How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Some strive to make it the most romantic day of the year, some rail against its commercialization, while still others take the opportunity to break out the pinking shears and craft their hearts out – so to speak!

LetsPartyMagazine.com invited readers to submit stories, recipes, and craft ideas to share how they celebrate February 14th. Here are your contributions, along with some romantic quotes to get you in the mood for love.

A bell is no bell 'til you ring it / A song is no song 'til you sing it / And love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay / Love isn’t love 'til you give it away.

Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music

My ‘Punny’ Valentine
“We are always looking for thoughtful, inexpensive DIY gift ideas for my kids to make for their teachers and friends around Valentine’s Day.

One of my favorite past projects has been to cut out paper hearts from colored card stock and attach them to ribbon. We then tie a bow around individually wrapped packages of microwave popcorn and include the message, ‘You make my heart go POP!’ It doesn’t get any simpler than this, and who can resist a salty treat with a pun? This project can easily be adapted to suit a number of funny sayings and accompanying treats.This year, we're attaching cinnamon hearts to plastic toy shovels with a note that reads, 'I DIG You!'.” 

Tracy Werner, publisher and mother of five

Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine! 

Thomas Hood

That’s Amore
“When my husband (then boyfriend) bought his first house, he was completely gutting and remodeling it around Valentine's Day. We didn't have big plans, so he ordered Italian takeout and invited me to meet him for dinner at the house– the totally empty house: no tile, no carpet, no furniture, and no paint.

When I arrived, it looked completely dark; there was no lighting installed yet! He opened the door and there were a dozen white roses lit up with candles above the fireplace, and candles leading upstairs to the master bedroom balcony. He had two fold-up patio chairs, a cooler, wine, and our takeout dinner laid out on the balcony for me, along with an old, small boom box playing romantic music.

We dined on Italian and drank wine in candlelight on the balcony under the stars. That was the first meal we ever had in what was to become ‘our’ house, and I loved every minute of it. Cheesy...I know.”

Krystal Temple, Life Design Event Planning

Grow old along with me!  The best is yet to be.

Hearts and Crafts
Tanya Archibald, mom of Nick, 12, and Chris, 6, shares with LetsPartyMagazine.com some ways that she makes the holiday memorable for her little valentines.

Lollipop Heart Bouquet: Wrap a green pipe cleaner around the stem of a red or pink heart-shaped lollipop for an instant ‘rose’. These make an adorable topper for cakes and cupcakes, or ‘plant’ your heart-shaped flower garden in floral foam placed inside a decorative pot.

Hershey’s Valentine’s Mice: For these little guys you’ll need Hershey’s kisses, chocolate for melting, Maraschino cherries with stems attached, slivered almonds, and red gel icing. Melt a small batch of chocolate in a double boiler over the stove or in a fondue pot. Dip a cherry into the chocolate, holding it by the stem; the stem will act as the tail of the mouse. While the chocolate is still warm and pliant, attach the chocolate covered cherry to the flat part of an unwrapped Hershey’s kiss, with the ‘tail’ of the cherry pointing outward. Slip two slivered almonds in between the kiss and the cherry to act as ears, and let harden. When cooled and firm, use the red gel icing to give your mouse eyes and a nose.

Sweetheart Punch:  Pour red fruit punch into heart-shaped ice cube trays and freeze. When ready, serve clear glasses or plastic cups filled with lemon-lime soda or cherry-flavored 7-Up, and top with a few festive ice cubes. This easy drink not only looks cute, but it tastes even better as the ‘ice’ begins to melt, and can be prepped several days ahead of time.

Love doesn’t make the world go ‘round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile.

An Unexpected Engagement
“One day, back when we were both attending the U of A, my boyfriend, Josh, came over to hang out and watch TV. I lived with five other girls at the time and we were looking at a magazine article about Valentine's Day engagements.

I was fighting with one of my roommates because I thought Valentine's Day engagements were, in a word, ‘lame’. I said that I wanted to be surprised and I felt like people expected engagements to happen on that day. Plus, I didn't want to be one in however many millions that shared that engagement day - I wanted my own day! Little did I know, my poor boyfriend was listening on, crushed. He had planned on proposing to me that Valentine's Day.
 
Too anxious to wait any longer than he had originally expected, Josh decided he was going to propose the night before Valentine’s. We were leading music at our local Campus Crusade meeting, which hosted about 250 students. Just as the meeting was coming to a conclusion, the emcee stood up and said he owed Josh a favor, and so there was a little Valentine going out to me from him. 

In my usual embarrassed way, I started to sink in my chair; I was mortified that Josh would choose such a public place to give me a special Valentine’s Day gift. Then the lights went down and a slideshow started to play, set to our favorite song, "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds Five. I looked over at Josh and he had tears streaming down his face. As the song came to an end, he got out of his chair and grabbed the microphone.  Oh no, more gushing in front of other people!
 
Josh got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Everyone was standing and clapping, then people started taking pictures and a guy with a video camera came up to me. I was so overwhelmed; I didn't know what to do. But, as if instinct kicked in, I jumped out of my seat, ran to him, and just hugged him. 

After hugging for what seemed like an eternity, I asked him if we could leave.  But as we were walking out, everyone started yelling, ‘Well, what did you say?’  I realized then I had never even answered him, poor guy. I yelled, ‘Yes, of course!’ And then all of our friends started running toward us. Seriously, I felt like I was in a movie or something.  Once we were outside, Josh just looked at me and said, ‘Well, did I surprise you?’”

Jennifer Thye, Imoni Events

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.

If you have a Valentine’s story that you’d like to share, an idea or a submission for a future article, contact the editor by clicking here.