Can I be totally blunt with y’all about something? I’m not big on Valentine’s decor at our house. Mainly because, when it comes to V-Day, Robert and I opt to go out for a special dinner so someone else can cook and decorate all lovey dovey for our date instead.
Am I right, ladies? Heck no, I’m not cooking my own Valentine’s dinner. (Further proof from last year: You can see my breakfast-in-bed tray makeover and Date Q&A postcard here.)
But when it comes to doing something special for Olivia for Valentine’s to show her just how much she means to us, I’m like, “Bring on the Conversation Hearts by the truck loads, pretty please.”
I’ve joined in with Lory from Designthusiasm and a group of blogger friends to share some of our best Valentine’s decorating and entertaining tips for the Styled and Set Blog Tour. If you’re visiting from Courtney’s home at French Country Cottage, welcome!
If you love having a quite dinner date at home and love throwing a big Galentine’s party, there are so many gorgeous ideas for this tour. Mine is just more of the #momlife version.
We’ve started making it a tradition since last year where Robert takes Olivia to a daddy/daughter dance in our town. Olivia gets to pick out a “princess dress”, and Robert puts on his best suit, and they dance the night away together. My heart melts into a puddle seeing how much fun these two have together every day.
This was Prince Charming picking up his Cinderella before getting in their carriage to drive off to the ball last year.
Now that we’re in the new house, I figured I’d carry on the tradition by setting up a daddy / daughter date in our playroom.
Every night after dinner, two of Robert and Olivia’s favorite things to do together are coloring and Tic-Tac-Toe at the kitchen table. So I found a bunch of cute decor at the Target Dollar Spot, like a Valentine’s coloring book, coloring pencils, some heart garland, doilies, dish towels, and play plates.
And of course, Conversation Hearts. 😉
I found this canvas pouch at Target too that I drew a Tic-Tac-Toe grid on with a permanent marker. For the Xs and Os, I found a Valentine’s gift bag with an XO design on it and just cut it up. So easy. And when they’re done playing, the paper X & O pieces can be stored in the canvas pouch for the next playdate.
I found this pretty pink mercury glass vase/votive holder at the Target Dollar Spot too that I just filled with some grocery store roses.
And… cupcakes. Because what’s a date without sweets to eat?
Olivia is still an only child, and God only knows if we’ll ever be blessed with a sibling for her, so we feel like it’s especially important for us to step up with play time and give her as much social interaction as we can.
And if that social interaction involves stuffing your face with cupcakes, then so be it. 😉
Do you do anything special for your kiddos (or used to, if they’re all grown) for Valentine’s Day? Even if that something special is just a hug and a kiss, that hug and kiss matters more than anything.
The next stop on the tour is Tam’s home at Citrine Living. Her taste is always gorgeous!
You can see more Valentine’s ideas by hopping over and checking out all of the other bloggers’ posts on the tour:
Please click below to visit the posts:
Bless’er House (That’s me!)
If you missed Monday’s posts:
Shabbyfufu | Town and Country Living | My Soulful Home | So Much Better With Age
Celebrating Everyday Life  | Maison de Pax | Cedar Hill Farmhouse
If you missed Tuesday’s posts:
Designthusiasm | Maison de Cinq | French Garden House
Life on Virginia Street | Julie Blanner | Setting for Four | Decor Gold Designs
Wednesday’s Posts
Bless’er House | CitrineLiving | StoneGable | On Sutton Place
Taryn Whiteaker | Zevy Joy | French Country Cottage
I seriously big puffy heart LOVE this idea! Olivia is so blessed to have such wonderful parents and that happiness on her face speaks volumes. Her profile reminds me of your profile picture on your main page. She may have Robert’s dark coloring but I see you in there too. 🙂
This is hands down the most beautiful post I have ever read!!! So much love in your little family of three. My granddaughters are coming to visit me and I am going to use your x/o game idea! So flippen cute. Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your lovely family.
These special times Olivia gets to have with just her and her dad will be wonderful memories she will be able to look back on later in life and she will know how much she is loved by her parents.
This is adorable, Lauren! Love all your ideas here for a daddy & daughter date.
Hugs, Jamie
As my children were growing up, I worked outside of the home, which left very little time for fun ideas like this, but……now that they are grown, I do fun things for each holiday that they really appreciate. For example for Valentine’s day the table will be decorated, the girls will get flowers or a plant of some kind and the boys will get candy(usually something silly). I decorate goodie bags for all. Again, while they are all grown and starting families of their own they always look forward to these little gestures and it is my pleasure to do it. Kids are ALWAYS kids!
Oh my goodness this is just the sweetest and you captured the best pictures of them! And I’m with you, I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day Decor either, but my kids have been begging for it!
Lauren, this is just the sweetest thing ever!! Robert is setting the bar really high as Prince Charmings go, which is a wonderful thing to do for Olivia… 🙂 We do still make a bit of a big deal for our grown kids by always making an effort to send them something different and special for Valentine’s Day!! And yes, it always involves sugar!
Oh how adorable and precious
So sweet it brought tears to my eyes!! Such a beautiful little one – your family is so blessed to have each other!!
Even though my children are adults now, both married with homes of their own, I always had something special the morning of Valentines Day. Normally it was a cup cake for breakfast. I know bad Mom but my kids loved it. We also celebrated a special dinner that night with all of us, more cake, candy and flowers. Love was always in the air.
Sounds like a beautiful way to celebrate love as a family. Thanks for sharing. Maybe next year I will try that.
I truly LOVE that you focused on your daughter’s Valentine decor-especially since it involves time with her daddy. I also appreciate the ideas and will be using several for our Grands. Thank you for the ideas and the smiles I’m wearing!
Your welcome! Keep smiling. 🙂
That last picture of Robert and Olivia….the one where Olivia is laughing and her eyes are crinkled close? It so reminds me of you in your blog picture! Compare the two. She looks just like you! Toooooo cute! What wonderful memories are being created!
Absolutely precious! I love it!
We set out mailboxes for each person in our family and I encourage them to leave notes for each other. This worked better when the kids were smaller because they enjoyed writing the notes but they don’t write as much now that they are older.
I also give them little gifts for about a week prior to Valentine’s. It’s usually food items that I put into smaller bags and make cute labels for and I always do a play on words. That’s a lot of fun and they really enjoy that.
Lauren, how blessed you are as a family! Just so nice to see the love that you all share! Loved those pictures — so cute! I think a girl is always close to her Daddy! My Dad was always my hero and now I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who is just like my Dad was! May you and your precious husband and daughter always be blessed by that wonderful love that you share today! Blessings! Have a great week!