Most people think of Valentines Day as the day of Love for Sweethearts.  I mean come on, all the commercials tell us that, right? 

Don't buy into the hype that this day of Love is only for Sweethearts!

Is it any wonder that so many people struggle with depression around this holiday.  Not everyone has a "Sweetheart".  And the expectations and expense can be overwhelming.  Well, it doesn't have to be expensive or just a day for sweethearts.

I say we focus more on the part where this is a day about LOVE. 

It doesn't matter if you are married, single, dating, divorced, widowed, have kids, don't have kids, have pets, parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, this day is for you too. 

But let's start with the number one person you should show love toward on this day.  YOURSELF!

 Our Father in Heaven loves us, and he wants us to love ourselves.  So this Valentines Day, let's make it about love.  Let's show love to ourselves, our friends, families, kids, pets, each other, our sweethearts, even strangers.

You - Do something nice for yourself for Valentines. Treat yourself to something you've been wanting or dreaming about. Do something you enjoy. Be good to yourself, pamper yourself and remind yourself that you are enough.  
Friends - Make it a Galentines or Palentines Day and get together with friends. Catch a movie, grab a bite to eat, hit the gym or mall or a favorite sporting event.
Kids - Have a special date with the kids. Pack a lunch and have an indoor/outdoor picnic. Go for a bike ride, spend some one on one time.
Family - Send family members a card expressing how much you love them. Call your grandparents or grandchildren and remind them how special they are to you. Plan a brunch and get together and laugh.
Pets - Take them for a walk or a car ride.
Sweetheart - Hold hands, express gratitude, laugh, have a romantic night in with take out and a movie.
Strangers - Smile, give a sincere compliment, show kindness, offer help.

Basically, if your heart is beating, you have someone or something to share Love with on this day.

Do you follow us on Pinterest yet? You are going to love our Valentine's Day Pin Board.  We just adore this decorating idea from MomsCraftySpace.com



                                                               Happiness is Homemade

Check out some of our other favorite Valentine's Day ideas on our Pin Board!

  Follow Sparklers's board {Holiday - Valentines Day} on Pinterest.

We’ve always had a family dinner centered around the kids on actual Valentine’s Day. After all, they are my loves as well! Not to mention, then we don’t have to deal with the crazy crowded restaurants. Don’t worry, my husband and I still celebrate each other; we just make arrangements for another evening.

I love decorating the dinner table with things I know my kids will enjoy. They’re not interested in fancy, schmancy things…they just want to have fun! So that’s exactly what we do. I keep it simple and inexpensive. I use paper goods for easy clean up and make hearts out of EVERYTHING! All items you see pictured were either things I already had on hand or I purchased at my local dollar store or in Target’s Dollar Spot.


I use a white, disposable table cloth and set out markers so everyone can write down things they love. Since it can be wiped down, we like to have this out starting February 1st, then we look over all the responses during our special dinner. This is such a fun activity. It’s so cute to see the things that get written down and the kids think it’s pretty neat that they can write on the table. I also keep a stack of Valentine cards on the table so at any time someone can stop to write a love note. I usually get a few happy notes written by my sweet kiddos on my pillow each night.

I sprinkle the table with heart and lip shaped candies, buy fresh flowers and have a decorative box filled with fun goodies for each child. I love to watch the expressions on their faces when they see the decorated table all colorful and festive. They get so giddy and know that this dinner is going to be a bit more special than most.

Although there have been slight variations over the years, our menu generally consists of the same few things. I bought an ice cube tray that makes heart shaped ice forever ago at Ikea, and I use it every year. I fill it with some sort of red juice, then plop the hearts into Sprite. When my kids were younger, I would buy heart shaped pasta (usually found in specialty stores or online) and top it with Alfredo sauce. But as they’ve gotten older, they like getting more involved, so now we make heart shaped pizzas. We use cookie cutters to cut heart shapes into dough then they get to top it with whatever their little hearts desire…right down to heart shaped pepperoni. For dessert we either do heart shaped sugar cookies that the kids decorate themselves (and pass out to neighbors), chocolate cupcakes that the kids decorate or fondue which is always fun because it’s not something we do often.
Whatever is on the table, whether it be food or decorations, the most important thing is always what’s sitting around it. I love doing these little things that help our family celebrate life. We really don’t have to put a lot of time and money into it. I truly didn’t in this instance, but I do put a lot of heart (literally & figuratively). It’s so fun for me to see how happy it makes my kids. They get so excited in anticipation, knowing it’s a special day and feeling a few more warm fuzzies than usual, and that makes this mama’s heart extra happy.

With Valentines Day coming up, I wanted to celebrate my marriage and show my love for my Husband.  We came up with this list of 50 Random Acts of Kindness for your Husband.




