The Valentines Friday Five: Ways to be Creative



We don't go all out for Valentines day, but it is a time that we can have a little fun and be creative!

1. The Cards: Baylee and I finished our Valentines for this year and have them all sent out. Hopefully this will put a smile on a few faces!

If you are interested in seeing our past Valentines you can check them out HERE!

2. The Meal: I imagine Valentines day is one of the busiest nights at restaurants. I choose not to participate in the hype! I would much rather stay at my home and prepare a meal. In the pasts, we've gotten take out from various restaurants ( did you know you can get take out from Red Lobster?) and brought the meals home. This year I am going to make a meal at home.



3. The Drinks: I'm not a big wine person but I had to share one of my favorites. Yes, maybe I was attracted to it because of the name, but I do like the sweet chocolate flavor!

4. The Flowers: Every year I receive beautiful flowers but I know how costly they can be and they don't last very long. So this year we decided on maybe some practical gifts!

5. The Candy: For year and years my husband would get me a HUGE  variety box of the Jelly Belly beans. We had so many beans that we still had them on Easter. Although they were super yummy and I loved all the varieties, this tradition had to come to a stop! One year we decided to make Valentine candy bags for each other. We put several candies that we thought each other would enjoy in the bag. We blind folded one another and made them taste each item in the bag to see if they could guess what it was.  Guess what was in my bag?
These Jelly Belly Bean Boozled Jelly Beans.  I had to eat several of them with my eyes closed and guess what flavor they were.  ( I had know idea they were the Bean Boozled beans).  If you've never heard of these beans before, you'll want to know that they are "normal" flavored Jelly Beans mixed in with "gross" flavored jelly beans. But you don't know which one is which.
 
For example. The Blue ones could be either Blueberry or Toothpaste, the black ones might be licorice or skunk spray, the yellow ones are buttered popcorn or rotten egg, the orange ones could be peach or barf, the brown ones are chocolate or dog food, green could be booger or juicy pear, white is either coconut or baby wipes, and the tan ones could be caramel corn or moldy cheese. 
 
 The funny part is that you don't know which is which until you taste them. As I was blind folded and tasting these beans, Scott was waiting for me to give a disgusted reaction  because he thought I had eaten a "gross" bean, but it turns out the ones he kept giving me just happened to be "normal' ones, so I didn't really have a reaction.  This kept us entertained all evening.  I then took this box to school and the kids just loved them! I used them as a class participation incentive. When they would volunteer to answer questions ( it's like pulling teeth to get high school students to participate) they would get a chance to spin the wheel and pick a bean. They were all hoping to get a "gross" bean and when they didn't, they would volunteer to answer more questions! I had a very engaged class that week!

Okay, so tell me what you do on Valentines day?

Thanks to Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC for sponsoring the Friday Five Link up!
 

35 comments:

  1. I'm having a small party for my class during afternoon snack today. That basically means the kiddos get to have some special treats (my assistant brought in cupcakes, I'm bringing strawberries) and pass out valentines. We'll see if any parents decide to come.

    The boyfriend and I did our dinner on Sunday and will probably just relax tonight after work. We're not big on Valentine's day. I find it more fun to do special things when they're not expected! :)

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  2. We don't go out to eat on Valentine's Day either, but have a nice meal at home. What a fun idea to share those gross beans with your class.....I am sure that was a huge hit!

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    1. Yes, The class sure had fun with them! Have a great day/evening with your valentine!

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  3. You are brave. I would not like the taste testing while blindfolded. A skunky jelly bean?! But the whole idea is very cute. We are not very creative around here. Hubs and I are delaying our dinner out until next weekend when we have a sitter. I will make carrot cake since my youngest asked for it - so we shall eat cake! Have a great weekend!

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    1. I agreed to the blind fold because of course I thought it would all be "good" candy! Carrot cake sounds yummy!

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  4. Cute ideas! We do a box of specialty chocolates from a new place every year and we make a 6 cheese mac and cheese together for dinner. We aren't really big into the "traditional" valentine's day, but we made our own little traditions that I really love and look forward to!

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    1. Sounds like a great ( and yummy) tradition you have made for yourselves! Enjoy your day!

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  5. We don't go out to eat on Valentine's Day either. Usually we make something yummy at home and get a bottle of wine, and a yummy dessert!

    Those jelly beans remind me of the ones from Harry Potter (Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans) lol eating them sounds like a fun experience!

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    1. Yes, that's what I thought too about those beans! Enjoy dinner with your valentine tonight Lauren!

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  6. I love your Valentine's card! Dogs are always great for delivering messages, especially to those we love!

    We aren't going out tonight either, but having a relaxing, low key meal at home. We do have dinner to go out to one of our favorite restaurants tomorrow evening, but that'll depend on whether or not the weather cooperates (I can't believe we're supposed to get MORE snow tonight and tomorrow morning!).

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    1. I hope the snow holds off so you can enjoy your dinner together!

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  7. We stay in and cook a good meal to enjoy and this year we are going ice skating!

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    1. Ice skating sounds like so much fun! I've been wanting to go this year but thought it wasn't a good idea to do while training for races! Have fun!

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  8. We do a lot during the year so this particular day is just another day we use to show each other how much we love each other. We are planning on dinner tonight. The kids are out of school so they did not have their party. :-( Sad faces moping around the house right now.

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    1. Enjoy your dinner tonight! It's sad to miss school on a day you actually plan to do something fun!

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  9. There is nothing sweeter than a dog with a Valentine smooch!

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    1. She's been very good at delivering Valentine messages over the years!

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  10. I need those jelly beans... make me think I'm in Harry potter world :)
    V-Day is laid back for us.. usually exchange gifts & a dinner - low key... I don't mind.

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    1. I thought of those harry potter beans too when I saw these!

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  11. Love these ideas -- we're not going out to eat tonight either. We are going out on Sunday night, but that's more for fun that V-Day :)

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  12. Cute! I can definitely attest that it is ridiculously difficult to get high school students to participate.... some days, I have to bribe them...or even threaten them to get them to work haha!

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  13. What a very strange and awesome idea all at the same time with those jelly beans haha. I can only imagine how into the kids were,. you're pretty mucha genius!! I also love your ideas on how to keep things simple and in perspective. You don't haveta go all out and blow tons of money to show someone you care.

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    1. Exactly! We do enough all year long that we don't need to really give in to a commercialized holiday!

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  14. I'm with you- No way would we go out for dinner on Valentine's Day! I could envision sushi take out, though... !

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    1. Yes, take out at home with a good movie is always better than going out ( in my opinion anyway)! Have a great night Megan!

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  15. Your pup is so cute! I love that Valentine's Day has a strong candy focus :-)

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  16. Staying home and headed out tomorrow night! Hope there is some good food and wine left!

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  17. Your cards are so adorable!! Hope you had a great valentines day! We celebrated last night with dinner at a local restaurant and stayed home tonight! :0)

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  18. I love that you brought the beans to your class! That is awesome :)

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  19. The Bean Boozled thing sounds hilarious! And cute cards! I totally forgot/didn't have time to get my kids V-day cards for their classmates, but now the parties were postponed due to snow days so that bought me some time!

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  20. It cracks me up that the kids want the gross beans. Better them than me, I guess!

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  21. Aww your card is so cute and that bean guessing game looks awesome!

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