How our Family Celebrates Valentine’s Day

Our family truly loves Valentine’s Day. Over the years we’ve created meaningful traditions that feel like a natural fit and celebrate who we are as a family. We do all of this without spending a ton of money, and right now that feels like something to celebrate. So what does a frugal family Valentine’s Day look like?

One of our favorite parts of any holiday is baking for others. Cookies have become a favorite gift to make because we get to use our talents and time to show others that we care. Making and decorating holiday cookies is something that I always loved doing with my mom, and now my daughter looks forward to doing it with me. I also love it as a creative activity that feels almost therapeutic. These are the cookies and boxes of treats that we put together last year.

We do celebrate each other by sharing small gifts. Each of use has a felt hearth-shaped envelope and we try limit our gifts to items that will fit in the envelope. That doesn’t mean I never pick up anything a little larger, but this helps us ensure that we aren’t going overboard in our gift-giving. We all have candy preferences that are often celebrated, I also try to purchase things that will be helpful or useful like craft supplies, new pens, chapstick, etc.

A long-standing tradition is our annual Valentine’s Day dinner. Instead of battling crowds at restaurants we stay home and make homemade heart-shaped pizzas. This is one meal we can all agree on, and we have fun making them together.

I could share so many pictures of heart-shaped pizzas! The toppings change slightly each year, and we’ve even done personal sized heart pizzas too. It’s a really comforting way to come together at the end of a hectic day.