1.   Make his favorite meal.
2.   Slip a love note in his wallet.
3.   Tell him how much you          
      appreciate him.
4.   Bring him breakfast in bed.
5.   Send him a racy text.
6.   Do one of his chores for him.
7.   Surprise him with a little  
      gift.
8.   Pray for him.
9.   Brag about him.
10. Kiss him passionately, for      
       no reason.
11. Bake his favorite dessert.
12. Flirt with him.
13. Tell him why you love him.
14. Give him a sincere  
       compliment.
15. Do something off of his to
       do list.
16. Give him a back rub.
17. Draw a bubble bath for the
       two of you.

A few years ago, my husband and I decided to have a Valentine's Day gift challenge.  (que game show music.)  I LOVE games and my hubby likes to make me happy.  So the rules of our game were simple, we had to make each other a Valentine's Day gift and/or spend only $5.

Game On!

I thought and I thought, and I was having a hard time coming up with something that he would like. Everything I found was too cutesy or over our budget, so I was stumped.  (Ha!)

Then one day I saw on the side of the road a beautiful fallen tree.  I had an idea!

This project was so super easy.  You will need 1 log stump and a caring chisel set.

First make sure one end of the log is flat and even, so that it will stand even on your table.  Then draw a heart and your initials on the log with a ball point pen.  I kind of put some pressure on the drawing, so that it was indented into the wood a bit.  Then I took my chisel and went to work.  It took a little bit of strength and time, but I LOVE how it turned out.  This is one of our my favorite decor pieces in my home.

And the Valentine Gift Challenge?  My hubby loved it!

I realized this year that I don't have a lot of Valentine's Day decor.  I love to decorate for the fall months, Halloween is my favorite, and then Christmas always takes up so much energy.  By the time February comes around I find myself craving a clean and simple house.

I was looking at Pinterest one night, and realized that I could still decorate for Valentines Day and keep a clean and simple home.  So I pulled together some supplies and came up with this really easy sign.  I have it in my entryway and I LOVE it.  It makes me happy every time I see it.

How to:  Love sign
Supplies:  1 piece of foam board, 4 pieces of scrapbook paper,
scissors and glue
This project is really easy, but adds a dramatic look to your room.  I traced each letter from my computer screen in the font
that I wanted.  I then cut each letter out of the scrapbook paper then glued it onto the foam board.  Then you have a beautiful piece of art work for your Valentines decor.
thet

Sparklers Sweet16 is a set of monthly challenges to help 2016 be the SWEETEST year yet.
February's focus is on our relationships, with the challenge to help nurture and build our relationship with our partner!

We have set up a 2 week LOVE challenge.  With daily inspirations for you to do for or with your sweetheart! The daily challenges will focus on building your relationship and helping to show service and love for him.  (Some of the challenges could be tweaked to do for your kids, or yourself, if you don't have a sweetheart.)

You can do the LOVE challenge whenever you want, but we set it up to start February 1st and to run the two week course, ending on Valentine's Day.  We would love for you to join us, and let us know how you are accomplishing the daily goals.

Here are the daily challenges, that way you can plan ahead if you want to.

1. Write a handwritten letter of appreciation.  Get specific with what you appreciate about him.
2. Give him an after work massage.  Help him relax and seriously, who doesn't like massages!?
3.  Have fun together.  Part of a healthy relationship is to get silly every once in awhile.  Take funny selfies, draw a portrait of each other, give each other tattoos with permanent marker.  Get creative and get to laughing.
4.  Pack a favorite treat of his for him to take to work.  Men love treats!
5.  Make a musical playlist that is special to the two of you. Listen to it while doing chores together, taking a bath, relaxing at night, road trips, etc.
6.  Go on a Random Acts of Kindness date.  Serve your community together.  This will strengthen your love for each other and you will want to make this a regular date night.
7.  Go through old photographs of the two of you and make a scrapbook together, or frame some new pictures of the two of you.  Having displayed pictures of the two of you happy, will remind you daily why you married him!
8.  Go for a walk/drive and talk about your future and discuss your dreams.  Get excited about your life together!
9.  Make him his favorite meal.  If you have kids, maybe feed them first, so that he feels he gets all the attention.  Make him his favorite dessert while you're at it!
10.  Give him time to unwind by himself.  Spoil him by taking care of everything this evening so that he can just relax.  Believe me, he will appreciate this.
11.  Leave him a silly poem in his car, or put sticky notes all over the mirror or send him cute little texts all day.  Get cute and creative, let him know you are thinking of him.
12.  Re-live your first date.  This may take some planning and/or tweaking.  Have fun with this!
13.  Serve him!  Do a chore of his for him.  Love is service!
14.  Give him a big long kiss for no reason when he's not expecting it.  Maybe do this one everyday!