For Alex and me, Valentine's Day has always been more about acknowledging the special people in our lives rather than a meal out at a restaurant. Celebrating Valentine's Day is also a wonderful a way to breathe a little bit of vibrant color into the usually cold and dreary days of February. But best of all, Valentine's Day is a great opportunity to throw a very quick and super simple get together that combines both the special people we love to be around and those vibrant colors we all need so badly in the midst of winter.

In honor of the day, and the ways we can all celebrate, I want to take a moment to share the details on a Valentine's Day shower I helped throw for a dear friend of ours that was expecting her second child. While ours was a baby shower, these tips apply to pretty much any party around the Valentine's holiday, and is a great alternative to dealing with dinner crowds and overpriced prix fixe menus you often see on Feb 14.

Our party planning got rolling after I eagerly volunteered to co-host a co-ed baby shower to celebrate the addition to our friend's family. She and her husband didn't want to find out the sex of the baby until his or her birthday, so therefore the co-hostess and I wanted to be a little bit creative in our approach. We quickly landed on a mid-February date for the party with the theme of love playing off the Valentine's Day holiday as well as the feelings the expectant parents already felt for their coming addition.

As you'll see, it's very easy to throw a love-inspired baby shower, but the concept could be easily adapted to fit a Valentine's date night in, a small party among friends, or even a girls' brunch.

Decor

The decor of the event will obviously set the tone of the day given the colors and items most typically associated with Valentine's Day. The good news, it's exceedingly easy to decorate for a Valentine's party without being overly tacky these days. One of my favorite easy ways to dress up a Valentine's event is with my own flower arrangement. There's no need to drop $30-$60 or more on a florist bouquet, all you need is a little knowhow and the right vase. In this case I picked up a bunch of inexpensive white roses from Trader Joes and a winter bouquet with seeded eucalyptus as well. I cut all of the stems nice and short and placed them in a shallow square red glass vase. 

Beyond roses, it is Valentine's Day, so hearts are clearly where it's at. For our gathering we floated a few bunches of helium-filled mylar heart balloons along with other miscellaneous heart decor like plates and garland. It's clearly not difficult to find hearts all around at this time of year, so go a little crazy! It's the one day of the year where it's completely acceptable to go a little over the top with the heart decor. In this case, the gift station was certainly in on the festivities.

The theme of "Love" continued all of the way through to the plates and napkins we used. I really tried to round out the event with pink, red, or white plates, glasses, napkins, and accessories. One rule of thumb I have when decor shopping is to buy themed cocktail napkins that will work well for parties. I have a drawer full of napkins just waiting for their moment to shine. I picked up these cute "Love" and hearts cocktail napkins from HomeGoods and they worked wonderfully as a great addition to the bar set up. 

Like themed cocktail napkins, I thoroughly enjoy collecting small elements of holiday decor that can be easily packed away when not in use. One of the best ways to do this is via table runners, throw pillows, and dish-ware or stemware. For this party I was able to put many items to use I already had in our house, like this set of heart shaped plates...

...and a set of heart napkin rings. These are the types of items that can easily stay packed away in our buffet most of the year, and I can break them out just when needed. They are also the types of decor you can often find just after Valentine's Day for a great bargain. Keep your eyes open at home decor stores and places like Williams Sonoma. It's the time when often high priced items suddenly become bargains, you just need a little forethought and planning. 

Food and Beverages

There's often no better way to tell someone how much they mean to you than via their stomach. When we're talking about drinks for an event like this, there's one option that's almost always an automatic -- Rosé bubbly! 

The massive amount of holiday themed candy available these days makes it quick and easy to put together a couple beautiful candy dishes to have out for guests who like to graze. Whether we're talking pre-meal snacks or a post-meal sweet treat, from heart shaped candy wrapped in festive foil colors to these chocolate covered almonds covered in pink and adorned with hearts, it's hard to go wrong.

An full meal or several appetizers would work well for a Valentine's party. In this instance, the event was held in the late morning so we went with a buffet brunch menu of deviled eggs, fruit salad, homemade cinnamon sticky buns, store bought muffins, and several types of sausage. All were easy to make and prep in advance, which allowed for all guests (my co-hostess and I included) to relax and enjoy the day.

Gifts

I absolutely love wrapping gifts in a manner that complements the theme of the holiday or party, and with Valentine's day you can have a little bit of fun with brightly colored ribbon or paper. 

No matter how many people you're hosting, what you serve, or even what you're celebrating, as long as you do it with love, your event is sure to be a success. 

