Valentine's Day Table Setting 2015

I never know how to break up the photos from special occasions. There's always so many. Do I drag it out into three or four posts? Get it over with and cram them all into one? First world problems.

We ended up doing dinner at home again this year. It's easier...and cheaper. The Kid wanted to know why we don't go out for Valentine's Day like other families. I told him the meal we ate would have cost a lot of money in a restaurant, which led to him wanting to know how much, and adding it all up. With cocktails, appetizers, a bottle of wine, fun drinks for the kids, dinner, and dessert, for a family of five at a nice restaurant, we came up with $245 with tip. It cost me about $30 to buy the things we didn't already have. I'd say that's worth staying home. Plus, you can eat dessert in your jammies.

In the morning, I had this waiting on the dining room table for me.

Cheese and wine. It's like he knows me or something.

It was a pretty chill day, and I was able to set the table while he and the kids played outside. I went with red and aqua this year. The placemats are the new thing I had mentioned the other day. I found them at the Dollar Store when I picked up the paper heart doilies. They're 100% cotton. For a dollar. Aren't they cute?! I was going to buy flowers when I ran to the store for dinner stuff, but ended up picking some branches off the camellia, that hangs into our yard from the neighbor's, instead. So here's this year's Valentine's Day table setting.

The runner is a curtain I made for the back door, but took down at Christmas and ended up putting a different one back up.

The solid colored napkins are some I had, the birdie ones are some I made a couple years ago.

Baker's twine around the kids' glasses just for fun.

And the candles lit for dinner.

Nothin' too fancy, but a little more special than an average night dinner.
This week, I have a yummy cocktail recipe, simple appetizer, our surf and turf dinner, and a super easy, no-bake dessert. Happy Valentine's day!