Valentines Day date ideas at home

February is now upon us and as much as I dislike the cold winter months, I always love that Valentine’s Day comes with it. However, with so much going on between New York Fashion Week and prepping for shoots, it is also always one of my busiest times of the year and the holiday tends to creep up on me. So, I’m left scrambling to get things together. Because of this we like to plan something low key at home where we can relax and enjoy each other’s company without the added expenses or hassle of going out. So below I am sharing with you a couple easy ideas on how to create some of your own special V-Day celebrations at home.

Romantic Movie for Two:

Movie Nights are a pretty common occurrence on our date night calendar but we found that we can turn it up a notch with these cute ideas.

• Smartphone projector: I have mentioned this product before in our holiday gift guide.  But I love the idea of setting up a big screen at home to create your own movie theater. It can either be used on a blank wall or you could do what we do and hang up a white bedsheet to create a screen. Cuddle up on the couch or set up a little pillow bed, sit back and enjoy the show. There are lots of different projectors you can buy but I like the quality of this one for the price. Luckies of London smart phone projector $38.95

• Candy Bar: If you don’t have time to go around and buy everything then try a box set from Dylan’s Candy Bar. They do time capsule candy boxes that you can either get the decade from when you were a kid or theme your box to the decade of the movie you plan to watch. Dylan’s Candy Bar Time Capsule Box $40.00

• Flavored Popcorns: Jazz up your go-to movie treat with these amazing popcorn recipes.
  1. Ranch Popcorn:  Melt 4 tablespoons butter with a 1-ounce packet ranch seasoning mix; toss with 16 cups hot popcorn and 2 tablespoons chopped chives. Season with salt.
  2. Brown Butter–Lemon Popcorn: Cook 6 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat until browned, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest; drizzle over 16 cups hot popcorn. 
  3. Three-Cheese Popcorn: Toss 16 cups hot popcorn with 2 cups shredded cheddar, 1 cup grated parmesan and 1/2 cup grated pecorino; spread on baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F until the cheddar melts, 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Camping and Cocktails

• Pitching Tent: Whether you are using an actual tent or making a blanket fort, ambiance is the key. Throw in lots of pillows, blankets, and Christmas lights to create a magical setting. If your lucky enough to have a fireplace start it up. If you don’t then try this funny fake camp fire for a cute kitschy look. Cauldron Flame Light $24.97

• Cocktails or Bust: Continuing with the camping theme for the evening try a Dutch Chocolate or S’mores Martini as the evenings refreshments.
  • Dutch Chocolate
    • 5 oz freshly made hot chocolate
    • 1 oz genever
    • 1/4 oz green chartreuse 
    • 1/4 oz triple sec
    • Combine the hot chocolate, genever, chartreuse, and triple sec in a mug and stir gently to combine. Garnish liberally with Chartreuse Whipped Cream and top with chocolate curls. 
  • S’mores Martini
    • 1 oz cinnamon- vanilla vodka
    • 1 oz Drambuie (honey-flavored scotch)
    • 1 oz chocolate liqueur 
    • Dash of chocolate bitters
    • 2 oz heavy cream
    • 1 tsp honey
    • Put 1 ounce of the cinnamon-vanilla vodka, the Drambuie, chocolate liqueur and chocolate bitters in a cocktail shaker filled with ice; shake until frothy. Strain into the prepared martini glass. Rinse out the shaker and refill with ice. Add the heavy cream and honey and shake vigorously (without the ice) until slightly thick. Spoon the heavy cream mixture over the cocktail. Garnish with a toasted marshmallow. 

• Spice up your boardgames: What camping night would be complete without games. Try the more grown up incarnations for a fun time with your date. Dirty Minds $14.48

Hope you enjoyed this post and have a couple more ideas for some fun Valentine’s date nights with your special someone. As always thank you for reading and if you have any ideas for posts you would like to see on the website leave them down in the comments below.

xx

The Everyday Editor