“All you need is love…”  It’s wonderful to see everyone from everywhere celebrate the month of love.  Heart shaped decorations, red streamers, lovely flowers are all around and it’s amazing.  So what’s more special than to incorporate the “Love” month with a Valentine’s Day party?  I’m pretty sure most of us have the Valentine’s party decorating down back but here are a few tips that will help to liven up some of the decorating ways for your Valentine’s Day party.

DIY Valentines Day Party Ideas

Non-Traditional

Have you ever thought of using a theme, treasured sports team or favorite colors as the inspiration for your Valentine’s party?  The traditional party favors are great but every once in a while you want to give a different flare for your special day.  For some examples, try decorating your Valentine’s party with your favorite sports team paraphernalia, or pick a theme for your party like Alice in Wonderland or vintage trinkets, or try putting the favorite colors of your and the special persons in your life.  Check out local websites to help you in deciding which idea is better for you.

Image via: The Purple Pug

Traditional

However, the traditional way has its perks.  Everyone still enjoys seeing the beautiful red, pink and white color combinations streaked around the room.  Try setting out the heart shaped cut outs, shimmering red goodie bags filled with Valentine’s knickknacks, balloons, also send out personalized Valentine’s Day invitations like Passports to Paris .  Have the Valentine’s Day décor be lead around your home in places like the kitchen, entryway, hallways, and dining room the places where your guests will most occupy.

Image via:  Ilunia

Romantic

Perhaps, it’s just a party for two or couples Valentine’s party, then let’s add in some romance to the mix.  For this idea use your dining table or kitchen table as the setting for your Valentine’s favors.  Decorate the table with candles, red tablecloth, place settings, beautiful champagne flutes and a rosy centerpiece.  You want to add an alluring feel to the space, which will show your spouse or partner how much they mean to you.

Image via:  House Keeper London

Travel

Set up your Valentine’s Day party imitate a beautiful and romantic country from around the world.  Places like Fiji, Paris, Venice, Tuscany etc…  You can research the country that you prefer, then purchase or create items that most resemble the country.  Such as the food, special monuments on photographs or other items, pictures with the name of the country and hearts around it etc.  The possibilities are endless and for more help check out home décor magazines and websites.

Image via:  Paris Perfect

The national day of “Love” should be celebrated and you can do it any way you would like.  There are only a few suggestions above but they should be very effective.  So go out and find out which themes work for your home or your Valentine’s Day celebration and see how they work out for you. What are your Valentines Party Ideas?

For more Valentine’s Day ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Today we continue Stagetecture’s feature ‘Olioboard Inspiration‘. Before you were inspired by – ‘Choosing Inspiring Winter Colors for your Interiors‘ from Kimberly Latimer. Today, I feature Nanette Reynolds who is a member of the the Facebook Olioboard Fan Room group and she shows you how to bring Valentine’s Day into your everyday home! Wonderful insight into the history of Valentine’s Day and how to bring it in your home all year around!

To see all the past Stagetecture’s Olioboard Inspiration members on Pinterest click here.

Olioboard Inspiration #65

Valentine’s Day Everyday in your Home – Nanette Reynolds

The origins of Valentine’s Day date back to the ancient Romans. Many customs that we associate with this day began around the Middle Ages, when poets such as Chaucer romanticized love in their sonnets.  Yet despite these colorful beginnings, Valentine’s Day has evolved into a commercialized event overrun with hearts, flowers, and candy everywhere you look.

Want to impress your loved ones this Valentine’s Day? Well, serve this Srcumptious Cupid Cupcakes that will surely soften the heart of your special someone. This Valentine’s dessert can work its magic for a memorable meal on this romantic date.

