Valentine’s Day is almost here and if you’re still looking for gifts, treats and a personalized touch, we share ideas the whole family can enjoy.
PERSONALIZED CARDS, STICKERS AND GIFTS
From cut-out cards to holiday stickers, apparel and more… put the personal touch on card exchanges and family gifts with a Cricut! Cricut makes smart cutting machines that work with an easy-to-use app to help you design and personalize almost anything. With Valentine’s Day around the corner we grabbed our Cricut Joy Xtra and began in on all the fun!
We used their robust Design Space to get inspiration and check out projects for cut out cards and stickers. We ended up created our own classroom exchange stickers using images and fonts found in the great library of designs. We used a template for several of the cards but then inserted glitter cardstock to give the notes a pop.
Gifts are also simple and have a wow-factor once Cricut is involved… we got clear plastic pouches and used permanent vinyl to write the kids names on the front. These are perfect to fill with candy and valentine letters. We also used our Cricut Heat EasyPress and ironed-on monograms to sunglass cases for the entire crew. It was so cool, we didn’t stop there… we made personalized t-shirts too!
“PAINT” THE TOWN (OR CERAMICS) RED
Celebrate Valentine’s Day painting! Take the kids, or grab girlfriends and get creative at CeramiCafe. On February 14th you can enjoy treats, assorted decorations and quality time together painting projects that will turn into keepsake gifts. We love CeramiCafe because it’s such a fun environment and they have so many pieces to pick from, or you can completely come up with your own design. We get creative with handprints, let the kids fully takeover their items with ideas and paint. Be sure to date the bottom as it’s so fun to look back as you display throughout the year in their rooms or your home. From piggy banks of their favorite characters to plates, mugs and more, the kids love finding a piece to make their own. We enjoy watching them use their creations. If you can’t make it out before Valentine’s Day, you can always create a gift certificate for a “date” with mom, dad or loved one. The grandparents of Family Entourage enjoy painting alongside their grandkids at Ceramic Cafe too!
OH THE PLACES YOU’LL GO
Make Valentine’s Day memorable through the time spent together with family and friends. With over 60 museums in San Diego, February is a great month to visit them because it is Museum Month! Whether you visit a museum for the first time or the hundredth time, all you have to do is pick up your Museum Month discount pass at one of the 80 San Diego public libraries libraries. The pass is free and covers up to four guests of any age and gives you 50% off admission. Some of our favorite museums include: Birch Aquarium, New Children’s Museum, Fleet Science Center, Japanese Friendship Garden, Museum of Contemporary Art, Natural History Museum, San Diego Air & Space Museum, and San Diego Botanic Garden. You can check out our favorites here.
New Museum Month locations for 2024 include LEGOLAND® California Resort and its SEA LIFE® Aquarium, the California Wolf Center, the Deer Park Winery & Auto Museum and WNDR Museum San Diego. Check out the San Diego Museum Council for more information on where to pick up your pass and a full list of participating museums
VALENTINE TREAT CHARCUTERIE
Valentine treats are more than just conversation hearts (although those are super fun)! combine several of your favorite flavors and colors in a simple but stunning dessert board full of heart-inspired treats that is not only delicious, but sticks to the holiday theme.
We made chocolate cake pops to be playful and practical because you don’t want to be locked into just one dessert, so the bite size ball is just enough, but still leaving room for more. Krispy treats cuts into heart shapes with cookie cutters and sprinkled with heart candy confetti. Strawberry licorice bites, and gummy “x” and “o” candy screams kisses and hugs. You can add any other cookies, swirly lollipops or whatever desserts are the family favorite.
Plus we use the Cricut Joy Xtra to make heart confetti out of card stock and a fun sign for the board too. All the guesswork was taken out with Cricut Design Space and then the perfect cuts!
