DIY Heart Napkins and a Family Valentine’s Day Dinner!

Posted on Feb 12 2014 - 9:46am by Brenda Meehan

With my sister Tracy in town, we decided to have our own family Valentines dinner a few days early so she could attend.

3 Ingredients to our Heart’s Day Tradition:

1. A favorite meal: our kids and Nana are always hungry for Chris’ bbq’d steak, so that’s what we chose….accompanied by everything red.

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*Salad topped with strawberries, dried cranberries, and finished with champagne dressing
*Grilled red peppers
*Red potatoes with olive oil and parsley

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*Some fresh artisan bread and garlic sauteed mushrooms completed the menu.

2. A decandent dessert: all three of my sisters are wonderful bakers and Tracy had some specialties in mind and ready to make. 3P “Backstory”: we are in the car running around picking things up and hurrying to get home so my sister could spend one of her last days of her visit baking in the kitchen. All of the sudden it hit me, so I stopped the car and said “Hey, we have another option…we can instead go out for a nice lunch and stop at Freed’s (one of my favorite bakeries)…pick up a selection of goodies and call it a day!” What do you think she chose? 😉

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3. I love you with Valentines. We always have a Valentine’s exchange with treats and cards. Jessi found some adorable free vintage Valentine printables on Pinterest! You can download your own HERE.

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Looking at the blow-up lips, and reflecting on past Valentine’s festivities made us miss John, Gavin and Carla!

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…And of course…a pretty table. Here are some last minute ideas for your own Valentine gathering!

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– 3P Event Basic: Items from Christmas repurposed; we turned these candle holders upside down for elevation and topped them with votives for light. We also used a table runner that we “puddled” in a V-shape to ground our centerpiece together.

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– 3P Event Basic: Small vases with heart-pop bouquets added a playful look.

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We created “Heart Napkins”…I was so excited to come up with this idea while I had my sister here to help me get them all together quickly and beautifully in 4 steps! All you need is a few red or pink napkins, and some red or pink foil twine to bind them up. To create fast place-cards, we added personalized Valentine’s and clipped them to the napkins with mini clothes pins!

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1. Fold your napkin accordion style like so:

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2. Fold your napkin in half, like this:

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3. Bind your napkin in the center with some of your twine to create the inside dip of the heart shape.

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4. Gather the two loose ends at the bottom to create the heart shape, and bind the bottom of the heart with the other piece of twine…fluff a bit! Viola!

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Happy Hearts Day to all! Do you have any family traditions for Valentine’s Day, or do you just spend it with your sweetie? What’s on your menu? We’d *LOVE* to know!

2 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Lana Caskenette February 12, 2014 at 12:08 pm -

    Hi everyone,
    I loved it all, especially the dessert selections and how to make the heart napkins. You are doing a great job, all of you, including the man cave. just keep it coming. I’m telling everyone I come across to give your website a “look-see.” Best Wishes and Happy Valentine’s Day Love, D & L

    • Brenda Meehan February 13, 2014 at 7:54 pm -

      Thank you, Lana! We’re so glad that you’re loving the blog. Let us know if you end up trying out the napkins. 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day!