And in case you're wondering about the guest of honor and mama-to-be? The party guests didn't know it at the time, but it turned out she was in early labor during the party (several weeks ahead of her due date). The next day we received word that she had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Talk about throwing her shower just in the nick of time! 

What are your plans for Valentine's Day? Do you like to keep it low key and stay in, or do you prefer being out and about? Have you ever attended a Valentine's Day themed party? And if you have, are there any tips or tricks you can share to make the event the best is can be?

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In our household our celebration of Valentine's Day has evolved significantly over the years. In the past I've both hit and significantly missed the mark when it comes to planning, meal selection, and gift giving on Valentine's Day, but this will be my 18th year celebrating with Wendy, so I'm bound to have had some highlights and lowlights along the way. Wow, 18 years, and to think how high I set that bar for our first Valentine's Day in high school when I sent a dozen roses to her during class (she went to a different school than I did). Boy did I ever set myself up for a series of lofty expectations. In retrospect, maybe I should have started with one rose that I gave her by hand.

In our tourist heavy neighborhood of Old Town Alexandria, both locals and visitors alike will flood the streets and massive selections of restaurants along and nearby King Street. With pricey prix fixe menus, overwhelmed wait staff and kitchens, and agitated patrons, frustrated by the crowds while attempting to appear lovey dovey, this is one night we now prefer to stay in and celebrate at home.

There's another couple in Alexandria that's also staying in this evening, but their affection for each other is still very much on display. The Old Town Lamas, obviously too famous (in our minds at least) to venture out of the house without being hounded by the paparazzi and tabloid magazine reporters, have set up on their perch this Valentine's Day, planting a very adorable kiss on one another. Their window is adorned with hearts and Valentine's Day messages. Obviously happy, it appears they're soul mates of the camelid variety.

Yes, it's the return of our favorite festively dressed window display duo to celebrate one of their favorite holidays. As you can see, the male llama has been putting a tremendous amount of time into mustache grooming, having perfected his curlicue handlebar. This old chap is definitely in top shape.

In his love note to his sweet, he cleverly incorporates his fine facial hair into his Valentine request.

"I mustache you a question, will you be my Valentine?" Personally, I can't help but recite this question without doing so in Sean Connery's voice.

I'm pretty sure the girl llama (oh how I wish we knew their names) accepted his Valentine's proposal and I expect they will remain in a loving lip lock throughout the day. Hey, they're llamas, what else are they going to be doing?

As for us, we started the day with a batch of Wendy's heart shaped pancakes. 

And we'll conclude our day by staying in this evening with a couple friends and embracing our DIY nature in creating our own Valentine's dinner (that's DIY right?). The boys will be cooking for the ladies and we'll hopefully have a successful culinary endeavor.

On the menu for the evening, we'll be starting with cheese, bruschetta, and a little sparkling wine. We'll follow that with a prawn, butternut squash, and Parmesan rigatoni with white wine pairing and yet-to-be-determined sides. And we'll finish the evening with an assortment of truffles and a dessert pairing of some sort. It should prove to be a pretty nice dinner. We'll see if us boys can pull it off.

In another note of love, we wanted to thank everyone who cast a vote for us in Apartment Therapy's 2013 Homies Awards. We're so thrilled to have made it to the finals, and although we didn't win, we're so touched that so many readers (and of course friends and family members too) took the time to say you like us, you really like us. A big congratulations to Jenny of Little Green Notebook, who pulled an Argo/Ben Affleck Golden Globes victory by sweeping both the "Best Home Projects & DIY" and "Best Home Design & Inspiration" categories. Our hats are off to her!

What will you be doing for Valentine's day? Are you a celebrator or an anti V-Day person? I know a few places in Old Town are having anti Valentine's dinners, complete with heavy garlic and onions. Whatever side you're on, know we're sending you Happy Valentine's (or Happy Anti-Valentine's) wishes from all of us at Old Town Home. 

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This year, rather than brave the crowds on "amateur night" and empty our wallets on pricey prix fixe menus, Alex is planning a night in, where he and a friend are cooking for us ladies. I've overheard talk about the potential menu, and I'm really excited to see how it all comes together. Fingers crossed that there's a great chocolate dessert involved! 

To give Alex a bit of a head start, I decided to put together a simple tablescape to serve as festive backdrop to the boys' culinary finest. After all, we were starting with a uninspired clean slate.

I turned to my bag of tricks and got to work gathering items from around the house that I felt would work well in a classic Valentine's theme.

