Stay at Home Date Ideas

My husband and I have never really been the “go out on Valentine’s Day” type of people. Between the crowds, the increased fees, and now the inability to get a babysitter, staying in looks better than ever! Although we can just be lazy and watch Netflix like any other night, I decided to brainstorm some ideas to make staying in on Valentine’s Day special. And then, I figured lots of others couples and families probably stay home too- so, why not write a post with some ideas for everyone?! These are easy ideas you can whip up in a few hours or less- so, pick one you like and get to planning!

The best part is that these ideas can be used ALL YEAR LONG! So, pin this blog post to your Pinterest and reference it any time you want to add a little more fun to your date nights at home!

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Stay at Home Date Ideas for Adults

-Pick a country and "vacation" there (ex: watch an Italian movie while eating Italian food, drinking Italian wine, and an outfit you would wear to vacation in Italy!)

-Wine and cheese night (brie, bread, wine, various cheeses and crackers). Listen to romantic music, make a fire, or watch a movie.

- Order your fave takeout, watch your fave movie, and fave dessert

-Take a "cooking class" by making a new dish following a recipe you find online together. Bonus points for adding a dessert!

- Do a wine tasting or beer tasting. Get different wines or beers. One of you places them in random bags, the other one adds numbers and pours them into glasses. The surprise won't be ruined!

-Watch a video on Youtube and learn a new dance together!

-Have a picnic in your yard (if it's warm where you live) or on your living room floor.

-Give each other massages or some other spa treatment

-Learn a new skill (like juggling) together

Stay at Home Date Ideas for Families & Kids

-make a love fort & fill it with pink, red, white or purple sheets and pillows, or just all the items they love.

-Do a craft day together

-Hide valentines around the house for kids to collect (write what you love about kids and hide them or spell out an activity to do together another day)

-Create games at home- bowling with half-empty bottles, ball toss with buckets, etc. Pinterest has about a billion ideas for this!

-Do a photo scavenger hunt. Come up with items they need to find, and watch as they peruse the house for the items. Give them a kid's camera to take some pics of their treasures! (Also, this helps avoid a broken iPhone screen!)

Stay at Home Date Ideas for Friends

-have a spa/pamper day (each friend picks a treatment, like face masks, nail polish, etc). Or, pick up a few of these kits!

-Rom-com marathon. Get some popcorn and add gourmet flavoring for a special twist!

-Do a craft together (like making your own candles!) with wine and a cheese platter

-Do a paint nite together by following a Youtube video or letting each person pick their own idea. Grab a set of canvases and some paints!

Stay at Home Date Ideas for All Ages

-Karaoke! Get a cheap microphone on Amazon or fake one using a hairbrush. Watch videos on Youtube or get a fancy machine. The choice is yours!

-Make fondue! I think this would also be great for kids.

-Host a game night!

-Make smores and sing campfire songs! Bonus points if someone knows how to play guitar.

-Make breakfast for dinner! Switch it up and make homemade waffles.

There are TONS of ways that you can make staying at home feel special. You just need to be creative! Do you have any other great date night ideas? Or, is one of these your fave? Let me know in the comments below!

Perfect Valentine's Day Gifts for Moms

Ah, moms. The women who give their all to raise amazing little humans. They’re also notorious for never doing anything for themselves! This Valentine’s Day, how about giving a little gift to the special mom in your life? Whether she’s your sister, wife or friend, I bet she would appreciate a small gift for herself! Here are some ideas for gifts that a mom will love- no matter your budget! Oh and also- TOTALLY perfect to buy them for yourself as well!

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Under $25

Box of Teas - Moms can definitely use something to relax! This box of teas is SO cute and looks fancy. As a bonus, add in some fancy honey and you’ve got the perfect gift.

Blackhead Remover Pore Vacuum - This is perfect for getting a facial without actually leaving the house! Give it as a gift with Tea Tree Essential Oil for a perfectly pampering experience.

Silk pillowcase - These pillowcases are great for your skin and hair! They also feel super luxurious, so there’s that!

Travel Coffee Mug - Since mom’s coffee never stays warm, give her this insulated travel mug so she can take it on the go! For the mom with more than one kid, go for the bigger option. She needs all the coffee she can get!

Headbands - All moms love to throw their hair up in a mom bun! Or maybe not love to.. but it happens. Give them a nice set of headbands to add a little flair to every outfit, and add a headband holder to help them stay organized and nicely displayed!

Makeup Brush Holder - mostly just so that she can store them nicely and feel like a rockstar while she does her makeup!

Dry Erase Calendar - As a bonus, add a set of dry erase markers to go with it!

Reversible Tote Bag - It’s a fact. Moms have a lot of stuff that they need to carry. This way, she can do it in style!

Best Mom Ever Candle - Perfect for the rare moment that mom gets some time alone- like, maybe a bath?! A girl can dream, right?

Sexy-ish PJ’s - I think these are fun to give as a reminder that although she is “mom” most of the day, she can still be her sexy self in the evening.

Under $50

7-Piece Pajama Set - This set is so fun for all the moods! Sexy mom, check. Lazy mom, check. It also means that she’ll be bale to mix and match the pieces while still looking put together!

Wine Glass - Add in a bottle of her fave wine and you’ve got a winner!

Gift Card for Date Night - Every mom needs to get out once in a while! Throw in an offer to babysit, and this is probably the best gift ever.

External Hard Drive - Moms love to take pictures. Get her an external hard drive to hold all those precious photos and keep them safe!

Heart Necklace - Jewelry is fun. As a bonus, this one can be engraved!

Wine Bottle Holder - There’s a reason that pretty much every mom mug and t-shirt mentions wine. Get her this cute bottle holder to store that wine in a pretty way!

