All Things Valentines Day

Well, its that time of your again. The time that we all run to the store and fumble through the Valentines aisle and try to pick out something we think our loved one will like. We second guess ourselves on the right stuffed animal, the perfect combination of Chocolates, and the best-looking bouquet of roses that our wallets can afford. We frantically call all the babysitters we know, in hopes that they will watch the kids. Then it’s pondering the right Romantic atmosphere. Should we go out for dinner in a crowded and loud restaurant or should we attempt to cook the perfect dinner at home. Should we book a Room at the motel in the next town, or should we save the money and buy them something grand with it? Yes, it is Valentine’s day. The one day that men and women stress out the most. Relax and breathe, I got you covered. Sit back and read my post. I promise you; it will help you decide the perfect night for your loved one. First, we will see why we celebrate this holiday in the first place.

Valentine’s Day: History of Valentine’s Day | History

Valentine’s Day Facts

Every year, more than 36 million heart shaped boxes of chocolates are sold across the country.
Sorry men, it looks like you’ll be spending twice as much as women this year on gifts. The average man spends $130 on Valentine’s Day, while women spend about $70.
Don’t forget about your pets! Every year, around 9 million people buy their pets a Valentine’s Day gift.
February 14th is the second largest card giving day of the year, just after Christmas. This year, it’s expected that 1 billion cards will be exchanged around the world.
Teachers receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by kids, mothers, wives and girlfriends.
Hallmark was one of the first to mass produce a Valentine’s Day card, all the way back in 1913.

More than one-third of men are comfortable not receiving anything from a lover on Valentine’s Day. (1800Flowers)https://www.1800flowers.com/blog/flower-facts/valentines-day-fun-facts-2017/

The ancient Roman festival Lupercalia (“festival of the wolf”) is considered to be the precursor to Valentine’s Day. Celebrated from February 13-15, it was a purification and fertility ceremony. Reminiscent of the modern-day exchange of love notes on Valentine’s Day, boys would draw a girl’s name from a box on the eve of the festival and then escort her to the festival the next day—or, some scholars say, she would be his sexual partner for the next year.https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/lupercalia
The saying “wearing your heart on your sleeve” is from the Middle Ages. Boys at this time would draw names of girls to see who would be their “Valentine” and then wear the name pinned on their sleeve for a week. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-origins-of-wearing-your-heart-on-your-sleeve-17471279/
Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day in the late 1800s. https://www.history.com/news/celebrating-valentines-day-with-a-box-of-chocolates

During the 1700s in England, a girl would pin four bay leaves to her pillow and eat a hard-boiled egg, including the shell, on the eve of St. Valentine’s Day. Supposedly, if she dreamed of a boy that night, she would soon marry him. Girls would also write boys’ names on small pieces of paper, cover them with clay, and drop them into the water. When the clay broke, the papers floated to the top. The first name the girls could read would predict whom they would marry.
In Germany, girls would plant onions in a pot on Valentine’s Day, and next to the onions, they placed the name of a boy. They believed they would marry the boy whose name was nearest the first onion to grow.

Traditionally, young girls in the U.S. and the U.K. believed they could tell what type of man they would marry depending on the type of bird they saw first on Valentine’s Day. If they saw a blackbird, they would marry a clergyman, a robin redbreast indicated a sailor, and a goldfinch indicated a rich man. A sparrow meant they would marry a farmer, a bluebird indicated a happy man, and a crossbill meant an argumentative man. If they saw a dove, they would marry a good man, but seeing a woodpecker meant they would not marry at all.
The first American Valentine was produced in 1834 by New York engraver Robert Elton.
On this day in 1849, the first American-made valentines were sold in Worcester. They were designed and made by Esther Howland, the daughter of a local stationer. After graduating from Mt. Holyoke College, she returned to Worcester and began making valentines modeled on a fancy one she had received from an English friend. Her brother took the samples on a sales trip and came home with an astonishing $5,000 worth of orders. Howland began by hiring her friends to assemble the valentines; within a few years, she built her business into a $100,000 a year enterprise, a notable success for any entrepreneur but a truly remarkable accomplishment for a nineteenth-century woman.

The condom company Durex reports that condom sales are 20-30% higher around Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day Cards

Valentines Cards are supposed to say how you feel about someone. They represent your emotions and your character. But, why do we give cards?

Vintage Valentines

Now that we have seen Valentine’s through the ages, we will show you how to make your own. This allows you to personalize your card. It also allows for more of you to be presented.

