All opinions are always 100% honest and my own. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I also participate in: CJ Affiliate; eBay Partner Network; Rakuten Affiliate Network; ShareASale; Walmart Affiliate Program; independent affiliate networks.

Valentine's Day isn't a major holiday…unless you're a florist, candy maker, or greeting card company. Still, holidays and their expectations can cause undue stress when the should be fun. My Valentine's Day idea is to keep it simple. This applies to most holidays and celebrations, (although I make an exception for the annual Christmas blow out, and birthdays, and…well…never mind).

Making holidays special is can be easy. It shouldn't take a lot, to make lasting memories. A few, simple things can make the day special without making it into a big, expensive, stressful event. I'll tell you how we're making Valentine's Day fun and easy this year. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for you to look for simple ways to make the most of your holiday with just a little effort, some creativity, and a lot of food coloring.

Valentine's Day Decorations

Over the past few days, the kids cut out hearts from paper and grabbed the hearts that were left on our porch during an anonymous “heart attack” and taped them randomly around the house. Valentine's Day decor, done. I might even get the holiday box out of the storage room and swag a red garland around the front door. Maybe. If I get around to it.

Valentine's Day Food

We started Valentine's Day morning with a pink breakfast. The menu included:

• Pink heart-shaped pancakes (whole wheat!)
• Pink scrambled eggs (which actually came out orange with the yolks)
• Pink fruit smoothie (frozen fruit, bananas, milk, flax seed in the VitaMix)

This wasn't much more than a typical breakfast, we just threw in a lot of red food coloring. (That's seven-year-old Caleb, getting ready to dig in.)

For lunch, we'll have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on heart shaped bread, cut with a cookie cutter.

For dinner we'll have a chicken stew and a salad. I haven't figured out how to add the Valentine's Day theme to this meal. Maybe I'll throw in some red food coloring. (Ew.) But I'm sure something will come up. It always does.

Valentine's Day Activities

After lunch, we'll head to the roller skating rink for the annual homeschool skating party. This will include lots of skating, eating, and an enormous valentine exchange. Preparations for this are definitely the most involved part of the holiday for us.

Valentine's Day Gifts

We'll make paper valentines in the morning for the kids' friends and then a valentine treat (yet to be decided, probably involving more red food coloring) and some coconut macaroons for Sam (coconut being his all around favorite food/flavor/condiment in the world), also perhaps with red food coloring.

We'll find our way to BYU to surprise my oldest daughter and her fiancé with valentines and chocolates.

When we get home, we'll proceed—throughout the evening—to put valentines to each other other on the doorstep, ring the doorbell, and then run around to the back door. Very secretive.

Valentine's Day Idea: Keep It Simple

We aren't doing anything extravagant or costly for Valentine's Day…and we never really have. But the kids have always looked forward to the fun things we add to make the day a bit special. Look around at what you already have and what you already do. How can you use them or tweak them to be a bit different to create some holiday fun?

Making memories on holidays can be easy with a bit of creativity.

Happy Valentine's Day!

What Valentine's Day traditions do you have?

Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.