Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day.  I don't buy into that "It's just a Hallmark holiday" nonsense.  I see it as a special and fun day to celebrate our love for family and friends just a little bit more than we normally do.  Maybe it's the post-Christmas blues I always feel or how the house looks so bare after the holiday decor is packed away.  Whatever it is,  I always feel excited to pull out the pink and red and start crafting little treats for my sweets. 

I love the big fireplace mantles we have in this old home.  They are just asking for a few little holiday items to make the rooms feel special.  I don't think it takes a whole bunch of stuff to make things fun--just a few seasonal things are enough to make me smile.

 

The 14th started with pink waffles and balloons for Samantha. 

 I decided to make these super simple wrapped chocolate nuggets for Samantha's teacher and some of our friends.  It's an easy and fun little craft that you can adjust for any holiday or occasion.  I got the idea from my friend Amy who gave us chocolates wrapped in pink papers when Samantha was born.

 

I made smaller, less girly sets for the high school boys who help in Samantha's classroom. 

For Samantha's classmates and neighbor friends we made rice crispy lollipops.  We used a cookie cutter to cut out the heart shape, dipped them in white chocolate, and sprinkled them with Valentine sprinkles.  Samantha and I had a great time making these together.

We wrapped the lollipops in pink, heart bags and used a printable I found on Pinterest for the little tags.

Samantha was so excited to share her treats and balloons with her classmates.

But these days, trying to get normal pictures of her usually ends up like this...

...or this. 

Little rascal...

Before dinner, the three of us shared gifts and love notes. 

Samantha had heart shaped pizza for dinner.  Once she was down for the night, Tony and I had prime rib and loaded sweet potatoes.  For dessert, I made these pretzel Buckeyes--yet another Pinterest find.  Easy and perfect for the man in my life who doesn't like super sweet sweets.  They were the delicious mix of salty and sweet. 

I had such a great time making this day special for my two sweethearts.  This is one of my favorite parts of being a mom and a wife....making ordinary days just a little fancier for the ones who I love.