I started with a base by draping the dining room table in a simple white linen table cloth. On top of the table cloth I used one of my favorite Valentine's accents, a modern striped table runner from Crate and Barrel. This runner has served me quite well over the years, always livening up our dining room table during the month of February. I agonized over the purchase (like I do almost every purchase), but now I'm happy every time I use it. I then topped off the table by setting it with silver chargers, our "good" china, and our formal flatware.

In my opinion there's almost nothing that sets off a nice table setting more than fresh flowers. Don't be fooled by the idea that flowers are expensive and out of reach. I make a habit of always checking out the various flower arrangements on display at Trader Joe's. They often have great deals on flowers that can last a week or more in your home. For this table setting I picked up a bunch of inexpensive (only $5.99) yet beautiful purple hyacinths and arranged them in a spiral fashion in a low glass container. It's not your typical floral centerpiece but it makes for an amazingly fragrant addition to the room.

I also used this opportunity to make use of my ruby red cocktail glasses and silver rimmed water glasses. The ruby red glasses are another one of those unexpected decor items that seems very limited but is actually extremely versatile. I've used these same glasses for Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, and even the 4th of July. These can be paired with so many other items on the table to set the mood for whatever the occasion may be.

I also couldn't resist the addition of my favorite napkin rings -- a ceramic set from Williams Sonoma (picked up on clearance years ago) featuring heart shaped cut outs. Each set of four contains a napkin ring in white, red, pink, and purple. These are obviously made for a Valentine's Day celebration, so it's important to me that I dust them off and use them every year. This way I feel like their purchase was a well justified.

Beyond the immediate table setting, it's important to set the mood for the rest of the room. You don't want the celebration to be isolated to only the table. I carried the theme to other rooms by adding in other festive touches in the living and dining rooms, like my Valentine's bunting made from greeting cards...

...as well as the inclusion of my new heart pillow from last weekend's Warehouse Sale...

...which apparently means love is in the air. Heck, even Lulu is showing her V-day spirit by sporting a pink turtleneck sweater with red flower on the side. She's a stylish pooch.

My final flourish was the addition of paper heart cutouts with red and white strips of decorative paper, dangling delicately from the chandelier.

With the stage set I'm all ready to turn the night over to the boys and place the evening in their oh so capable hands. I'm excited to see what they have up their sleeves, and I do hope it includes a chocolate dessert. Wait, what? I said that already? 

Call me crazy, but something tells me that the boys, in spite of their days of planning, may not have enough time to add the little things, like paper hearts for the chandelier.

Hopefully this Valentine's Day dinner party will be more successful than my last. I may or may not have caught a kitchen towel on fire during that one. But that's a story I'll save for another day.

What are you doing to celebrate Valentine's Day this year? Do you celebrate the holiday with a romantic date, or maybe you prefer to fly solo? Are you one to go out for an extravagant night, or stay in for a quiet dinner and a movie? Maybe instead of the whole lovey-dovey stuff, you'll be tackling your next house project? Whatever your plans, I'd love to hear all about it.

Interested in more Valentine's Day ideas? Check out our Valentines Project page.

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One reader shared a project of how she created a flag bunting using cards of Christmases past. The idea was darling, but I wanted to put my own spin on it. GIven the approaching Valentine's Day holiday, I thought, why don't I take old Valentine's and anniversary cards to create a string of hearts that I could use as mantle decor? After going through my collection (collection is a much nicer word than hoard, don't you think?), my plans were cemented. 

I grabbed my trusty craft supplies -- in this case a hot glue gun and my stash of decorative ribbon -- and was well on my way.

I limited my color palette to the more traditional choices of red, white, pink, and purple, with a hint of orange thrown in. I wanted to not only vary the color in the chain, but I wanted to vary the size and shape of the hearts for visual interest. 

First I made several heart shaped templates, using a pre-cut heart shaped card from Paper Source and a couple freehand hearts as my guide. 

Depending on the greeting card's design, I selected the template that would capture the area of the card I wanted to feature. In the case of the card below, I used the small heart as my template.

This left me with perfectly framed kissing porcupines, which I easily cut out with scissors.

I repeated the process over and over again until I was satisfied with the volume and variation in design and color of the hearts.

After cutting out the hearts I laid them out, moving them around until I decided on their order. I kept both the color of the heart as well as the size in mind, in order to create a balanced look.

After choosing a pink ribbon from my supply, I cut a length roughly four feet longer than the heart chain. This extra length gave me the flexibility to tie loops on either side, as well as add to the chain in future years if so desired. In order to figure out the specific length of ribbon we needed we actually held the ribbon on either side of the mantel and allowed it to hang to the height we wanted in the middle. This gave us the specific length necessary to achieve the optimal look.