Here are some printable cards you can make.

What Do Men Want for Valentine’s Day?

What do you get for Men on Valentine’s day? Since I am a Married woman and have been for the past 16 years, I was Clueless to what to get for men aside from my Husband. Worried that I might fail my Readers, I combed through 20 different sites to compile this list for you. Please keep in mind These ideas may not be what your man wants. Make sure to do some snooping before you make your final plan. The following ideas were taken from articles that asked men what they wanted. Please don’t be upset with the results, I just typed out what they said. Lol

Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card
A day off from work, and a beer
Beer, whiskey, and Wine
a nice home-cooked meal
Sex
Good headphones
Hip electronic gadgets
Nothing
Bring on the Juicy Love Notes. Tell him how happy he makes you, and how proud you are of him.
Homemade gifts
Sexy Pictures of you
Give Us Quality Time
Let Us Romance You
Give Us Positive Affirmation. Let us know what you want.
A lovely bouquet of beef jerky.
bake him something (cookies, etc.) that he can bring to work and share.
A Framed Photograph.
A Steak Dinner and a Couple of Drinks Afterwards.
A Nice Six Pack of Craft Brew.
To Get Pampered, Like a Man.
Wallet
Roku Ultra
Wahl Clippers Beard Trimmer
For the coffee lover: SterlingPro Double Wall French Press
For the music lover: Sonos Play:1 Wireless Speaker
Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card. Hey, we all make mistakes.
Fantasy Sex
A Hall Pass for one night. A Hall pass is an agreement between people in a romantic relationship that one or both may have sex with other people for an amount of time you both agree on.
A sexy Massage
A Bubble bath with you washing him.
Watch a porno with him and play out a couple scenes.
Dance for him. A seductive dance would be great ladies.

What Woman want

These ideas were collected from multiple websites. These ideas were collected through surveys. These are simple suggestions and may not for your partners ideas, so please be sure to do your homework and research into what they want before committing.

Food, we want you to cook for us
Alcohol
Gift, try to remember something very obscure or something your significant other only briefly mentioned.
Make a card. It doesn’t cost money to put in a little time and effort. Can’t afford a card, take some printing paper and write about how wonderful I am and how lucky you are to have me.
Chocolate
Flowers
Jewelry. A cool piece of jewelry.
Give her a Bubble bath. You wash her.
Give her a full body massage.
Watch her favorite movie with her.
Devote time away from social media and games, just to be with her. Give me a tech-free evening.
Write her a love letter.
Recreate your first date.
Good headphones
New Pajamas that are comfortable.
A movie marathon night.
day learning something new with you.
A weekend or day trip somewhere fun.
A mix CD/playlist, because #oldschool.
A coupon book, but for sexy time.
A scrapbook with both of your favorite photos together.
A rainy-day jar filled with love quotes, things you love about them or activities to do together.
I want sleep. Non interrupted.
I want you to clean my car.
Female sex toys
Breakfast in bed
photo session of the happy couple
Donate your Valentine’s dollars to your favorite charity that you choose as a couple
Fancy candles, soaps, lotions, or shaving accessories
Bath salts, bombs, or bubbles
Do all of your significant other’s chores for a week
Put in a love song mix playlist and have a dance in your home.
Sex, but make sure you Manscape (trim them hairs on your snake) and take a shower first.

Practical Gifts for your Valentine

Plant that grows
Pillows
Blankets
Combs, Brushes, hair ties
Lotions
Bodywash
Makeup sponges and brushes
Comfortable pajamas
Gift card for a streaming channel/site
Beach towel
Cologne or Perfume that they like
Accessories for there Electronic devices
New razors
shoe insoles
new coffee or tea maker
New shower curtain
picture frames
new lights to put around there bedroom like Christmas lights
Calendar
Picture for the house
Scented candle or Incense
New Pens
Rug
Bins to help organize
Spice rack
Magnets for the fridge
Gift card to a restaurant
Gift card to the movies
Gift card from there favorite store

Flowers

Most woman expect Flowers for valentine’s day. Men assume that they must bought expensive roses for the occasion. This is not the case. Yes, Roses are nice to buy for your loved one. However, they are not the only Flower that represents Love.

Flower Meanings and Symbolism

It seems like common knowledge that roses symbolize love, but have you ever wondered where flower meanings come from? Using flowers symbolically dates back to before the nineteenth century, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that floriography became formalized. In 1809, Joseph Hammer-Purgstall published Dictionnaire du language des fleurs, the first published list on the language of flowers.

