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Celebrate Valentine’s Day Let’s show our romantic side this Valentine’s Day like we never have before, no matter how difficult or unnatural that may feel. After being cooped up in the house with our significant others for so long, it is normal to forget about the romance. Valentine’s Day is our reminder to bring it back. Use this guide to jump start your sentimental side and show your partner how you really feel.

Love Letter: This may sound like the most cliché Valentine’s Gift, but a handwritten letter really is the most appreciated gift anyone could get on the day focused around expressing love to one another. This is a gift that will be kept forever. Popsicle Jar: Coming up with fun, new date ideas can be difficult, so why not make it easier for ourselves in the future. A fun, cheap, and easy Valentine idea is to fill a mason jar with popsicle sticks, each stick will have a different date idea written on it. These can include formal dates, restaurants to visit, places to go, or quick and fun ideas like making homemade pizzas together or a specific movie to watch. This way, when a date night comes up but you’re unsure what to do, just pull a stick from the jar. Wine for Any Occasion: Valentine’s Day is about celebrating your love for the people in your life, beyond just your significant other. Put your own fun labels on bottles of wine to celebrate “Galentine’s Day” with your friends or as a gift for mom and grandma. Pick a cute label like “I love you almost as much as wine” or “Merlots before bros,” “Friends don’t let friends drink alone,” “Say you’ll be wine.” The options are endless. Sugar Scrub: Another gift that is great for girlfriends, wives, moms, aunts, and sisters is a nice sugar scrub. Sugar scrubs are a super easy way to show your love to the women around you and they can easily be personalized. Add a cute label that says “Showering you with love;” add lemon juice for a fresh, lemony scrub or coffee grinds for a warmer exfoliating scrub. These are also easy gifts to make in bulk to give to all of your friends.

Day Away While Staying In We may not be able to get our day away this February, but we can still have that relaxing day at home. Get the kids involved to help wait on Mom and Dad as they celebrate their love

Show Your Love: Homemade Gift Ideas

for each other.

Spa: Set up the bathroom as an at-home spa. Draw a bubble bath with refreshing bath salts and light some candles. Make it a day spa by looking up a couple fruit smoothie recipes and give her a short menu to choose from or make it a night spa with her favorite glass of wine. Play her favorite music and cucumbers for her eyes.

Day at the Movies: Transform the basement into a movie theater and play a marathon of your favorite movies. Valentine’s Day is a Sunday this year, a day made for rest, relaxation, and your favorite movies. Pull together your guilty pleasure snacks, both savory and sweet, to create your dream snack bar.

Out to the Bar: Every bar has a great Karaoke night, get behind the mic at “Bar de Casa.” Plug a HDMI cord in your computer to project onto the tv and look up the lyric videos to your favorite songs. Play bartender and mix up some at-home cocktails and even shake some mocktails for the kids.

Hell’s Kitchen: Isn’t it romantic to cook dinner together? Pick up a meal for two at the grocery store or make your own pizzas, try a new recipe for something you have never tried before or make the oldest recipe from the family files. Pour a glass of wine and turn on music from the year you got married. If it doesn’t taste as good as you planned, then order take-out and you will have a new story to laugh about for next Valentine’s Day.

Dessert Anyone? It is super easy to cut brownies into hearts, add pink frosting to a cake, or dip strawberries in chocolate for a sweet Valentine’s Day treat. Not only is it super easy, but it is also always appreciated and means so much to our loved ones.

Invest in a heart shaped cookie cutter to use throughout the whole day. Despite the name, you can use them to cut your pancakes, sandwiches, fruit, and more to remind everyone what day it is. Make it an even more festive day by including at least one red or pink food in each meal. Steak anyone?

Creative & Crafty

Wreath of Love: Cut out hand shapes of you and the kids on pink and red construction paper. Layer them on top of each other in a circle and glue them together to make a Valentine’s Day festive wreath.

Calendar: Anything personal is a plus when it comes to gift giving. Order a mug, calendar, mousepad, or puzzle with your favorite family picture on it, or with your first picture of you and your significant other. Anything that they will see to remind you of each other.

Book: Decorate index cards to make a book for your partner. On each page of your “book” write a reason why you love your significant other.

Feelings are Growing: Start growing your own plant and decorate the pot in honor of your significant other. On this appreciation pot, draw some of their favorite things or use stickers to send them whatever message you want. Watch the plant grow alongside your love story.