Valentine's Day Ideas: Loved Up

It's just under a week now until Valentine's Day and I have so many ideas for inexpensive and wonderful ways to spend it with your loved one I just had to share. I don't buy into the whole thing of spending money to make someone feel special. I prefer memories and little momentos of an occasion as opposed to a big fancy gift.

These are my favourite ways to treat your Valentine without spending ridiculous amounts of money.

A card is priceless. There are so many designs and content to pick from you'll be spoilt for choice. I love cards as you can keep them forever and they mean so much because it was picked by your loved one for you. My boyfriend is a gem and always takes great care choosing cards for me because he knows how much I love to receive them.

Next up is sweet treats. There is no end of goodies to choose from. I even saw a giant gingerbread bear in Greggs today with a pink iced heart, so cute! If you have time you could bake your own treats such as heart shaped biscuits or pink iced buns/cupcakes. The shops are full of treats particularly bakery sections. 

 I found the chocolate heart lollipop in Marks and Spencers for £1. They also have little bags of love themed sweets such as jelly hearts or pink white chocolates. The heart of Cadburys chocolate were £1 in Asda and Love Hearts are around 50p a packet. My boyfriend gave me a 'Dream Girl' love heart when we first went out as friends (I didn't realise he liked me ha) so they're special to me now and I'll be putting these into a bowl for our evening in :)

Going for a meal out is always nice but on Valentine's I prefer a quiet meal for two in the comfort of my own home. Plus it'll cost less to eat in whether you cook a meal from scratch, buy ready made food or order in. Marks and Spencer are doing their "Dine in for 2 for £10" deal again and most supermarkets do multi buy offers on their selection of ready meals. Me and my boyfriend are getting a chinese takeaway like we did last year as that's what we both fancy but the options are endless. For afters I'll be getting my fondue kit out. All you need is chocolate (Cadburys Dairy Milk or Galaxy is nicest) with marshmallows, fruit, biscuits and wafers.

Another alternative for food although this is more appropriate for lunchtime because of the weather and time of year is a picnic in a park or on the beach. Now February can be rather cold so it would need to be a mild day with no rain or snow forecast which could be a lot to ask of England! I've never done one but an indoors picnic sounds romantic. All you'll need is a space to lay out your rug and then you can have whatever food you like. 

If you get home from work before your loved one you could run them a candlelit bubble bath, leave a trail of rose petals to the dining room where you've laid the table or to their card/present. 

My boyfriend surprised me with a bunch of roses last year which was my favourite part of Valentine's apart from him obviously! There'll be no end of flowers available and every girl loves flowers right?!

On the Wednesday night I'll be laying my dining room table ready for our romantic meal as we're getting our takeaway together from work so I won't have time when we get home on Thursday, I'll be using the following

 rose petals £1 poundland, love single red rose 99p card factory 

 glitter hearts on sticks £1 poundland, heart doilies £1 asda

 heart napkins asda (last years) red felt coasters asda (last years)

red heart confetti £1.50 m&s, heart crystals (christmas present, but suspect it was the range), red heart ballons asda (last years)

 This was my table last year. The candles in the holder were lit and we had the chinese on the middle mats. I scattered the confetti I had and put some chocolate ladybugs out too. Theres no right or wrong way of laying a table, just place what you need where you need it and then place the extra around. Candles would usually sit in the middle but because the chinese cartons were going there and our arms would be moving over it I didn't want any burns. 

So that's it. Valentine's Day doesn't have to cost much but you can still have a romantic time. All I want to do is be with my boyfriend so it doesn't matter what we do. Most people will be at work so will be limited for their evening options like us. Hopefully this will give you some ideas :)

Hope you have a lovely Valentine's!

*images with purple background, and bottom two, are my own, all others are from weheartit

Sunday Summary #49

So the best week of the year has been and gone, hope you had a lovely time with your loved ones. I had a wonderful few days, resting and being ridiculously full. I was very pleased with my Christmas presents, now I'm older I don't expect so much from my Mum but she always does well. She got me some stuff I'd really wanted. My boyfriend did well also and got me some lovely surprises. My oldest brother got me a Swarovski crystal duck! I've wanted one for so long but to be honest never thought seriously about getting one. I hadn't even told my Mum I wanted one so he made an excellent choice picking it for me! I nearly died when I opened it. He got me other lovely things too but it was definitely one of the best moments of Christmas Day for me. I now want the rest of the ducks, I have a thing for ducks and have loads of rubber ducks in my bathroom and my brother also got me china union jack one too. I was so full from my Christmas Day lunch I didn't eat another bite all day, I can't eat as much as I used to which is disappointing but probably good for the waistline. I was a bit surprised to find my work trousers felt even looser after Christmas, considering how full I still felt, it was very odd indeed. I didn't get much chocolate this year which is nice as I've still got loads of Easter chocolate, I used to be such a chocoholic and now I don't eat it too often or as much. I'll add some photos of my favourite Christmas presents below as I've enjoyed seeing shorter posts of gifts received.

