Be My Valentine: 14 Ways to Show Love to Your Spouse While At Home
The Valentine Season has hit! It is time to think about ways you can show your loved ones how much you appreciate them. I love the Valentine’s Holiday because it reminds us of the importance of celebrating with the ones you love. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we made a point to show love to our spouses not just during this season, but everyday!?
A few days ago I was thinking about some of the things Jake does to make me feel loved and appreciated. I am thankful for a spouse who loves me and invests his time into my life. He is always doing something sweet for me even if it is not the most convenient for him.
Today I am going to share 14 ways you can show love to your spouse while at home. I wanted to provide a list to get your creative juices flowing. There are so many ways to demonstrate your love to that amazing spouse who puts up with you everyday!
14 Ways to Show Love to Your Spouse While At Home:
- Keep the Communication Open – set aside time regularly when you can talk one-on-one with your spouse. We typically do this once the kids are in bed so it cuts down on the interruptions. This is a great time to talk about your days, share your thoughts, and to unwind after a busy day. These times are precious and important to keep the communication flowing smoothly with your spouse.
- Give a Hug – make a point to give your spouse at least one hug a day
- Make a Special Treat – find something that your spouse enjoys, but doesn’t get very often and make it for him/her. It could be a steak dinner or delicious homemade cookies. Even if it is something you don’t especially like when you go out of your way to make something specifically for him/her it shows them that you care and you notice the things that he/she enjoys.
- Say “I Love You” With Your Words and Actions – make sure to actually say “I Love You” to your spouse regularly as well as demonstrate your love through actions. For example, if she asks for your help on something – do it or if he wants dinner to be ready at 6 pm every day – do your best to have it ready for him. Your actions speak volumes to your spouse.
- Give Your Undivided Attention While Your Spouse is Speaking – it is increasingly difficult to spend several minutes speaking with anyone, including your spouse, without some kind of interruption. Maybe I am unique, but it can be very frustrating to speak with someone when they are constantly looking at their cell phone, laptop, or their attention is somewhere else. Put down your phone and walk away from it! Don’t let the texts, emails, phone calls, or other beeps coming from your cell phone interrupt this time with your spouse. While the cell phone makes us more accessible there are times when you need to break free from it and give your undivided attention to your spouse. Listen to what he/she is saying. Shut the laptop (or turn away from the computer) so he/she can visibly see that they are important to you and you are paying attention to him/her. Find a time when the kids are in bed or doing something else so they will not need to interrupt your conversation.
- Share a Kiss – give your spouse a kiss when it is least expected. We always make sure to share a kiss whenever one of us is leaving the house or coming home. However, the unexpected kiss when your spouse is cleaning out the dishwasher for you, switching the laundry, or bringing you another drink before you had even realized your cup was empty is a special surprise.
- Turn Down the Lights & Light the Candles – turning down the lights and lighting up the candles can be a great way to switch the room atmosphere into a relaxing mood for an evening.
- Help Your Spouse – your spouse may have had a super busy day at work or with the kids. Take the time out of your busy day to do something nice that will help him/her. Whether it is to laying out his clothes for work the next day, washing dishes, emptying the dishwasher, holding tools while they are building something, getting supplies ready to help change the oil in the family car, putting together a scrapbook, helping as they clean out the garage, or anything else. You really show your love when you pitch in and help on a task or activity that he/she knows is not something you enjoy or are good at because he/she knows you are doing it because you love him/her.
- Make Your Bedroom Inviting – Doing the basic cleaning and pick up can make the bedroom an inviting place to go to for your spouse. Simple tasks like making the bed, picking the dirty clothes up off the floor (at least put them in the laundry basket), hanging up the dirty towels, vacuuming the floor, dusting, and other tasks can go a long way in making the bedroom be a place you both enjoy.
- Open Arms Welcome – when your spouse comes home from work, errands, or any activity make a point to welcome him/her with open arms. Give him/her with a hug, kiss, and / or tell him/her how happy you are to see him/her. You may have a kid hanging on your leg, soapy hands, or may be in the middle of quizzing the kids on their spelling words, whatever it is you are doing stop and welcome him/her home. Let him/her know how happy you are to see him/her.
- Make Eye Contact – When your spouse is talking look at him/her. Catch his/her eyes at random times throughout the day or evening and smile (it lights up your eyes too) or wink at him/her. Let them know you value them by making a point to have direct eye contact with him/her.
