If neither of you happens to be talented with the tune, simply make it a karaoke night!
Do a chocolate tasting together. Add some sweetness to the day with a chocolate tasting station! Pair some milks, whites, and darks with wine to really add some romance.
Decorate some sweets. Sure you can bake desserts together, but baking not only requires a ton of prep work but also requires a ton of cleaning afterwards. Skip this step and buy pre-made kits such as the Cheryl’s Buttercream Frosted Valentine Cookie Decorating Kit.
Make mugs for each other. Did you know that you can make your own one-of-a-kind mug with a ceramic mug and permanent marker? Get the how-to for this easy DIY permanent marker mug, and sit down with your Valentine to decorate mugs for each other.
Make it a boozy paint night. Channel your inner artists over a glass of vino by recreating a work of art! You’ll need two canvases, some paint, and a simpler painting or image to draw inspiration from. You’ll be surprised at how two people can interpret the same work of art in such vastly different ways!
Simmer down with a spa night. Pick up an assortment of spa supplies such as loofahs, body scrubs, face masks and soaps and melt all the stresses of the day away with a romantic spa night!
Build a pillow fort. Celebrate a simpler time by unleashing your inner child and building a pillow fort together! Then, snuggle in the fort with some snacks!
Set up a scavenger hunt. Treat your special someone to a scavenger hunt leading to a surprise gift. Hide clues around the home – put a romantic touch on it by using a heart hole punch to for heart-shaped notes!
Go through old photo albums together. Grab old photo albums of the two of you growing up and go through them together – be prepared for lots of laughs!
Have a picnic at home. Lay out a blanket on the floor, grab a picnic basket full of goodies and have a romantic picnic inside! Who needs the outdoors when you have each other?!
Have a theme night. Pick a “theme” and surround all of the day’s activities around it. Whether it’s something as general as Italian (think Italian movies, Italian food, Italian wine) or as specific as Super Hero, with a bit of creativity you can have a Valentine’s Day the two of you will never forget!
With the noisy swarms of couples and the irrationally high menu prices, going out for Valentine’s Day is more of a hassle than a luxury. And with Valentine’s Day 2015 falling on a Saturday, you can imagine the hustle and bustle to be extra hectic. Who needs that when you can create a five-star experience right out of your own kitchen? Here are 20 tips how to plan a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner for two at home!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 1: Prepare your food in advance.
The No. 1 mood-killer for your Valentine’s Day dinner? The stress of rustling up a last-minute meal. Don’t waste precious together time scuttling around the kitchen. Instead, prepare and cook all of your food well in advance. That way, you can sit down and truly enjoy the most important part of the night: your sweetie.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 2: Cook together.
There’s no rule that says cooking a Valentine’s Day dinner has to be a one-person job. Consider making your meal together as a couple. You can have fun playing and experimenting with the ingredients, or you can get sensual and feed each other as you go along. You don’t even have to sacrifice that luxurious touch you get at your favorite restaurant; simply pick up high quality ingredients (if ordering steak, be sure to get the right cut). Whatever you do, you’ll be creating some unforgettable memories … and food!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 3: Ignite your passion with food.
Love potions aren’t just a bunch of fairy tale fluff. They actually exist! Certain foods are known as romance-boosting aphrodisiacs, including oysters, saffron, ginger, asparagus, garlic (we’re not kidding!), basil, figs and strawberries. You can find a full list of sensuous eats on Celebrations.com. Be sure to incorporate some (or all!) of these into your menu to heat things up on V-Day.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 4: Keep it simple.
Only two words describe the perfect Valentine’s Day cuisine: light and simple. You want your meal to fill you up—not weigh both of you down. Try these delicious yet delicate Valentine’s Day dinner recipes that’ll satisfy you both … and save you the hassle of whipping up a complicated feast.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 5: Make dessert easy.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 6: Give your dining space a quick makeover.
Celebrating V-Day in the same kitchen or dining room that you eat in every night might be anything but exhilarating—unless you think outside the box.Change the everyday scene by simply rearranging a few pieces of furniture. You’ll feel like you’re in a brand-new home or, better yet, a fancy restaurant (minus the crowds)!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 7: Make a keepsake Valentine’s Day menu.
Give your feast some true restaurant appeal: Print out your menu on Valentine’s Day themed cardstock, or create your own chalkboard menu sign. You can keep the menu card as a precious token of your night together, or you can reuse the chalkboard sign as a menu for your weekly dinner specials.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 8: Enhance your food with wine.
True love is like good wine; it gets even better with age! So go ahead and spoil yourselves: Complement the exquisite flavors of your Valentine’s Day dinner with a bottle of fine wine. Your sweetheart is definitely worth it.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 9: Break out the fine china.
If ever there is a more perfect occasion to put that fine china to good use, it’s Valentine’s Day. Lay out some gorgeous linens in shades of red, white and pink, and then set the table with your best dinnerware, glassware and silverware. Then comes the pièce de résistance: an eye-catching floral centerpiece. Your honey will feel like royalty when they finally settle down at the dinner table.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 10: Set the mood with candles.
To create a softer, more enchanting ambiance, turn the lights down low (but make sure it’s still bright enough to see!) and scatter plenty of romantic candles across the tablescape.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 11: Give your celebration some personality.
