Valentine’s Day Dinner at Home!

There are a lot of reasons why you may be having Valentine’s Day dinner at home this year – it’s a Thursday and you (and/or your significant other) may have to work Friday, you may not be able to find a babysitter, money may be short – the list is endless! That said, there’s no reason why you can’t make your Valentine’s Day dinner at home special! A lot of these ideas can work for birthdays, anniversaries, or any time you want to treat your family!

The Table

• Bring out the good china! Many of us have at least one set of good china (or part of a set) that gets dragged out once a year and then stuck back in the cabinet until next year. There’s no reason you can’t take it out for your special day. Even chicken fingers seem fancy if you’re eating them off china.

• If you don’t have good china, do you have anything special you can use? Toasting glasses from your wedding? Glasses you got on a family vacation? Bringing out rarely seen pieces, especially ones with sentimental value, can make any meal feel special.

• Or bring out the paper plates! Holiday paper plates, or even red and pink (for Valentine’s Day) plates will make your table look like a party without spending a lot of money! You don’t have to worry about breaking them, and you don’t have to worry about washing them! They’re a little wasteful, but don’t worry about that now – it’s a special event.

• Bring out a nice tablecloth or fancy place mats and napkins – either cloth if you have them, or color-coordinated paper. And if you have table runners or napkin rings you rarely use, this is a great time to use them! Make decorated place cards for each member of the family (this is another fun project for kids to do).

• Eat by candlelight. And I don’t mean one or two candles – collect as many candles as you can find around the house, turn the lights down or off, and eat by their light. Be safe – keep them in the middle of the table stack them on a plate (or two) if you’re using paper goods, and be sure they’re all out before you go to bed. I got a candle snuffer as a gift a while back and I love it.

The Room

• Decorate! Be careful about paper table decorations if you’re going to eat by candlelight, but if you’re not (or if you can put them around the room), paper decorations are fun and easy. Cut out hearts and decorate them (or better yet, have the kids decorate them). I found heart-shaped paper doilies in a variety of sizes at the dollar store, and if you can’t find those, you can probably find round ones that you can glue your paper hearts on. How about a paper banner spelling out “Happy Valentine’s Day” (or just “love”, if you don’t want to make that big a banner!) Instructions for a simple paper banner can be found at https://allybearsden.blog/how-to-make-a-paper-banner/

• While we’re talking decorations, don’t forget flowers. They’re expensive this time of year, but if you’re not going out because of time rather than money, they may be worth it. You may have some fake flowers at home that you can take from their usual spots and rearrange as a centerpiece. Simply glue some paper hearts onto wooden skewers (put one on each side of the skewer so no one has to look at the “back”). Pop them into the arrangement of flowers-on-hand and you’ve got a seasonal arrangement without spending a lot of money!

The Meal

• Make one part of the meal special. Making a special meal can take a lot of time, money, and aggravation, but making something you don’t usually have – maybe dessert, maybe a nicer-than-usual side dish – makes the whole meal seem that much more special. And making someone’s favorite dish (especially if it’s something you don’t like) is a great way to show you care!
• Going back to the “good china” idea, even instant pudding can seem special if you serve it in a wine glass decorated with a dollop of whipped cream and a cut-up strawberry!

Just a Sweet Idea

• Try writing each person in your family a love note – you don’t have to get all squishy if that’s not you, but I’m sure you appreciate something about each of them – write it down and leave it at their place!

I hope I’ve given you some ideas how to make Valentine’s Day special, even if you’re celebrating at home!