Valentine Dessert: Scrumptious Cupid Cupcakes

Image via: My Recipes

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Ingredients

Strawberry Cake:

• 12 ounce frozen sliced strawberries in syrup, thawed
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose soft-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons strawberry extract
• 1/4 teaspoon red liquid food coloring
• Paper baking cups
• Vegetable cooking spray

Chocolate Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 16. oz package powdered sugar

Toppings:

• 24 fresh strawberries
• Chocolate jimmies

Chocolate Ganache:

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Procedure

1. To prepare Strawberry Cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Process strawberries and syrup in a blender or food processor until smooth and pureed. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy. Add 1/2 cups strawberry puree; beat 1 minute.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in strawberry extract and food coloring.
2. Place paper baking cups in 2 (12-cup) muffin pans, and coat with cooking spray; spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely.
4. To prepare Chocolate Frosting, beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Beat at high speed 2 minutes or until creamy. Makes 3 cups.
5. Fill each cupcake with Chocolate Frosting. To fill cupcakes, insert the end of a wooden spoon or dowel into the center of the cupcake to make a hole. Fill a zip-top plastic freezer bag with filling or frosting. Use scissors or kitchen shears to snip about 1/4 inch from one corner of the bag; insert bag into the hole in the cupcake. Squeeze gently until filling comes to the top of each cupcake.
6. Frost each cupcake with Chocolate Frosting.
7. To prepare ganache, cook cream in a heavy nonaluminum saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, just until it begins to steam (do not boil); remove from heat. Place chocolate in a glass bowl. Slowly add hot cream to chocolate, beating with a whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is well blended. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Makes about 2 cups.
8. Place 1 fresh strawberry on top of each cupcake. Top each cupcake with chocolate jimmies, and drizzle with warm Chocolate Ganache.

This Valentine’s dessert isn’t just perfect its look, but also for its taste. You can make at least 25 mouth-watering Stupid Cupid Cupcakes using the whole ingredients. Let your loved ones experience your sweetness through this Valentine’s dessert.

For more Valentine’s ideas on Stagetecture, click here

Express your love in a more personal way by doing your own Valentine’s crafts. This will make your gift more attractive and unique. With a personal touch and efforts exerted, who wouldn’t fall for this? Hence, Valentine’s Day crafts are worth making for your loved ones.

Through the years, DIY Valentine’s Day crafts are evolving into creative ways to keep up with the time. You have the effortless crafts, low-cost crafts, environment-friendly and contemporary crafts. Whichever of these craft types captures your attention, you can be confident that it will be treasured.

Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Crafts

• Felt Coffee-Cup Sleeve

Turn your usual cup of coffee into a heart-ful of serving. With a touch of Felt Coffee-Cup Sleeve project, you can turn a dull and boring cup into a heartwarming craft for your beloved ones. It’s so simple. You need felt paper, scissors, pinking shears, sewing kits and glue. Cut the felt paper using a template or your own customized design. Wrap it around a coffee cup and pin in place. Slide it out stitch to maintain the shape. Trim seam using pinking shears.

Image via: Kathy-Pretty In Ink

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• Meringue Letters and Hearts

How about a sweet temptation for your loved ones this Valentine’s Day? Surprise your loved ones with a Meringue Letter and Hearts on the table. It’s a food craft that will definitely spell out your love literally. To do this, you only need 3 large egg whites, 3/4 cup sugar, a pinch of coarse salt and large pinch of cream of tartar. You can do this by doing the usual meringue recipe and make the difference in the design. Write down how you feel with hearts on the background for a sweet look.

Image via: Martha Stewart

• Zip Tie Heart Garland

This one is really simple yet very attractive. This is a kid-friendly project that you can make as a family bonding. All you need is a bunch of neon zip ties. Simply bend and overlap a series of neon zip ties until you reach a desirable length. That’s how easy and quick you can make this beautiful craft.

Image via: Pinterest

Pick your choice and impress your loved ones with these DIY Valentine’s Day Crafts. Don’t even bother looking for expensive gifts. Bear in mind that it’s the thought that counts!

For more Valentine’s ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Are you looking for sweet Valentine’s Day Gifts to give to the ones you care about? Here is a beautiful idea that shows your love and thoughtfulness: Make some homemade heart-shaped teabags and sugar cubes. It is not something difficult to do, but the results are personalized and cute Valentine’s Day Gifts. Here is how!