Add a striking personal touch to your celebration by making your own Valentine’s Day décor and gifts, like these handmade roses and this Valentine’s Day coupon book. Nothing says “I love you” quite like a gift that’s handmade and heartfelt.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 12: Decorate your home with heart-shaped anything.
Speaking of hearts, they should be in abundant supply throughout your V-Day dinner décor. Sprinkle them wherever you can: Get heart-shaped ice cube molds, scatter heart-shaped doilies across the table, string up a couple of adorable popcorn hearts or bake a few delicious heart-shaped treats. Hearts galore for the one that you adore!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 13: Pick a unique Valentine’s Day dinner theme.
If you’re not into the hearts, rose petals and lace, pick a different dinner theme that suits your interests as a couple. If you love the beach, turn your dining room and living room into a seaside escape with seashells and other natural elements. Mini honeymoon, anyone?
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 14: Make a playlist with meaning.
Instead of playing those cheesy, played-out love songs that don’t really have any significance to you and your darling, make a playlist of all the tunes that you love listening to together … even if it means putting The Spice Girls on your queue. Impersonal songs just become background noise, no matter how lovey-dovey the lyrics may be. If a song means something to your relationship, play it.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 15: Dress up.
Just because you’re celebrating at home doesn’t mean you can’t get fancy. Wear an outfit that your sweetie loves seeing you in, or blow them away with something new and stunning! Tell your Valentine to suit up too. Or, if your dinner date is a surprise, set out some elegant clothes they can quickly change into when they arrive.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 16: Play a game.
Sure, you know your sweetheart inside and out, but there’s always something new to learn! Play a fun Valentine’s Day game to get to know them on an even deeper level … and have some laughs doing it.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 17: Find a babysitter, or have a kid-friendly Valentine’s Day dinner.
If you have kids and want to spend some much-needed alone time with your honey, make arrangements with a babysitter way in advance so you don’t have to scramble for one at the last minute. If you end up sitter-less, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t include your kids in the romantic evening! Make your kids feel extra-special by asking them to help you create the menu for the night. Then, they can make believe they’re waiters at a swanky restaurant and serve the meal to the couple of honor: mommy and daddy!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 18: Do the dishes tomorrow.
Don’t stress about cleaning up after dinner. Put the dishes aside until the next morning. Chores never end, but Valentine’s Day comes but once a year. Devote it to your one and only—nothing else.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 19: Be a kid for the night.
Don’t feel the need to be serious all the time. After dinner, do something you both enjoyed as kids or as high school sweethearts, like ice skating, bumper cars, video games, laser tag … whatever your inner child desires!
Valentine’s Day Dinner Tip No. 20: Don’t stick to a schedule.
Finally, be spontaneous! You don’t have to stick to a precise plan in order to have a good time. Sometimes the best memories come from our most random ideas. If the two of you get the impulse to do something before, during or after your Valentine’s Day dinner, do it!
How will you make your at-home Valentine’s Day dinner special for your sweetheart?
For decades, the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days® program has symbolized hope in the fight against cancer.
Today, there is even more reason to hope because there are more than 14 million cancer survivors in the United States. But until we stop losing our loved ones to this disease, there’s more work to be done.
Help us bring hope to survivors, newly diagnosed patients, and anyone who is touched by cancer by participating in our new Daffodil Days Hope by the Bunch™ program. In collaboration with 1800Flowers.com®, we are proud to launch a new twist on an old favorite. It’s a great way to raise money to help finish the fight against cancer.
Here’s how you can make an impact on the lives of people with cancer through Daffodil Days Hope By The Bunch:
Organize a campaign. Visit 1800Flowers.com/hope and we’ll give you all the materials you need to get started organizing a campaign. There is no need to register on the website, Simply download and read through the materials which will take you step by step through the process.
Ask your friends to order beautiful, hope-inspiring flowers through you. Remind them that it’s for a great cause!
Place your order on 1800Flowers.com/hope. Place your order by January 23 and make your payment online.
Receive and distribute fresh, quality flowers to friends. They’ll be a bright symbol of hope when the seasons change.
Sometimes, the best gifts are ones that take a backseat to life, playing in the background versus taking a front seat. That’s why live plants and dish gardens make such great gifts – they’re stunning, add a breath of fresh air to the room and play a subtle yet important part in one’s every day lives. A plant placed on one’s work desk brightens their mood and day in a subtle way on a daily basis, while a flower or plant showcased in one’s living room makes for a much livelier atmosphere.
If you know someone who fancies themselves a wine aficionado or simply loves the sophistication of a classic bottle of red or white, surprise them with a lucky bamboo plant showcased in a chic wine glass!
Since we’re a big fan of personalized gifts, we put a personal touch on this gift by writing a surprise message on the inside of the glass with permanent marker. This step is optional.
The best part? Thank to the bamboo plant’s low maintenance nature, even someone with a brown thumb can appreciate this creative idea!
WOW! Our very special Valentine assortment includes our classic buttercream frosted cut-out cookies generously finished with our FAMOUS pale pink and hot red buttercream icing, charming hug bug cookies, our yummy chocolate hearts and pretty frosted flowers! All are individually wrapped and perfect for your Valentine parties, college student snacks and surprise treats for the office staff. Don’t forget to order for your own family fun! OU D.
