valentines day

A Valentine’s Day Brunch

February 14, 2022

Nothing makes me happier than a sea of red and pink. It’s an instant serotonin boost. Maybe that’s why I love Valentine’s Day so much. Every year I get some girlfriends together for a Valentine’s Brunch and each year seems to be better than the last. Creating a fun tablescape and backdrop is always the most time consuming but I love a good challenge. I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out! I incorporated my donut tower and love the height it added. What do you think?

I had the hardest time sticking those balloons to the wall. I used double sided tape because I didn’t want to ruin the paint but it was not easy! I love the mix of babies breath too. The pop of green and white really paired well with all the pink and red!

You can never have too many sweets at a party, regardless if it’s a brunch or not!

Valentine’s Day Brunch Ideas

February 14, 2021

I may be a Halloween girl at heart but my second favorite holiday in terms of color and decor is definitely Valentine’s Day. Something about the explosion of hearts, shades of reds and pinks, and overall love theme suckers me in. My Instagram feed for the past 4+ weeks has been a Valentine’s Day explosion and I will be sad to see it go in a few days. Today I want to recap my second annual Valentine’s Day brunch that I styled and hosted last weekend. Themed parties are my lifeline and I am so happy with how this one came out!

I find the majority of my candy board sweets at Target and Kroger. They are in the Valentine’s Day section and are typically put out in early January. That’s when I start stocking up. Home Goods is a great place for the fun marshmallows and Trader Joe’s has cute themed gummies and cookies. Cupcakes can easily be found at any grocery store so I have never special ordered those. You can always request that the bakery icing cupcakes in your color of choice and then you can add whatever cute Valentine’s Day topper you find. They are everywhere!

Cookies – Casey’s Cookies & Cakes

Bagels – Dear Friend Bagels – available at Spiller Park

Cake – Santini Mini Sweets

Chocolate Cocoa Bombs & Popsicles – Wonder Desserts Co.

Donuts – Claudia Martinez, Atlanta Pastry Chef

This is my second year in a row hosting a Valentine’s Day brunch for my girlfriends and I love it. This years dress theme was 50’s Vintage Prom. My dress is from Dolls Kill! I did a round up of some of their dresses in a previous post here. Until next year! xoxo

Valentine’s Day Heart Waffles

January 27, 2021

If you’ve been following me on Instagram the past few weeks then you know I have a serious obsession with the Dash Mini Waffle Makers. You can see all the creations I have been making on this highlight reel. Since I’m all about the Valentine’s Day content now I knew I wanted to expand on the basic heart waffle and who doesn’t love chocolate and sprinkles? The kids loved these and were on a sugar high for approximately 4.5 hours so definitely feed them these before school or going to grandma’s house 🙂

You will need:

Dash Mini Heart Waffle Maker

Waffle Mix

Red Food Coloring

White & Pink Melting Chocolates

Valentine’s Day Sprinkles (They are cheapest at Kroger, Publix, Target etc)

Directions:

1. Make desired number of waffles on waffle maker and set on cooling rack. I made 2 batches – 1 batch of plain waffles and another batch with a few drops of red food dye added in.

2. Melt candy chocolates according to package. I used the double broiler method. Simmer a few inches of water in a medium size saucepan. Stack a metal bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bowl fits snugly. Pour the entire bag of melts into the bowl and stir continuously once the chocolate starts to melt. I couldn’t find pink candy melts so I used white with a few drops of red food coloring. I also like to mix a few spoonfuls of coconut oil to thin out the chocolate for easier application.

3. Dip or use a knife/spoon to spread desired amount of melted chocolate on the waffles. Immediately add sprinkles before chocolate hardens.

Serve immediately since the waffles get soggy after a while. They are great for a party or playdate decorating station!

Candy Heart Cake

January 22, 2021

Give me ALL the holiday themed desserts! This cake was made for under $15 and is so cute and festive for a Galentine’s party, a Valentine’s Day birthday or even just to make with the kids. I bought everything at Target and it only took a few hours to complete. I love adding candy to cakes for an easy way to spruce them up!

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Ingredients:

2 Boxes of Cake Mix. I used the Valentine’s Day Funfetti Mix but a Strawberry would be fun too!

2 Funfetti or Pink Frosting

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2 Bags of Large Conversation Candy Hearts – I found mine at Target! You can also use the regular size candy hearts but you will need more and it will take longer. Still an option though!

Directions:

Bake 2, 9-inch round cakes according to instructions on box. Let them cool completely.

Trim tops of cakes evenly. Stack one cake on the other, adding some frosting in between the two layers.

Frosting entire cake and stick on candy hearts in whatever pattern you like best! buy benzac online https://andnewbloonline.com/benzac.html no prescription

Not only was this cake so easy and inexpensive to make but it’s a really fun holiday dessert to make with kids. They can help stir the mix, frosting the cake and also stick on the hearts. Happy almost heart month!

Valentine’s Day Chex Mix

January 19, 2021

I am a sucker for Valentine’s Day desserts. Give me all the red, white & pink treats because they are just so visually appealing. I’m sharing my take on the classic Chex Mix recipe and I love that this one can have numerous variations. Here is what you’ll need to whip up a batch of Valentine’s Day Chex Mix under 10 minutes.

