Vday...on the cheap

Valentine's day is right around the corner and while I don't decorate or have any real prep for the "holiday", it is one of my favorites. I'm not sure why I enjoy it so much. Whether its all of the pinks and reds, the flowers and candies, or just the the openness that everyone seems to have with their feelings, I look forward to it every year.

The hubs and I have never really been big on "going all out" when it comes to the special day, maybe a card and a nice dinner, occasionally some flowers, but other than that our celebration is pretty low-key. Since we keep it pretty much under the radar for ourselves, I thought it would be fun to start a tradition of doing something fun for the kids in our lives. Catch your breath...NO, we don't have kiddos that have been running around in secret....I'm talking about our nieces and nephews. We love all five of them to death and I thought, "Well, why don't we send them a little LoVe nugget this Valentine's day!" I mean who doesn't like getting an " I <3 you!" on Valentine's when you aren't really expecting it...I know I do (Hint Hint...SWL are you reading this? ;o) ).

So, in keeping with the theme of low-key and under the radar I decided to hit up the $1 bins are Target (aka Taarr- jee') and I found some cool deals. There were lots of "love" themed socks each for only a $1 (Batman for the boys!). So I grabbed a pair for each of the kids based on what I thought they might be excited to see once they opened their package. Then I made my way to the sticker aisle, what kid doesn't love stickers, right?! I'm an adult and I would probably rate them in my top 10 favorite things to receive...is that weird? Anyway, I did the same thing there, chose a pack of $ o.99 stickers that reminded me of each of the kids. (I apologize in advance to the parents (love you guys) for any unwanted placement of the stickers that should occur.) Lastly, what is Valentine's Day without a little chocolate? So I scooped up a bag of milk chocolate hearts to divide between the kids. Even though two of the babes are still too young to truly enjoy the chocolaty goodness, I know my sisters will have no problem finding a home for the sweets!

On the way home from work, I stopped by the post office to grab some "bubble envelopes" in fun colors and then made my way home to pack it all up. I wanted to put a little note in to let the kids know we love them and say, "Hi!" since we don't get to seem them as much as we would like. I had some pink card stock left over from a high school computer class project...wow...just wow. So, naturally, I composed a simple homemade Valentine and stuck it in the envelope with the goods! Tada! Here are a couple shots...

Total cost, including postage, $26! Not bad for five Valentine's Day packages! I was pretty proud...I'm trying to exercise my thrifty bone a bit more this year...not to shabby for having to dust it off.

I hope the kids enjoy them! I wish I could be there to see their faces when they realize they have a "special" package in the mail. I used to love getting mail when I was younger...still do, minus bills.

So, if you're still wondering what to throw together for the loves of your life, at least the little ones, don't look past the $1 bins and sticker aisle...could be just what they were looking forward too! What thrifty ideas do you have for Valentine's Day? Do you celebrate?

Sidenote: I feel really guilty about posting this before posting anything about the buffet progress...but I couldn't hold out any longer. Only new info on the buffet front is that I have acquired (thanks to KAS and KMR) a new stripper that I plan on testing out hopefully this weekend!! Fingers crossed!

Until next time...