Valentine’s Day Gifts: Homemade Heart Teabags and Sugar Cubes

Image via: Etsy

Materials:

For the heart-shaped teabags:

Coffee filters

Scissors

Loose teas

Needle and cotton string

Heart template or heart-shaped cookie cutter

Cardstock (in desired color)

Image via: A Subtle Revelry

For the heart-shaped sugar cubes:

Plain sugar

Heart-shaped silicon mold or cookie cutters

Water

Food coloring (optional)

Image via: Sweet Society

Directions:

Heart-shaped tea bags

Use the heart-shaped template or the cookie cutter to cut out 2 hearts out of the coffee filters. Take the needle and string and sew the two hearts together, leaving a small hole open. From the hole, insert about 2 teaspoons of your favorite loose tea. You can use a small funnel to help you with this step. Finish sewing the teabag. Take the cardstock and cut out a small heart or any other desired shape and attach to the string, either by sewing it on or just using a stapler. Sew the other end of the string to the teabag and you have your very own heart-shaped, homemade teabag!

Image via: Brit & Co

Heart-shaped sugar cubes

To accompany your teabags, or even as a stand-alone Valentine’s Day Gift, these easy sugar cubes are ideal. Take a bowl and add about ½ cup of sugar. Start off by adding ½ teaspoon of water and mix with a fork or spatula. Watch the density of the sugar; you are aiming at a paste-like consistency without melting the sugar. If needed, add another ¼ teaspoon of water to the mix. Add a very small amount of gel food coloring (tip: use a toothpick) and combine. If needed, add a little more food coloring until you get the desired color. Watch out for the consistency. Tip: If you use liquid food coloring, be sure to add less water in the beginning.

Image via: Etsy

If using a heart shaped silicon mold, just spoon the sugar into the mold and even it out. Make sure to pad it firmly into the mold. Let the sugar-hearts dry for a few hours and then carefully push the cubes out of the mold and onto parchment paper. Let them dry for another few hours until firm.

If using heart shaped cookie cutters, place the cookie cutter on parchment paper and fill it with sugar; pad it firmly. Let it dry for a few minutes and then remove carefully the cookie cutter. Let the sugar cube dry for a few hours. Another way you could make these cubes with cookie cutters is to try to roll out your sugar paste onto parchment paper and use the cookie cutters to cut out hearts, just as you would do with cookie dough.

Dress your teabags and sugar cubes up and present them beautifully and it’s going to be a special Valentine’s Day Gift hit for sure! Need more Valentine’s Gift Ideas, click here.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

Valentines Day Peppermint Chocolate Fudge

Image via: Recipes – Today’s Parent

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Yields: 32-36 pieces

Total time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Peppermint Fudge Ingredients:

100g butter, softened

2-tablespoon glucose syrup

1 can condensed milk, sweetened

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

180g finely chopped dark or semi-sweet chocolate

1-tablespoon peppermint essence

Image via: Womenpia

Valentine’s Candy Directions:

Properly grease 8 inches square pan.

In a medium saucepan, put butter, milk, glucose syrup and sugar.  On a medium heat, cook for 3-5 minutes or until sugar dissolves completely. Make sure to stir continuously. Gradually, increase the heat and cook again for 10-15 minutes or until mixture is thick like caramel. Remove from heat.

Quickly add chocolate and peppermint essence. Stir until melted and blended.

Spread mixture into greased pan. Refrigerate for approximately 2 hours or until set. Cut into little squares.

If desired, for decoration cut fun shapes out of baking paper and place them over fudge pieces. Dust with icing sugar and refrigerate. Or simply put colorful crushed candies on top.

You and your guests will not be able to stop eating this heavenly peppermint chocolate fudge. Not only it’s easy to make, it’s festive too!

For more festive desserts on Stagetecture, click here.

If you are having a tough time looking for gifting ideas for your loved ones this Valentine’s day, consider presenting them with something that is handmade with love. Bring in the Valentine’s Day spirit into your home by decorating it with themed wall art. It is easy and quick to make with very few supplies.

Image via: Pinterest

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Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Wall Art Ideas

1. With birds and hearts:

Why limit Valentine’s Day crafts to just hearts? Create a beautiful collage of birds and hearts. You will require an A4 size card stock paper in white. Cut out silhouettes of birds and hearts from scraps of printed fabric. You should choose bright and cheery colors like red, pink, yellow etc. Plan a layout on the card stock paper and use adhesive to stick the cut outs. Frame and decorate your new wall art.

