Valentine's Day Dinner: Mood Setting for Pennies

Will Valentine's Day catch you with pennies to spend instead of the dollars you'd like to lavish on your true love? Take heart. There are ways to celebrate and impress him (or her) without spending a fortune. It will only look like you did!

The basics

A tablecloth is the basic necessity for a beautiful Valentine setting, but not everyone uses tablecloths. If you don't have one, go rummaging through your bedding. I mean it. Look for sheets or bedspreads that would make an appropriate table cloth. You can always double a flat sheet or light bed covering if it's too big.

Cloth napkins are another must for the Valentine table. If you don't have any, look around. Cloth handkerchiefs? Small table scarves? Nice washcloths? Match them to the tablecloth in color or material. I promise, it will look good.

Use your best dinnerware, and don't be afraid to mix it. If you have dinner plates of one set and serving dishes from another, it's ok as long as the colors and styles don't clash. Make them match by mixing them up. Put a blue flowered bowl on a checkered yellow plate and a then use yellow plates to eat from. Or put that yellow plate on a blue napkin (washcloth?) and use yellow napkins with whatever plates you have. Give yourself enough time to let your imagination roam the possibilities.

Decorate the table

Remember paper doilies? Make them from something unique. They don't have to look like Valentine hearts, but try using aluminum foil or wax paper or wrapping paper. Make a lot of them, large and small, and place them randomly over the tablecloth. If you don't know how, it's simple: Fold the paper over several times and snip pieces from it along the sides. Just be careful to not cut all the way through from one side to another. When you unfold the paper, you'll have a "doily," or a lacey looking piece of paper. With a little practice, you'll be making beautiful ones.

Don't forget the flowers. If it seems to cheap to you to use fake flowers, go for just one dramatic, single rose. Place it in the center of the table in a tall vase or a short cup... whatever your style.

Any candle that's short enough and not top heavy will float. What to float it in? A salad bowl. A soup bowl. A wide mouth flower vase. A china cup... whatever strikes you, but experiment with it first to be sure your candles will cooperate.

What's for dinner?

Anything your love desires could be on the menu, but if your budget doesn't far enough for imported delicacies, you can still pull off a good dinner by planning ahead. Check the Valentine's Day specials before you decide what to cook and keep an eye out for coupons for what's on sale. Don't forget to check your pantry or cupboard for things you already may have. A cake mix can be fancy fare if you decorate it and ground beef can make a stroganoff taste just as good as steak.

Get creative with the dessert and the meal will be remembered as something wonderful no matter what the main course. Canned pears, drained, chilled and laced with chocolate syrup is elegant and cheap.

You don't have to spend a fortune to say "I love you." Instead, put forth some effort and be creative about it. That's what really shows love, anyway.