Though floriography was popularized in Europe, it was inspired by women of the Ottoman Empire who used flowers to convey messages that they could not say aloud. In fact, Greek and Armenian women helped Hammer-Purgstall understand the language of flowers and translate traditional Turkish sayings into French. Flower symbolism became even more elaborate in 1819 when Louise Cortambert wrote Le langage des Fleurs, a dictionary on the language of flowers. The rise of flower symbolism during this time makes sense, as it was the height of the Romantic era where nature was seen as beauty, and people were heavily influenced by their emotions. Floriography allowed for a tangible exchange of these emotions. (FTD) https://www.ftd.com/blog/flower-meanings-and-symbolism#

ROSE: LOVE, PASSION

TULIP: LOVE, CONFIDENCE

CHRYSANTHEMUM: LOYALTY, LOVE

Camellia, red: You’re a Flame in My Heart

Gardenia: Secret love

Heliotrope: Eternal love

Honeysuckle: Bonds of love

Blue Hyacinth: Constancy of love

Jasmine, white: Sweet love, amiability

Salvia, red: Forever mine

Yarrow: Everlasting love

Taken from Almanac https://www.almanac.com/content/flower-meanings-language-flowers

ROSE MEANINGS

Red roses symbolize love and desire, but roses come in a variety of colors and each has their own meaning. For example, the white rose’s meaning is purity and innocence.

White rose: purity, innocence, reverence, a new beginning, a fresh start.

Red rose: love, I love you
Deep, dark crimson rose: mourning
Pink rose: grace, happiness, gentleness
Yellow rose: jealousy, infidelity
Orange rose: desire and enthusiasm
Lavender rose: love at first sight
Coral rose: friendship, modesty, sympathy

How to Keep Fresh Cut Roses Alive?

Apple Cider Vinegar & Sugar — Flowers need sugar as food. Sugar is a substantial ingredient in flower food packets. The problem is, sugar accelerates bacterial growth. And you get those gunky, slimy leaves around day 4 to prove it. The solution is to add an acid. Enter vinegar, the bacteria-fighting agent to combat any damage the sugar creates.

Every night before hitting the hay, we put this vase of flowers in the fridge. They were typically in there for about eight hours. When we woke up, we took the flowers out and displayed them with the others on the dining room table. It seems such a simple solution, but it kept our flowers fresh well through day 7. It makes sense that florists keep their flowers inside a large refrigerator.

Though anchored in science, many of the theories only have an inkling of truth to them. Your best bet to keep your flowers alive longer is using the flower food packet that comes with your arrangement and placing them in the fridge overnight. https://blog.teleflora.com/keep-cut-flowers-fresh/#

Put Cut Flowers in the Refrigerator

Nobody is marveling at the beauty of your bouquets overnight, so stick them in the refrigerator! Like putting your fruits and veggies in the fridge keeps them fresher longer, the same goes for your flowers. Think about it – florists tend to store their flowers in large fridges, so why wouldn’t the same concept work for you? Clean out an area of your fridge and keep your bouquet fresh for up to four days longer than a non-treated bouquet!

Drop A Penny in the Flower Vase

Copper is a known antibacterial agent, and the bacteria that multiplies in the water is a contributor to the breakdown of cut flowers. Simply putting a penny in the vase protects the flowers from some of the bacteria, keeping them fresh for longer. Pairing this method with the refrigerator, your flowers will stay fresher for days.

Don’t Place Cut Flowers in Direct Sunlight

While your flowers need a little bit of sunlight, we tend to overestimate how much is necessary. They aren’t actively growing anymore, so sunlight isn’t as beneficial as it is when the flowers are still rooted in the ground. When you have cut flowers, their needs change – with temperature being a much bigger factor. For example, putting your flowers on a windowsill with direct sunlight tends to be hot. As you can deduce from the fact that your fridge keeps your flowers fresh, supplying them with extra heat won’t. Not only will this sun make the water deplete quicker, but it can even cause the vibrant colors on the petals fade as well. You should keep your bouquet away from heating vents too and away from the fruit that you keep on the counter – the gases released from the fruit can cause some flowers to wilt quicker.