- Back Scratch or Massage – some people love having their backs scratched or massaged or both. Some may also enjoy a foot massage. Whatever it is that your spouse enjoys make a point to regularly do these activities for him/her. You may pause as you are clearing the table to give a brief back scratch to your spouse or give them a foot massage as they tell you about his/her day.
- Words of Affirmation – voicing positive traits about your spouse. Verbally thanking him/her for pitching in and helping you. Telling them how proud you are of him/her.
- Share Memories & Laughter – whenever a fond memory pops into your head share it with your spouse. The memory will bring up the past experiences you share together, make both of you smile, or even laugh. There have been many times throughout our marriage one of us will just say one word or phrase which brings a smile to the others face. Watching a comedy that you both enjoy together can be a great way to laugh together too. Laughter is wonderful for your marriage
These are just a handful of ways to show your spouse how much you love them. Go ahead and try some of these ideas. Get creative and do some fun activities that will put an extra spark into your spouse’s day. The whole point is to show your spouse how much you care!
“Be My Valentine” is a series of creative ways you can celebrate Valentine’s Day with those you love. You can make it a special Holiday without spending a lot. Spread a little extra cheer to those around you this Valentine’s Day! Surprise your loved ones with a fun and thoughtful gift from the heart. It is a great time to reflect on sweet memories as well as create new ones with whole family. May this Valentine’s season be bursting with love for you! While these ideas are wonderful for the Valentine’s Season they are also a perfect treat that will be appreciated any day of the year!
Be My Valentine: “Love Bug” Notes
Little ladybug “love” notes in the girls school lunches
The girls love getting surprises in their lunch boxes. I found these adorable ladybug notes (aka “love bug” notes in our house) and waited until I had a coupon to buy them at our local Hallmark store. It is my intention to send a special note or treat with the girls lunches at least once a week (on a good week I do it 2 or 3 times). In a time pinch I put these fun bugs on their sandwich containers or random places in their lunch.
Fun note to remind the girls we love them
Not only do these notes brighten the girls days it also encourages them to read. The notes are cute and it only takes a minute to add them to their lunch box.
Karlie’s Note – Buzzing by to say….. Consider yourself HUGGED! Squeeeeeeeeze
Karlie has been known to keep her “love” notes in her lunch box for weeks. She gets so excited about the little notes that sometimes when I ask her how her day went the first thing she tells me about is the “love bug” she found in her lunch.
Brina’s Note – A little buggy told me you’ve been working really hard. You should feel so proud!
Brina loves getting these notes in her lunch so much that she has a baggie full of them in her “special” drawer at home. I know the girls appreciate these small reminders of our love.
I love having these on hand to add a little bit of variety to the special surprises.You could pick up these or something similar at your local Hallmark store or find some online to print off or make up some of your own to print off. What type of goodies do you put in your kids lunch boxes?
Be My Valentine: Valentine Cake Batter Rice Krispies
Valentine Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats
The girls have to bring a goody for their school Valentine’s Day party. When I asked them what they wanted me to buy or make they both said to bring the Valentine’s Cake Batter Rice Krispie treats with “extra sprinkles”! I made this recipe earlier for another event so they were excited to try it out before their party.
Heart shaped Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats with sprinkles
The girls loved making this little Valentine Rice Krispies. We added a little bit of cake batter, a drop of red food coloring, and some sprinkles than used cookie cutters to make the hearts.
Having fun making designs with the Valentine Cake Batter Rice Krispie hearts
We had fun making different designs with the treats. Their favorite design was the flower. Since we were taking them to more than one party we were able to have some fun getting creative with the treats.
Rice Krispie Hearts of different sizes
The big heart cookie cutter was cute, but we did more of the small heart to make sure everyone had a rice krispie treat to enjoy. Thankful that the girls requested a pretty easy treat to share with their friends. Do you have to bring treats for your kids classroom?
Song: “Love of My Life” by Jim Brickman
In celebration of the Valentine Holiday this week I wanted to share a song with about “love”. I am thankful everyday for Jake and the many things that he does for our family. He is an amazing part of my life and I love him so very much. It is hard to believe we have been married almost 12 years and have known each over for over 16 years! 🙂 I am blessed and have much to be thankful for in my life.
Be My Valentine: Red Velvet Heart Cupcakes
Red Velvet Heart Cupcake ready to be baked!
