Some Valentine Inspiration

Do you have VD on the brain?

Valentine's Day, of course...what did you think I meant? I am in full blow Valentine's Day mode. I am not necessarily a huge fan of said day (neither is the hubs), but I thought that my kids would get a kick out of me making a little fuss this year. I have a few ideas for all of the little loves of your life.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries...need I say more?
Okay y'all, this is a perennial favorite at my house. They look tough, but trust me, a monkey could do it...although I don't think you would want him to.

What y'all need:

toothpicks
16 ounces milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons shortening
1 pound fresh strawberries with long stems
TOTALLY OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED FOR MAKING THESE REALLY LOOK AMAZING:

dark chocolate chips

white chocolate chips

peanut butter chips

finely chopped peanuts (unless your love is allergic, in that case, it is totally up to you whether or not you want to spend the evening in the ER)

anything else you want to drizzle on top, drag through, or dip your strawberries into

What y'all do:

Insert toothpicks into the tops of the strawberries.
In a double boiler, melt the milk chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding them by the toothpicks, dip the strawberries into the chocolate mixture.
Turn the strawberries upside down and insert the toothpick into styrofoam for the chocolate to cool (or if you don't care to be quite that fancy, just slap them down onto a piece of wax paper).

When they cool, melt your other chocolate chips, white chocolate, etc. and then just drizzle it on the top. You could even dip them half-way in. You could roll them in the peanuts. You can do whatever you darn well want to do. Go crazy you wild woman!

There is a picture above to give you a good idea of what glorious masterpiece you would wow your Valentine with.

Here is a super-cute craft idea from Veronica at Shabby Chic Crafts (link is below):

Cute, easy & cheap (sounds like one of the girls the hubs use to date....totally kidding...couldn't resist that one no matter how inappropriate...please excuse my humor!)
http://shabbychiccrafts.blogspot.com/2009/01/valentine-home-decor-free-download.html

Here is a fun idea for a little mood lighting for that gourmet meal that you will be whipping up (or the take out that you will be throwing on a plate to make it look like a gourmet meal that you whipped up).

The last little picture is for the men (you may go grab your man from in front of the t.v., snatch his hand out of the chip bag & and sit him in front of the screen now). Guys, we love you. We love you more than anything in this world, but, PLEASE DON'T GET US A BLENDER FOR VALENTINE'S DAY! No, that doesn't mean that a toaster oven is okay either. We don't want anything that we have to share or that we have to use to make other things for other people. We want something totally and completely selfish. Something unmistakably impractical. Flowers are a nice start. Not just the dozen roses from the grocery store. Go crazy man! Look at the picture above, hit print at the top of your computer screen, take it to your nearest florist and say, "Here, make this, please". You will be a hero in your little love's eyes. Better yet, do you know her favorite flower? If not, shame on you! If you do, go get those. Even better, get her like, 3 dozen of them! Yes, totally impractical, but that is the point. Don't wait in line at some fancy-schmancy restaurant on Valentine's Day, make her dinner. Trust me, even if you aren't a great cook & your pasta is a little too "al dente", your rolls are like rocks, and the souffle falls like the Hindenburg, she will gag it down with tears in her eyes and love you for eternity. Now listen, if you leave her a heaping mess of dishes, she will quickly turn on you, so for the love of Pete, please clean up after yourself as well. There, you may go back to your t.v. & bag of Doritos...

So, I hope this helped a little. If you have any great ideas, please pass them on...I can use all the help I can get. Oh, by the way...sorry about the weird spacing above...the computer hates me today.