Maintain Your Cut Flowers

Something as simple as trimming the stems every couple of days can go a long way. This takes off the dying ends of the flowers, so they can absorb more water. Be sure to cut them diagonally. In addition, you should also change the water daily or every other day, depending on the state of the flowers. Use lukewarm water for regular flowers, but cold water for bulb flowers. Sterilize the vase between fills as well. If you have a variety bouquet, like A Little Pink Me Up, there’s a good chance that some of the flowers will die earlier than others. If this is the case, remove the dead ones and pick out the leaves that have fallen into the water. Eliminating these from the bouquet will limit the amount of bacteria in the water.

Don’t Use the Entire Flower Food Packet

If your bouquet came with a packet of food, don’t use it all at once. Every time you change the water, sprinkle a little bit more in. This flower food typically consists of sugar, an acidifier, and bleach. If your bouquet didn’t come with flower food, never fear! You can make your own with a little sugar, citrus juice, and bleach.

Just a little maintenance will keep your flowers looking brand new, letting you enjoy them for more days that you could have imagined!

How to reuse Valentine candy boxes

Ways to use a valentine’s day heart box
Store jewelry in them
Store hair ties in them
gift boxes for birthdays
Make a shadow box
You can make a picture frame out of the candy box
Fill it with flower seeds to give as a gift
Glue for heart boxes together into a four- leaf clover, paint them green and fill with candy’s for St. Patrick’s Day

DIY Valentine’s Gift Crafts

Dollar Tree Valentine’s Day Crafts: Dollar Tree Floating Mailbox Monkey Valentine

Valentines gift under $5 / dollar tree DIY / affordable and easy diy perfect for teacher /must see😉

Dollar Tree Valentine Décor/Gift “Love is in the air”

DOLLAR TREE EASY DIY | VALENTINE CANDY DÉCOR JAR’S

DIY Soda Candy Bouquet

Edible Candy Bouquet Lollipop Malt

Diy Valentine’s Candy Bouquet / gift basket /Dollar tree

27 DOLLAR TREE VALENTINE DIYS | VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT IDEAS | INEXPENSIVE VALENTINE GIFT SETS (2020)

In America, Valentine’s Day is the second busiest day of the year for restaurants. Here are ways to get around that long wait at the Restaurant.

Order delivery from their favorite restaurant
Make a home cooked meal
Buy a prepped meal and heat it up (Lasagna)
Have a friend be the cook and waiter for you at home.

6 Easy Gourmet Date Nights

7 Date Night Meals for Valentine’s Day

If money is tight but you still want to make a special dinner, don’t fear. Here are some dinner ideas that you can buy supplies for at the dollar store. Dinner doesn’t have to cost a fortune to be special.

What to do with the kids

If you are like most couples, you have kids. If you can’t get a babysitter for Valentine’s night, don’t fret. I have some distractions for your kids that can buy you some time. I wish someone had done this for me when my kids where young. I will put the amount of time for each video so you know how long it buys you.

Carebears episodes 45 of them

Un-Valentine’s Day (Winnie the Pooh) 20 minutes

Chipmunks Valentine’s cartoon special 24 minutes

The Pink Panther in “Pink at First Sight” 23 minutes

The Popeye Valentine’s Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea 23 minutes

He Man Official💘Three Courageous Hearts💘VALENTINES DAY SPECIAL💘She Ra Episodes💘Cartoons for Kids 21 minutes

Woody Woodpecker 2018 ❤️I’m With Cupid Stupid ❤️Valentines Day Special ❤️ Kids Movies 27 minutes long

DTV Romancin’ Complete 47 minutes

Teen Titans Go! | Will You Be My Valentine? | DC Kids 29 min

Rolie Polie Olie: Valentine’s Day Compilation ! | Funny Cartoons for Kids by Treehouse Direct 1hour 12 minutes

The Little Lulu Show Valentine’s Day 26 minutes

Dora and the Lost Valentine Dora the Explorer Valentines Day Adventure Cartoon 24 minutes

Our Gang (Little Rascals) – Hearts Are Thump [1937] Full Episode 35 minutes

Valentine Coloring pages for kids

Valentines music

This is my Valentine’s day playlist. I have 145 Love songs on this list. I hope you enjoy them.

Valentines Ideas I liked on Pinterest

Here are some ideas I thought were spectacular for Valentines day. https://www.pinterest.com/flafirecracker/valentines-ideas/

I hope that this Post enlightened you. I know I had a fun time doing all the research. If you liked this post, please feel free to Share with other people and pages and to Subscribe.