What I'm Making and Gifting this Valentine's Day

I always thought that Valentine’s Day was a fake holiday. I’m sure you’ve heard the story…it was made up by the greeting card industry to sell more cards…but as it turns out, that isn’t exactly true (more on that here). Even still, Valentines can feel like an arbitrary holiday. But as a mom of young kids (Valentines is a big deal to them!) and as a woman who feels the winter slog, Valentines Day has become a mid-winter beacon. I love the cookies, crafting, the time-honored tradition of exchanging Valentines with classmates, and just generally celebrating love. Here’s what we’re doing to create a fun and love-filled Valentine’s Day this February 14th.

3-year-old Daphne getting into the Valentine’s Day spirit

Making:

This one is easy! We will be making my favorite sugar cookies with naturally colored buttercream frosting in all the heart-shaped pinks and reds of the season (my concentric heart shaped cookie cutters here). These cookies are free of weird chemical dyes and totally delicious. If you haven’t tried them yet, I urge you to start baking now! Your children/coworkers/friends will love you all the more if you share ;)

Gifting:

We’ll either make or buy Valentines for the kid’s classmates, and we also love to send out Valentines postcards to family and friends who aren’t nearby. Another high note: a box of locally-made boutique chocolates for our family to share on the big day. I’m a big fan of dark chocolate, I have a square or two most evenings, so I look forward to this all year long. We usually source our chocolate from Seattle but if you’re not lucky enough to live near a chocolatier, I put together some other ideas for making and gifting this Valentine’s Day below.