Making Valentine's Day a Family Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I wanted to make this Valentine's Day extra special for my little love bugs. I started their morning off with a hearty breakfast filled with pancakes, ham, eggs and fresh fruit. All made with love of course. I used my cookie cutters to give it more holiday look. 

After breakfast had the kiddos help me decorate our dessert for the night. We made velvet cake from scratch and it tasted just as good as it looked.

For the decor I tried to use items around the house and to keep the budget down I purchased some items from Dollar tree. We wanted to set it up as if we were at the restaurant (hence the wine glass and champagne flutes). Everyone had flute glasses because we were going to toast as family, with apple cider of course ;).

Around the house we had little sayings so I decided to write on our mini chalkboard "Love is Sweet" as it is ;). To keep it festive I added one of my flower arrangements (for tutorial: http://mommybakesnj.blogspot.com/2015/01/diy-flower-arrangement.html) .

A Sweet Tart banner was a must! You can get your free printable at : http://www.sandytoesandpopsicles.com/tag/valentines-day/ .

For dinner I had a few things in mind. Finalizing the menu plan was a bit difficult since I wanted so much. I worked on the appetizers first.  I made deviled eggs and decorated it around the salad I had prepped earlier (aren't the heart shaped cucumbers adorable!)

As another appetizer I had homemade tomato soup, which I topped each one with sour cream. I put the sour cream in a Ziploc bag and cut the tip so I could write special messages.

I wanted to include the kids on what we were going to be eating so I asked the oldest what she would like so she requested ribs with a side of mac n cheese. I did just that! In addition to that I made my husband and I chimichurri steaks topped with sauteed peppers and onions.

I have to say the turnout was better than what I had envisioned. I just love how cute the table looked. I had my toddler help out with the whole setup. She even helped me do the decorative napkins tied neatly with twine.

I forgot to mention our side dishes...for sides I had the cream of spinach, oven roasted baby potatoes and of course the mac and cheese.

This is my little lady ready to start our candle lit dinner on Valentine's Day as a family. 

I enjoyed every minute of it and the best part was spending it with my love ones from the comfort of our own home. I'd love to see how you spent your Valentine's Day, please feel free to post pictures or comments below. Thank you!