Ideas for a Lockdown Valentines Day

As you may know, we always celebrate Valentines but we tend to celebrate it as a family rather than romantically. I think so much pressure is put on people when it comes to showing how much you love someone. In fact one Instagram mummy friend told me last year that she inadvertently ended up arguing with her partner having seen what others had received on Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t that she hadn’t received anything, (she had), but she felt that her partner hadn’t tried as much as others. What a waste of a lovely day!

Our Valentines Day usually involves heart pancakes for breakfast, an afternoon tea out and a later meal at home. We give cards to each other, Dominic buys me and Ita flowers and Ita makes a Valentines themed craft. And there are always balloons. Ita is obsessed and each year she wakes up to her bedroom filled with heart balloons!

This year may be different because of lockdown. We wont have the freedom to go out but we will still want to celebrate in some way and so here are some ideas for you too.

Decorating

We have some small decorations that we add to our living room. They’re deliberately small and easy to store away.

This heart bunting is only £2.19 from Partyrama and dresses up the mantle piece perfectly. They also have a huge selection of other decorative items so I have ordered some balloons from here too.

Link for the banner (Click Here)

I tend to buy a cannister of helium to blow up our own balloons but so many places now post filled balloons.

The heart plate below along with the heart shaped board are both from Poundland. This year they have a pink version so we picked these up to have a themed afternoon tea at home! (Also below). Usually I will leave the plate out with some treats on the days leading up to Valentines, just because why not! Of course they were only £1 each so a complete bargain.

I think places like Poundland, B&M and Home Bargains are the best places to head to for themed items.

Sweet Treats

Dominic will no doubt bake us some themed biscuits for us all to decorate together but I have also been on at home to bake a brownie tray too! I bought some small moulds from ebay to make little chocolate hearts in so that we could pop on top of the tray bake. Not only will these keep Ita entertained but we can then enjoy them for our Valentines afternoon tea.

This Valentines cake topper will be perfect for it! (Click Here)

I have also ordered some Valentines popsicles from Harrisons Bakery on Etsy. I also adore Jax Bakes on Instagram (Click Here)

When I last checked, Ita’s favourite, Laduree, are also delivering their special Valentines Boxes (Click Here)

If you fancy baking your own then companies such as Peggy Porschen are selling bake your own sets which could be really good fun. They have a few options starting from £30 and pre-orders are now open! This one that I have linked here s the red velvet set which makes 12 cupcakes (Click Here)

We have ordered the Love Heart Krispy Kreme set too because Ita really enjoyed this when we bought the set before Christmas. I had a good few messages from people telling me they had ordered this after seeing it on our instagram page and that they too thought it was really good. This kit comes with 4 ready-made glazed doughnuts, 2 of them heart shaped with sherbet kreme fillings. The set also comes with lemon and strawberry icings to glaze your creations, along with rainbow sprinkles, mini sugar paste hearts and 2 message plaques inspired by Love Hearts (Click Here)

If you are more of a Doughnut Time person then they too have kits! We initially did these last Easter and found them to be quite messy though! I think there is more of a skill to these ones! These ones come with Vegan friendly options (Click Here)

Afternoon Tea

So as previously mentioned, we will definitely do a Valentines Afternoon Tea! You can of course make one at home (do check out or previous posts and Afternoon Tea Highlight on Instagram) but many places are offering home deliveries too.

We have booked a treat in Claridge’s (link below) but there are lots of other options around.

https://claridges-stvalentinesday.slerp.com/order

Cutter & Squidge have always done a home delivery set which has had really good reviews. They do a plain version and a special Valentines one too! I really like this set so I would probably recommend ordering the standard set for two at £29.90 and then order some themed treats too.

https://cutterandsquidge.com/products/afternoon-tea-at-home-uk-delivery

Lola’s cupcakes looks delicious and is a great option, although not too themed.

https://www.lolascupcakes.co.uk/Ordering/2012/Deluxe-Afternoon-Tea.htm

Movie Night

This year we are going to set the projector up outside and watch a movie in the garden (much like we did last summer and over Christmas).

Our mini portable projector was from eBay and was about £25 (Click Here)

However I have seen some priced around £28 on wowcher. Id suggest hopping onto google and searching ‘mini portable projector’ and then deciding which would work best for you.

Initially we used a cloth screen (at about £12) which we hung from the gazebo and it worked well in the summer months but for some reason, not so well in the winter. In all honesty I think the screen and stands are better value. We have a 70 inch screen and stand and it cost £39.99. It also folds away really easily so storage is not a problem (Click Here)

I also ordered these personalised movie night tickets from eBay but you could most definitely make these at home, just to make it a bit fun for children.

In all honestly, with so much of the last year been spent locked inside. These 2 buys have been so worth it. Although we have used them in the garden, you could easily use them inside too!

Cocktail Masterclass

One for the adults? Myself and Dominic used to love cooking classes and during lockdown we have done 2 cocktail making classes via zoom. They have both been so fun but I would really recommend Le Reve Bar because the way they packaged all the necessary ingredients was beautiful and felt like a present in itself.

https://lereve-bar.com/ or contact them via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/le_reve_bar/?hl=en

Teepee Hire

This concept is not new to us at all but it was something that Ita and her cousin enjoyed last year thanks to Tip Top Teepees based in Hertfordshire. They were absolutely brilliant and decked our front room out in everything needed for a Galentines party. (See our IGTV on Instagram!). It really was such a special treat and Ita often talks about it.

There are so many small businesses that do Teepee Hire now and are still able to by dropping the items outside for you to set up yourself. Perfect, given the current restrictions. Best of all, most companies will do a themed version for Valentines!

Hire a Hot Tub

Now I will admit, this is not something I would have considered any other year but with it being lockdown, it might just be what we need to break up the monotony! Many companies hire these out with themes now and we have found one quite local that actually has a Valentines theme! I’m still debating it…

When I researched this idea, it seemed that most companies hire these out over the course of 2-3 days and priced have ranged widely from £120-400 depending on where you reside. Definitely gather a few quotes and see what options best suit your budget and space!

Hire an Igloo

Possibly the most extravagant recommendation? I mean this would honestly be the dream. We were booked to dine in one but Borris decided to punish us and place us in Tier 4 just a few days before our booking.

Interestingly, there are a few companies who do hire out igloos, but finding the price without calling them is very difficult. Only one company transparently put their price on their page. One south based company advised that from £375, you will be delivered an igloo, table and chairs, décor, heater and lights. So it really is a very pricey treat.

Many are able to set up even with the Covid restrictions so long as they have access to your garden.