Image via: All People Quilt

 2. With embroidery hoops:

Embroidery hoops are a novel way of decorating your walls this Valentine’s Day. Embroidered hoops make for cute Valentine’s Day gifts as well. You will need embroidery hoops in different sizes along with supplies like printed fabric, buttons, embroidery threads and felt to decorate your hoops. Cover your hoop in a neutral color like light pink. Cut a piece of felt in the shape of a heart. Hot glue bright another layer of a smaller heart. Adhere these layers onto the embroidery hoop. Use embroidery threads to make small stitches around the heart.

Use your creativity to decorate the rest of your hoops.

Image via: Etsy

 3. With floating hearts:

Upcycle an old frame with floating hearts to create an unusual wall art. Pick out an old frame and take out the backing cardboard. Repaint the frame to give it a fresh look. Cut out hearts in different shapes, sizes, colors and patterns from card stock paper or craft paper. You can also use old greeting cards with interesting designs for your hearts. Create a layout inside the frame and lay the string on top of the hearts. Glue tem together when you are happy with the layout. Finally glue the string in place at the back of your frame.

Image via: Creating Home Base

Cut little hearts for gift tags and present your handmade wall art to your loved ones or decorate your home with them.

For more Valentine’s Day ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

As Christmas has passed a log ago and the next holiday will not come before spring, your home may be feeling drab and cold. So, decorating your home for the Valentine’s Day will be a good idea to instill it with some liveliness. Decorating home for this special day does not call on a lot of skills. What you need to have is a romantic mind and a bit imaginative skill.

Image via: Barry Halkin

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Red is the color of insinuating the Valentine’s spirit into your home but it will not hurt adding some pinks and purples too. These budget-friendly tips will help you a lot if you have a tight wallet:

Use Flowers

February is the month of carnations and red-, pink-, and white-shaded roses. However, you can also fill floral containers of your home with other fresh flowers like orchids, lilies, and ranunculus. Instead of using traditional glass vases, use antique vases, unique glass tumblers, tin pitchers, or sea glass vases to highlight the colors and blossoms of the flowers.

Decorate with Candy

Enormous display of candy is interwoven with the spirit of Valentine’s Day. Have you ever thought of using it for decoration purpose? Red, pink, and white candy corn, candy hearts, and red cinnamon dots can easily be incorporated into your Valentine décor scheme. Buy decorative jars and fill each one with red licorice, wrapped chocolates, or jellybeans. Place them at kitchen counter or windowsill and let your whole family to enjoy the stunning look.

Image via: Wedding Window

Red-ize the Kitchen

Kitchen is a good place for Valentine’s makeover, especially if you have a family that loves spending a lot of time there. So, you can give your tired looking kitchen a facelift by adding some hot red colored appliances and accent pieces. A wall clock with a vibrant red frame; a cherry-red, oval-shaped cookware; a big, crimson-colored refrigerator; or kitchen chairs with red upholstery will help your kitchen to catch the Valentine’s spirit.

Image via: Home Design Corp

Use Paper-made Accessories

For an overall Valentine makeover of the house, you can consider using ornaments, ribbons, and other knickknacks. If you have a large bay window, you can suspend paper-made hearts from the top of it. If you have an antique wood ladder, hang Valentine’s Day bubbles or pretty jewels from every other step and lean it against the wall of your bedroom or living room. Accent your living area with transparent lamp bases filled with pink or white colored balls. You can also use paper garlands to add versatility to the decoration. These garlands can be hung on the walls, mantle, across the front of a table, or down the stairway banister.

Image via: HGTV

Valentine’s Day is a day to highlight and celebrate romance and love. So, make sure that the decorative elements highlight these two themes.

For more Valentine’s ideas for your home, click ehre.

The Valentine gifts start filling the stores toward the beginning of the holidays. However, the wide range of gift items also drives your mind to various directions, leaving you wondering what to pick up for your special one. There is a common conception that women love jewelry, flowers, and chocolates while men are fond of alcohol, multi-tool gadgets, and latest devices but in order to make the gift item unique, you have to add your creative twist to it.