Cozy Blanket - This is perfect for time spent on the couch with the kids, or watching a movie in peace after they’ve gone to bed!

Picture Frame -So many pictures end up buried on our phone forever. With a pretty frame like this one, she’ll have a great reason to display them! To be the best friend ever, offer to take a family photo so that she can be in it.

French Press Coffee Maker - Moms need coffee, and this set is SO PRETTY.

Essential Oils Diffuser - Help her to relax and feel like she’s at the spa, even if she’s just watching Frozen for the 700th time. This one is really pretty and fits in with anyone’s decor! As a bonus, add a set of essential oils.

Around $100

Dreamy Baby Photography - Moms take lots of pictures. With this course, she can take amazing photos of her baby no matter the device. By enrolling her in this course, she’s getting a new skill plus all the memories of her child. It’s a win-win.

Robot Vacuum - Kids make messes and we hate to clean the. This vacuum does the work for her.

Handheld Massager - Raising kids is stressful and we don’t get to move and stretch as much as we should. Things get stiff! This massager helps to loosen things up.

Custom Initial Necklace- Perfect for her initials, her husband’s, or her children!

Amazon Echo Show - I have one of these and love it. I can play music, write down a grocery list, set a timer, hear the weather…. all without touching my phone that I can’t find because it’s been hidden by a child or the dog is sitting on it.

Ninja Countertop Blender - Perfect for morning smoothies! I have the Ninja and love it. It’s probably been at least 6 years that we’ve had it!

Keurig Coffee Maker - Because again, momma needs her coffee. This one comes in so many pretty colors!

Towel Warmer - This is a fun gift that really will make her feel pampered. Nothing better than a warm towel!

Fitbit Versa 2 Smartwatch - This connects with Amazon Alexa which is awesome! It also syncs up notifications with your phone and can control your spotify app. All of that in addition to the heath tracking benefits like tracking your heart rate, steps, etc.

Toddler Valentine Basket Ideas (On A Budget!)

While I was browsing the Valentine section at Target, I got the bright idea to make a Valentine’s day basket for my daughter, Hailey. I know that a Valentine basket technically isn’t a thing, but I love holidays and will take any excuse to celebrate. I started to ponder what I would put in my basket, and I was pretty bummed that I thought of the idea as we were essentially leaving the store. So, I made a list and decided to go back and grab what I needed another time (you know… before the inevitable meltdown began). I knew that I wanted my basket to be Valentine-themed, but I didn’t want to waste money on cheap crap or novelty items that she would only use for a day. This momma is on a budget and every purchase counts. So, I filled up Hailey’s basket with a few items that were fun, but could be used year round. Pretty much everything came from either Dollar Tree or Target!

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Here’s what I put in my Toddler Valentine Basket:

Red and pink snacks- Since Hailey is only 16 months old, I didn’t want to fill her basket with chocolates or candy. So, I grabbed some of her fave snacks and some new ones for her to try. She loved it and wanted her pouches and yogurt bites right away!

One stuffed animal- She’s not big on stuffed toys, so I grabbed this monkey from the dollar tree. She’s having a monkey moment since she knows how to make the sounds!

Bubbles- Hailey LOVES bubbles, so this big pack from the dollar store was perfect for her basket!

Toddler paint and paint brushes- I love to paint, so I decided to get a wooden heart from the Dollar Tree and some paints to go along with it. I can’t wait to paint with her again- we haven’t done it since she was a tiny baby!

Hershey Kisses- I had to give her some kind of chocolate! It’s a Valentine’s Day tradition. And what’s sweeter than a kiss?

Crayola Bath Items- I found these paint soaps at the dollar tree and I thought they would be a fun addition. At first she was very confused and even got mad at us for putting the paint soap on her! After a few tries, she realized she loved them and kept asking for more paint.

Valentine Book- Hailey loves the Halloween version of this book, so I decided to get her the Valentine version too! We’ve been reading it at night and she seems to like it.

Valentine Basket- This was actually something I had laying around the house if you can believe it! I was going to buy a basket but I figured I’d save the money. I have plenty at home I can use! Maybe next year (or for an older child) it would make sense to get a basket just for this- especially for a kid that likes to play with them.

Well, that’s all there is to it! There are so many items that you can add to a basket for your kids. You just need to be creative and think about what they like! Pick 2-3 colors for your basket that you’d like to stick to and it’ll be perfectly pretty. Or, just grab their favorite items and make it a “love” basket- you know, full of things they LOVE!

What would you put in your child’s basket? Let me know in the comments below!

Valentine’s Day Cupid’s Arrow Pins

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so that means you have to wear your heart on your sleeve! Or, well… your lapel! With these super easy to make cupid’s arrow pins, you’ll be adorably decked out for work, shopping or even a Galentine’s day brunch! Best of all they’re fun to make for all your gal-pals with the tutorial I created for Giggles Galore.

There’s instructions for the 3 simple designs and you only need a few supplies to create a whole bunch of them. You can also make them for your coworkers, kids at school, or your family members to wear.

So, head on over to Giggles Galore blog so you can make your own!

DIY Polaroid Valentine

Ever since Hailey came along, it’s like people can’t get enough of her. I get it- she’s the cutest! So, instead of getting the grandmas and aunties chocolates that end up with a bite taken out (is it just me that taste tests each one?!) get them something they can keep forever- these magnets! I partnered up with Pinhole Press to create this adorable camera valentine for your family. This post was sponsored by Pinhole Press, but just know I LOVE their products- I ended up ordering an extra set of these magnets because everyone wanted one for themselves once they saw them!

I did a quick photoshoot for Hailey with v-day outfits to make these magnets extra special. Most of the pics can be seen in her 3 month update and you can easily do your own by popping a red or pink shirt onto the kiddos!

So, head on over to the Pinhole Press blog to see the post and order your own set!