Maranda’s Sweet & Savvy Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the Family

February 14, 2012

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It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to make Valentine’s day memorable and full of family fun! Many times planning activities at home, instead of going out can be just as much fun! I’d like to share with you some of the ways we like to prepare for and enjoy our Valentine’s day.

Make gifts for teachers or grandparents

One of the easiest and least expensive gift ideas for a child to do on their own – Coffee Filter Flowers! My daughter brought me one home from school on Mother’s day when she was in the first grade. She taught me how to make them and I just love the idea. The kids were so happy to make them and even more excited to be able to give them to their teachers!

For this craft, you just need the following (we always have these things on hand, so they are free for us to make whenever we like!)
• Paper Coffee Filters
• Crayola Markers – The color is strong and “bleeds” better with this brand
• Pipe Cleaners
• Paint Brush
• Water

How to make coffee filter flowers:

Step 1 – Use your favorite color markers to draw dots all over a coffee filter. You will need to do this to at least 3 coffee filters for each flower you want to make.

Step 2 – Dip the paint brush in water and paint over your dots. You will notice the colors starting to “bleed”. After you have wet each dot, you will need to let your coffee filters dry completely.

Step 3 – When your filters are dry, fold them like you would a paper fan. Do this to all 3 of your filters.

Step 4 – Stack each folded filter on top of each other, but alternate them by laying one horizontal and one vertical and so on. Next, wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of your stack to hold them all in place.The pipe cleaner becomes the center of your flower as well as your stem.

Step 5 – Fluff out your “Petals” to look like a flower. Then give to someone you love!

Making their own treats to take to class parties

An easy, no bake recipe works best. We like to dip Oreos in melted Vanilla Almond Bark, so for Valentines day, you could add food coloring to the melted mix to match the holiday! (After the Almond Bark is melted, the kids can pretty much make these on their own!)

Make a special breakfast

The kids love pancakes for breakfast, but on Valentines day, we like to make them extra special! We make heart shaped pancakes and add a little food color to turn them pink or red. Sometimes we have biscuits for breakfast instead, which can easily be cut into heart shapes before baking!

Lunches are extra lovey!

It wouldn’t be Valentine’s day without heart shaped sandwiches and a corny little poem or note in their lunch box!

Movie, anyone?

If time allows in the evening, popcorn and hot chocolate along with a movie is a great way to spend time and unwind. What better movie for a Valentines evening than Lady and the Tramp?

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into our family’s Valentine’s day activities and that your day is full of fun as well!