Image via: Reachli

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Discard Traditional Gift Ideas

The gift shops are hoarded with numerous gift items this time. You will get everything there – from heart-shaped chocolate to boxer shorts. However, the gift that will actually count is the one that your special one cares for. You have to listen to him/her carefully to get the clues of what s/he actually wants. Do not let your mind to be boggled with traditional gift ideas. Your dear one could be delighted by having just a book rather than a fancy dress or accessory. Tickets to baseball match can make a man more delighted than a bunch of flowers while a girl could be impressed by having something new for her collectibles shelf rather than an impersonal heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Image via: Travel – Babbles

Spend Time Together

The best gift for your loved one could be spending some time together with his/her. The best thing would be to dine a meal with your partner. Prepare at least one favorite dish of his/her with one or two other items. Add creative touches to the decoration and presentation of the meal to make it memorable to your beloved. Add heart-shaped crockery, roses, red candles, soft music, and on the top of it, your unquestionable and undivided attention for the evening. A romantic meal and your heartfelt attention – a combination that will never go wrong.

Image via: Etsy

Think of Something Different

A photo or a typographic pillow will give your Valentine something to snuggle up when s/he cannot be with you. A pillow with his/her favorite quotes or words or your photo with some words imprinted on it would be a cute gift unlike anything your beloved has ever received before. It will also show that you really care for your partner.

Give Personal Touches

A traditional gift can also be special if has a personal touch in it. Jewelry is one of the most traditional Valentine gifts but you can make it special just by spending a little bit time. Engrave an inside joke that makes you both smile or a secret name that you use to call your partner endearingly. You can also make the jewelry by your own. Purchase beads, jewelry wire, and a clasp. Make a bracelet and present it to your Valentine.

Image via: Babble

You can generate hundreds of gift ideas if you just think a bit out of the box. The trick to make your Valentine happy is to give his/her either what s/he admires or something that proves your love to him/her.

For more Valentine’s gift ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Now we all know the typical and traditional colors for Valentine’s Day are red, pink, and white.  Which are truly great colors they are soothing and some of them represent the color of the heart which equate to the colors of love.  But what about changing up the scene? Why not try colors that have a similar appeal but are just visually different.  Try adding and mixing colors that usher in the spring season while rousing the relaxing warm feel to the environment.

Grab Flowers from Non-traditional Places

Image via: Maggie Lyn

We love the red, pink, and white collection.  It was what we grew up with but let’s mix in some of the color combinations that are nature-inspired and see where they might take us.  Surprise yourself with something new and refreshing that will still provide the loving and inviting atmosphere of Valentine’s Day.  Choosing colors such as the Red-Orange, Yellow, Green and White combination still has a fun and energetic feeling.  One is still getting the heart-warming environment a just different visual appeal.

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Color of Love Inside – Where do you find Inspiration? 

Back to red is the color of the heart and with the heart we love.  Plenty of research has proven that before oxygen even touches the blood stream that the color of the blood is of a deep lilac.  The heart pumps blood which helps to give us life.  Without life there would be no love.  So again, you can still keep with the theme of love just represented in a different manner.  Plus lilac and sky blue bring an airy and light emotion to the space; since the two colors are cool/dulled colors they all the person to have a peaceful and calming holiday with an embrace of magical fantasy.

Show Team Spirit

Who’s got Spirit?  Why not display your Valentine’s Day Spirit by doing it in your favorite sports team colors?  We all know how excited we can become when our favorite team is in the super bowl, playoffs, or any championship game.  So let’s take some of that passion and use it for inspiration for our Valentine’s Day decor.  Again it’s just your own interpretation of how you would like to celebrate this holiday.  Take something that you care about and display it for your loved ones.

Valentine’s Day can be as unique as you would like for it be.  Isn’t that what makes it so special?  The fact that the decor is coming from a place of caring, sharing and thoughtfulness which is what matters the most.  Dress it up or played it down as much as you would like.

For more Valentine’s Day ideas on Stagetecture, click here.