Valentine's Day - No Valentine? No Worries! Help a Friend Have a Romantic Valentine Getaway

How I intend to celebrate Valentine's Day is to help a dear friend (almost a daughter as she is my best friend's eldest child who has always called me "Mummy2") to organize a romantic getaway with her husband. My Mum and I will go to their home to mind the kids while they take off for a night out and a sleepover at a hotel. I have discussed this with my friend and she is overjoyed that she and her husband can have some "time out" from the kids to just be alone together.

The kids are a boy (9) and a girl (4) and both seem to be creative. I am going to supervise some Valentine kids crafts for them to do during the evening of Saturday, 13 February so when their parents arrive home on Valentine's Day morning, there are hearts and Valentine's decorations to greet them - and a surprise "heart-shaped brunch" as well.

Why not use some of these ideas to help a nice couple have a superb Valentine's Day?

Easy Valentine crafts for kids

Heart mobiles

I'll take along sheets of cardboard in shades of red, and various pinks. Any heart-shaped cookie cutters and a heart-shaped cake tin can be used to draw the heart shapes. We'll also need glitter pens and other markers as well as red gift tie to string the hearts together, adhesive tape and a few plastic straws or rods.

This should be a fun activity for the kids to do before bed-time.

Happy Valentine's Day sign

Kids love to please their parents. I am sure they will be excited to make some special signs to hang in the entry and around the house to welcome their Mum and Dad home to "Valentine's Day Central". Using sheets of colored cardboard and various markers, I'll get the boy to write a Valentine's greeting to his parents. His small sister can help by using glitter pens and markers to add decorations to the signs.

A Valentine tree

My friends live in a semi-rural area. It wont' be hard to find a small tree branch that we can use as the basis for a Valentine's Tree. Spray paint the branch with silver or gold paint. Secure the tree in a plastic pot and wrap Valentine's Day paper around and tie with a red bow. Using some of the heart cutouts, get the kids to attach the hearts to the branches of the tree. Add some small lengths of silver tinsel left-over from Christmas to complete the decoration.

I am sure the kids will come up with better ideas than this!

A welcome home surprise Valentine's Day brunch to make with the kids

Valentine sandwiches

An easy Valentine's Day brunch to serve when the parents return from their getaway is a platter of heart-shaped sandwiches.

Make sandwiches with interesting fillings - keep the filling away from the edges of the bread. Using two sizes of heart-shaped cookie cutters, cut out heart-shaped sandwiches. The kids can have fun eating the left-over bits and save the unwanted crusts for making breadcrumbs.

Make some of the sandwiches "triple deckers" to add interest to the platter. This involves two fillings and three slices of bread. Wholemeal and white bread layers look great for these.

Here are some sandwich filling suggestions:

Cream cheese, grated carrot and sultanas / cream cheese and cucumber

Savory egg - mash eggs and add chopped shallots and parsley, mayonnaise, grated tasty cheese, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and tomato ketchup, salt and pepper.

Ham, cheese and pickle / cold cuts and chutneys with cheese

Chicken, mayonnaise and chopped celery

I am sure you will have your own special sandwich fillings to add to or use instead of this list.

Icing and decorating a special Valentine Cake

Prior to traveling to my friend's home, I will make six small heart-shaped cakes (about 4 inches across the widest part).

After Mum and Dad have left for their romantic getaway, I will help the kids to make some pink icing (two shades - dark and light) and let them ice and decorate the cakes.

Decorating can be easy by placing a smaller heart-shaped cookie cutter in the middle of the heart cake and sprinkling decorations into the heart. I'll also take a piping bag and nozzles to add to the fun.

We will then place the cakes on a platter in a circle with the bottom of the hearts pointing inwards.

Decorating heart-shaped cookies

Just to add some more "hearts" to the activities, I'll pre-bake some heart-shaped cookies. The kids can use any left-over icing and decorations to produce Valentine Cookies.

Pink punch

To finish off the brunch preparations, I will take along my punch bowl and get the kids to help make "pink punch". This can be made with any type of red or pink juice to which you can add some lemonade or club soda and diced strawberries.

A bottle of pink sparkling wine will also be on hand for a Valentine's Day toast to the romantic couple.

We can all sit around and have a nice Valentine's Day brunch in a happy family atmosphere.

Source:

These are my own ideas that I think will make Valentine's Day special for my friends and their two kids.

To view more of my content - CLICK HERE