With Valentine’s Day coming up soon I’ve been thinking about some of the fun ways we have celebrated it in the past.

Growing up, my mom would make pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast.  All you do is add a few drops of red food coloring to the pancake mix, and when cooking the pancake: make 2 circles close together, then use the spoon to make a point at the bottom.  (also known as Dolly Parton hearts)

One year we were pretty broke and couldn’t afford to go out on a date for Valentine’s, so I spent the day cooking an amazing dinner.  I made homemade spaghetti sauce, and when I put it on the plate I poured the sauce into a heart shape over the noodles.  I also made homemade bread sticks to go with it.  Then for dessert I made red jell-o and had it set up in some fancy glasses, then a second batch of red jell-o I made jigglers out of and cut a heart shape.  I put a glob of whipping cream on top of the jell-o in the fancy cup, then placed the heart jiggler on the whipping cream.  It was cheap, easy, and cute!  Then I set up the table with candles of course and a nice table cloth.  And no romantic dinner is complete without sparkling apple juice!  Now that I type this the Jell-o idea sounds fun, I may just have to make that and post a picture soon!

A few years ago I found a heart shaped waffle maker.  My kids thought that was a pretty cool breakfast!  Color the pancake batter red like you would for the pancakes.  Serving with strawberries, cool whip and other fruits can jazz it up a little.

Strawberry-banana smoothies in a nice glass, or with a fancy Valentine’s straw can be done any time of the day.

Since this year I will be in the hospital having our baby on Valentine’s Day, my family will get a pre-made gift.  I am also making up a cute gift for the hospital staff.  There are so many cute ideas on Pinterest- if you haven’t checked out their site feel free to email me your email address for an invite! atozformomslikeme@gmail.com and/or follow me: JoDee Mason

This is the cute idea I’m going to make up for the hospital staff.  Well, I’m going to make a version of it at least.  My sister has the best candied popcorn recipe that has coconut and a sweet glaze (also nuts which I don’t use because of my daughter’s allergies) I’m going to add Valentine colored M&M’s to it and bag it up similar to this one.  Mostly I chose to change it because my sister’s recipe sounds better than just white chocolate poured over the popcorn.

Feel free to share some of your cute projects, ideas, and ways you’ve celebrated in the past!