Next, upon Alex's sage advice, I lined the dining room table with a piece of cardboard to prevent any hot glue mishaps. (I don't know about you, but I never have any glue accidents when using a hot glue gun! Not.) In addition to protecting my work surface, a happy accident that occurred by using the cardboard. One of the creases in the cardboard gave me a nice straight edge from which I could align the top of my hearts and ensure a consistent layout.

At this point I was nearing the finish line in my little project. I applied three dabs of hot glue to the back of each card, just under the heart's...umm...cleavage? Is there a word for the dip at the top of a heart that isn't cleavage?

Since we're talking about the hot glue step of this project, I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you to take caution when using a screaming hot glue gun. It's not difficult to burn your arm, finger, and hand, as well as apply glue to your work surface and ribbed black sweater. I'm speaking in hypothetical terms, of course because that.never.happened.to.me.at.all.

Allow a few moments for the glue to set and then tie a simple loop at either end of the chain. 

Here's a look at the full chain of hearts, just before hanging it on our dining room mantel. Isn't it sweet?

In our case, we use self release hooks to temporarily secure seasonal decor. These hooks are great and you can barely even see them supporting our work.

I quickly looped an end over each hook, and voila, my festive and sentimental touch for Valentine's Day was complete. 

In all, the project took under an hour and cost nothing because I had the ribbon, glue, and cards already on hand. However, the best part has to be the satisfaction in displaying a handful of my favorite greeting cards, rather than leave them to their slumber inside the dining room buffet. Now I won't feel like a hoarder when I fold this up and tuck it away until next year.

Do you incorporate touches of festive decor into your home for Valentine's Day? Do you have a way to display or organize sentimental items in your home, be it a shadow box, an album, or some other creative way? I still have a big stack of birthday, Christmas, and other miscellaneous cards that are calling out to me. I think I'm just getting started.

Interested in more Valentine's Day ideas? Check out our Valentines Project page.

Seen on...

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This year our Valentine's Day is going to be a bit subdued. I've been working a TON on a project at my day job, so I've not had much time to build Wendy a giant heart shaped mirror, table, outdoor display, or other crazy show of my affection. But if I weren't working so much, you know I totally would have. :-)

It is a little bit of a fun time of year around our neighborhood. Similar to Christmas, many of the various boutique storefronts get into the spirit of the Valentine's Day celebration with creative displays to lure shoppers. Take a look at some of our favorites.

The Hour Cocktail Collection

Helen Olivia

The Dog Park

Olde Towne School For Dogs

Olio Tasting Room

Beyond the neighborhood flair, Wendy and I received one special Valentine that we wanted to share with you all. 

Though Wendy and I aren't particularly old (regardless of how we may feel), we've been in each other's lives for quite a long while. This year marks the 17th year since we began dating as Juniors in high school, and our wedding anniversary in October of this year will be our tenth. Wow, how time flies.

In looking back on 17 years together (yes, that's pretty much half of our lives), we always make particular note of the four year stretch of our time in college at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. This period of our lives, where we were first independent and living without our parents, helped to shape who we'd become. It also helped us realize that this high school boyfriend and girlfriend couple could maybe, just maybe, make a pretty good team as husband and wife in the real world.

In 2002, as young 24 year olds, we got married on Miami's campus to recognize and celebrate the place where our relationship was shaped. With that ceremony, Wendy and I also gained status within our Alma mater as an official "Miami Merger."

We're not overly crazy alumni or anything, but we did really enjoy our school and the experiences we were able to encounter while at Miami. As a tribute, and as part of Miami Merger tradition, we even had an "M" groom's cake (though not in the shape of an M as is more typical).

In the classic sense of the term, a Miami Merger represents a couple that met while attending Miami University and went on to get married. It's a badge of honor for students that fit the bill, and something celebrated in many ways. And oddly enough, the statistics on how many mergers there have been are somewhat shocking. Roughly 14% of Miami alumni are married to each other. That's over 26,000 couples if your calculating. And this number is thought to represent the largest number of college alumni from any one school married to each other.

Though Wendy and I were together nearly one and a half years before we packed up our families' cars and headed south to Miami, we're still considered a merger since we both attended and are now married.

In recognition of our membership in this "exclusive" club, Wendy and I receive a Valentine's Day card every year to celebrate our merger status. In past years we've received puzzles, magnets, or photo prints of the campus. This year we received the following poem and card.

It's a nice way to be reminded of the wonderful times we experienced together in college, and that our time together there can continue on in our lives today.

How did you meet your significant other? Any similar stories to us out there? Who knows, maybe you're even a Miami Merger like we are. I hear there are about 50,000 of us out there.

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