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To make this version you will need:

1-2 bags of Candy Melts (white, red or pink depending on your preference)

1 bag of Stick Pretzels (I used about 1/4 of the bag)

1 bag of Salted Popcorn (I used the whole bag)

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1 box of Rice Chex Mix Cereal (used 3/4 of the box)

1 bag of Valentine’s Day M&M’s

Various Valentine’s Day Sprinkles

**I bought everything listed above at my local Target. Check your grocery store too because the items are typically cheaper there than on Amazon**

Directions:

Pour desired amount of pretzels, rice chex cereal and popcorn into large mixing bowl.

Melt candy chocolates according to package. I used the double broiler method. Simmer a few inches of water in a medium size saucepan. Stack a metal bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bowl fits snugly. Pour the entire bag of melts into the bowl and stir continuously once the chocolate starts to melt. I couldn’t find pink candy melts so I used white with a few drops of red food coloring. I also like to mix a few spoonfuls of coconut oil to thin out the chocolate for easier application.

Once chocolate is fully melted, pour into the large mixing bowl filled with pretzels, cereal and popcorn. Carefully fold in chocolate with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is coated evenly.

Lay out parchment paper or wax paper on counter and pour chocolate Chex mixture onto the paper. Sprinkle in the M&M’s and various sprinkles throughout the mix. buy buspar online https://andnewbloonline.com/buspar.html no prescription

One it has all dried together, place in baggies, Tupperware or cute Valentine’s Day tins for friends & family! I totally bought mini marshmallows and forgot to use them. But that’s how adaptable this recipe is – you can use what you have on hand or let the kids pick out their favorite add-ins. This can also be changed to fit any holiday or theme!

DIY Teacher Gifts with 1800Flowers

February 8, 2018

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. Not just with my husband and kids, but with teachers, friends, and people who are special to me. Spreading happiness is something I love teaching my children and what better way to do that than with a simple DIY for Valentine’s Day, but if you really want to surprise someone you should opt for flowers delivered to that special person.

Two years ago I made a Peppermint Sugar Scrub for Henry’s teachers and my girlfriends which they loved but this year I wanted to do something a bit more festive.

1800Flowers has the most beautiful roses this year and I couldn’t wait to get some to make gifts for Evelyn’s teachers at her school. These farm fresh flowers were so easy to arrange and fit perfectly into paper cones. After I made the heart and xoxo design I printed them out on thick cardstock on 8.5″ x 11″ paper. You make think that rolling a paper cone is easy, but I kid you not I had to google how to roll a paper cone and it took several sheets for me to practice. After you’ve done a few, they get really easy. I taped them together, added some greenery and three roses per cone. Make sure that the stems are completely dry so the cardstock doesn’t get wet. You also want plenty of fullness so the roses stay put and don’t slide out through the bottom. After I assembled all the flowers, I added them to a big basket and off to school we went. The teachers at Evelyn’s school are some of the sweetest women I’ve ever met and deserve so much appreciation (and wine). I’m so happy Evelyn is somewhere that she is loved when she’s not with me. I can still remember dropping her off on her first day and crying the entire time she was gone. Now I count down the minutes until drop off. KIDDING! 🙂

You can download the hearts and xoxo files and print to make your own paper cones at home. The entire project took less than an hour and I used two Enchanted Rose Medley bouquets from 1800Flowers. They have an entire Valentine’s Day collection which has classic to unique bouquets plus other gifts (not just flowers) and you can save 15% with code CHANEL15.

Are you giving Valentine’s Day gifts to teachers this year? If so, let me know what your go-to gift is!

*This post was sponsored by 1800Flowers*

Valentine’s Party Recap

February 13, 2016

This past week I hosted our small playgroup for Valentine’s Day. It was so much fun making the food and setting up the dessert table & photo booth for the kids. Needless to say all the sweets were the first to go and there were about 10 three year olds on one hell of a sugar high. I always say to people, “when in doubt, dip it in chocolate and add sprinkles” which is primarily what I focused on. The oreos, pretzel rods and wafers were store bought and then dipped in melted chocolate and topped with sprinkles. Depending on how many you make it can be very time consuming however it results in a festive holiday treat. I love that you can customize the chocolate and sprinkles for whatever holiday season. This was my first time making rice krispy treats and I don’t know why I always felt so intimated by home made ones (there are only three ingredients by the way).

After they set up I cut them out with a heart shaped cookie cutter and, you guessed it, drizzled chocolate and sprinkles on top. There couldn’t be all these yummy sweets without something for the kids to wash them down with so I went with whole milk in miniature milk bottles with a sprinkle rim and donut on top (by far my favorite on the dessert table). This was such an easy and fun party to host and my love for hearts, red and pink made it that more enjoyable. The kids loved the photo props and by the end of the party the big red heart balloon was being used as a huge medicine ball by all the boys. I would say this party was a success, even with a sugar coma that lasted two days 🙂

Happy almost Valentine’s Day, friends!

xo,

Chanel

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