New Year next and I can't wait to see it in with my boyfriend. Last year he was miles away with friends and I expected him to be away again this year but he is staying home. I really love the thought of opening the New Year with him even if we're just on the sofa! We've got Bucks Fizz, sky lanterns and a DVD to see the New Year in. I'm hoping to watch Michael McIntyre as I've heard its hilarious and there's nothing better than a good comedian. We'll be making wishes when we let our lanterns go and I'm hoping there'll be fireworks nearby :)

I'll be so sad when New Year is over, January can feel like such a drag. Planning lots with my boyfriend and friends to keep me busy and give me nights out to look forward to. Also need to attempt a frugal shopping month as I've treated myself to so many goodies this month. Christmas is always such an expensive month because I always see so much I want besides all the presents I need to buy. I save during the year for Christmas so it isn't too bad an impact on my bank balance but I still feel odd treating myself to so much! I really would like to get a new bag in the New Year and am debating between another Cath Kidston box bag (new shape) and a Pauls Boutique satchel or oversized. If not I'm sure Topshop or Accessorize might come up trumps. I often see nice River Island bags on other girls but when I look I never see one I like.

 My boyfriend got me Mouse :) loved The Amazing Spiderman and needed Gruffalo's Child 

 Minnie Snow Globe from a friend 

I love Russian Dolls and stationery sets so my friend thought this would be perfect for me, the box is really sturdy so once empty I can use it for storage 

Another very me gift! I adore Snow Fairy and Hello Kitty + Liberty Of London = Yes please! 

 The flash hasn't picked up the crystal so well, but if you've seen Swarovski in real life you'll know how incredibly well they catch the light 

Mum got me this frame, I can't wait to put a picture of me and my boyfriend in it!

 I only have a couple of Me To You ornaments but I really wanted this to commemorate this year with the Olympics and just feeling so very British. I love Union Jacks and this will look so iconic in any place

I burst out laughing when I opened this present! Marie is a favourite Disney character of mine and this top is brilliant. I love Marie's fierce face and the words and seems true as my girl cat is very feisty and stubborn sometimes 

I do love Disney and I fell in love with this the moment I saw it. I went back a few days later and they'd sold out. Fortunately my Mum obviously found one somewhere and snapped it up. I only have a couple of Disney Traditions ornaments but I'll never say no to another.  

My boyfriend got me this beautiful snow globe.  

He also got me this, which not only I love because its Disney and Tinkerbell, but it's called "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, HE LOVES ME!" Very appropriate I think :)

So my favourite gifts are very ornament, Disney, sentimental items, I'm all about memories and I know in years to remember who bought them for me will be lovely. I was truly spoilt and I really appreciate gifts that someone has thought long and hard about the type of present I'd like to receive. 

Last night me and my brothers took Mum out for her birthday with my boyfriend and my older brothers girlfriend. We've got such a nice pub up the road from us its perfect to just pop up there. The food is incredible and they have my all time favourite drink - Glitter Bomb - I die. I so wish Goldschlager was more readily available in the UK but alas. I wore my beautiful high top wedges, seriously the best invention EVER. Mum asked me why I was taller than her and I explained and she was like what! I forgot I had "heels" on, they're so comfortable and when I was a little tipsy lady walking home I was fine (even if it was just down the road!). They are quite sturdy so you remain relatively steady on your feet. I was so excited to get back home for Mum to open her presents. Me and my boyfriend got her a limited editon Disney watercolour painting of Snow White, her favourite. Needless to say she was happy with all her gifts and I've got some extra bits for her coming in the post. She loves vanilla and the Body Shop had loads of vanilla products reduced so I added them to my order. Will post my sale bits separately as its not all arrived yet but I haven't bought too much this year because I've found the sales to be a real disappointment. It was my one year anniversary with my boyfriend today and we had such a chilled day at home. I made him bacon sandwiches and scrambled egg for breakfast followed by a three course meal (although we didn't manage dessert as we were so full!). We watched Friends with Benefits again, its very funny with one liners and I love the way Mila and Justin bounce off each other and are so believable in their roles and emotions (which is obviously the sign of good acting!). I truly can't believe it's been a year together officially, it's gone so fast!
Anyway I hope you all have a wonderful time seeing the New Year in.
Hope you've all had great, festive weeks!