5 Couples Valentine’s Ideas

1.    Once the children go to bed, it is time for you and your loved one to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Prepare a special Valentine’s dessert for you and your Valentine. Focus your attention on what your loved one’s favorite desert is. If they are a fan of chocolate, you can make a molten chocolate mini cake for each of you. Tiramisu is another easy desert option for you to make for your loved one. If you are not the baking type, you can make a fruit parfait. Create layers with pound cake, vanilla pudding, and fresh fruit to make the parfait. You can finish the parfait with whipped topping.

2.    Lay out a blanket pm the floor of your living room to make it a special picnic desert for Valentine’s Day. Light candles around your living room to set the mood in the room for your special desert. You want the lighting to be dim, if you can do this with your lights that will work too. Place some pillows around the edges of the blanket that you laid out to give you something to lean on. You can also turn on soft romantic music to keep the theme of romance going.

3.    Watch a romantic dinner on your picnic blanket after you have enjoyed your Valentine’s Day desert. Open a bottle of wine and relax as you watch a movie that you would not normally get to watch with the children around. Some of the best movies to use for this special evening are the old romantic movies that you can get on DVD. Plan a movie marathon based around one of your favorite actors to make the evening last even longer.

4.    Slow dance with your Valentine after the movie is over. This is a traditional way to celebrate Valentine’s Day that is often forgotten. You do not need to be out in a fancy restaurant to be able to slow dance with the one that you love. Place a couple of slow romantic CD’s on repeat so that you do not have to end your special slow dance.

5.    Finish your romantic Valentine’s Day by giving each other a sensual massage. You can get massage oil at any drug store and use the blanket that you laid out for your picnic as the place to give each other the massage. If you do not want to stay out in the living room, you can move into the bedroom to finish off your Valentine’s Day.

Share the love with your family this Valentine’s Day. Although this special day has become alarmingly commercial over the past few years, there’s no need to break the family budget. After all family bonding is always free.

7 Valentine’s Ideas for Families

1.    Start Valentine’s Day for your family with a big surprise for each family member. Everyone likes to get little gifts through out the day on Valentine’s Day. Make small mailboxes to place on the back of each family member’s chair. This is a craft that can be done the day before Valentine’s Day with your children. Use half of a cereal box to make each mailbox. Cover the outside of the mailbox in either red or pink construction paper. Decorate each mailbox with the person’s name and cut out hearts and glitter to make it special for each person. Use a hole punch to place two holes on the back of the mailbox. Use these holes to attach the mailbox to the back of each person’s chair at the kitchen table with ribbon.

2.    Before everyone gets up Valentine’s Day morning place a card and a small gift into each person’s Valentine’s Day mailbox. The gift can be a small stuffed animal or even a little bit of chocolate. The idea is to give each family member a small surprise gift to start their Valentine’s Day off right. A great way to build on this idea is to have each child place a special card from them in your spouse’s mailbox.

3.    Prepare a special Valentine’s Day breakfast for your family. This should be a big meal that includes all of your family’s favorite breakfast foods. You will want to make heart shaped pancakes for this event. You can attempt to make these by hand or use stencils that they sell in cooking stores. You can place chocolate chips in some of the pancakes for those in your family that enjoy chocolate. Make sure to include fresh fruit like strawberries to place on the pancakes. You can also make heart shaped toast. Once the toast is out of the toaster and buttered use a heart shaped cookie cutter on them.  Make eggs, bacon, and any other breakfast favorites of your family.

4.    Pack each family member their favorite lunch for the day. If Valentine’s Day falls during the week, this is a great way to show your family members how much you love them when they are away from you. Include a small desert to finish off your loved one’s favorite lunch. A special thing to add to this Valentine’s lunch is a little note from you that tells them that you love them and miss them. You can pack this special lunch in their usual lunch bag so that is a surprise or use a brown paper lunch bag that is decorated for Valentine’s Day.

5.    If Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend, it is a good idea to do a family fun day. One of the best things to do is to take your family to the park if the weather is good. Even on a brisk day, a day out at the park can be a day for your family to bond and explore nature. This is a fun and great exercise for you and your family. Many parks have playgrounds for the younger children to play on. You can pack a lunch or a special treat to have on your outing.

6.    You could also have each family member choose an activity to do on Valentine’s Day. This would give your family a fun way to try new things. It also helps you to get to know your family members even better. Let your children choose whatever they would like to do from the zoo to a movie. Make the only rule that the family needs to follow is that you must do at least one thing that each family member suggests. It is a good idea to plan this type of Valentine’s Day celebration in advance so that you are sure to get to everyone’s ideas.

7.    Finish your family’s Valentine’s Day fun with a special sit down dinner. Use your best dishes to set the table and even place a centerpiece on the table to make the dinner special. You can even go so far as to request each family member dress up for the dinner. Make a homemade meal for your entire family to enjoy. You can go around the table and share everyone’s favorite part of their Valentine’s Day. This is one of the best things to do if you hand to spend Valentine’s Day away from each day because it is a work and school day.