If you are looking for a fun Valentine’s cupcake I have one for you to check out. I got this brilliant idea from Muses of Megret on how to make heart shaped cupcakes without buying a special pan! By putting a small marble beside the cupcake liner it makes the cupcake form a heart shape while baking. Love it! 🙂
When the girls walked into the kitchen after school last week the first comment I heard wasn’t “Mmmm….the house smells good!” It was “Were you playing with our toys while we were at school?!” The first thing they noticed was that their marble and maze toy drawer was sitting on the kitchen counter. After a little more investigation they realized that I had just kidnapped the marbles for a little bit. They thought it was a pretty cool idea and were willing to let the marbles finish baking with the cupcakes (and get re-washed because I dribbled batter on a couple of them) before playing with their marble mazes.
Red Velvet cake mix
I decided to make a Red Velvet cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. Red is a popular Valentine’s Day color and shows up beautifully in the cupcake liners. Although I have made red velvet cake from scratch (with beets instead of food coloring) in the past I decided this time to use the Red Velvet cake mix I already had in the pantry. The batter turned out nice bright red as expected. Preheat the oven as directed on the cake mix or per your recipe.
Using a marble to make the cupcake turn into a heart shape
Put cupcake liners in 30 muffin tins. Typically most cake mixes only make 24 cupcakes, however, this batch made more cupcakes with marble taking up a small portion of each cupcake plus I only filled the cupcake liners halfway with cake batter.
Heart shaped cupcakes with the help of a little marble
Once you have you cupcake liners in the pan place a small marble between the pan and the cupcake liner. The liners should resemble a heart shape.
Pan full of red velvet hearts just waiting to be cooked
Add cake batter to each of the cupcake liners. NOTE: Be careful not to overfill the cupcake liners, if the cupcake expands over the edge of the liner you’ll lose your heart shape. I filled mine cupcake liners half full and all of them turned out well.
Red velvet cupcakes cooling
Place in the oven and bake. Since most cake mixes give you a range of time (27 to 32 minutes) I set the timer for the earliest time and checked them. Mine were ready when the timer first went off. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting and red sprinkles
Frost cooled cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting (I had some in the pantry that I used). Spread the frosting in a heart shape pattern and add a few red sprinkles to dress it up a little bit more.
Red Velvet Heart Cupcakes
Enjoy your Red Velvet Heart Cupcakes! The girls had a blast helping “sprinkle” the cupcakes. It was fun taking the cupcakes to a couple events and enjoying the leftovers for school and work lunches. These would be great for a Valentine’s Party at work, school or just for fun!
Be My Valentine: Sweetheart Strawberry Smoothie
Sweetheart Strawberry Smoothie
Last week I picked up some fresh strawberries on clearance at Ingles. As soon as the girls saw the strawberries they wanted to know if I would make them a smoothie. This past weekend while they were playing together I decided it was time to make they smoothie for them. I came up with this recipe using ingredients we had on hand.
As an extra treat I put freshly cut strawberries around the smoothie on a plate. I cut the stems off the strawberries in a “v” pattern making the strawberries look like little hearts.
Sweetheart Strawberry Smoothie:
- 5 Strawberries (fresh or frozen0
- 1/4 cup Raspberries
- 1/4 cup Cranberries
- 1 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Ice
- Extra Strawberries for garnish
- Cool Whip for garnish
The girls loved the fresh “heart” strawberries and their smoothies. I super excited that they willingly ate some fresh cranberries and raspberries which were in their smoothies. The more healthy fruits, vegetables, and nutritional goodies I get into the kiddos the better. They love smoothie treats just as much as I do! 🙂
Strawberry Smoothie with Cool Whip and a Straw! The girls LOVED it!
Be My Valentine: “Sweet” Treats
“Thanks for always rooting for me!” (IBC Root Beer) and “Thanks for always being our ‘sweet’ girl!”
Every once in awhile when the girls and Jake are gone or busy with something else I will pull together a surprise. I am thankful for my family and blessed with a wonderful husband and two sweet girls. Life is not always “perfect” but it is fun.
Spending a few minutes to show appreciation to my husband or my kids is worth every minute I invest. The best part is I do it at random times when they are not around so it truly is a surprise. This gift was originally given to Jake and the girls on Thanksgiving Day but it can be applied very easily to Valentine’s Day celebrations as well.
If you are looking for something easy yet sweet to do this Valentine’s Day this was one that my family enjoyed. After putting together your gift I challenge you to go one step further make a commitment to continue being a blessing to the ones you love by surprising them with a sweet note, treat, or something special throughout the rest of the year. Try to make it part of your routine whether it is once a week, every other week or once a month. Showing your care makes an impact on the lives of others.
I came up with the sayings for the girls heart “love” notes – Thanks for always being our “sweet” Brina (or Karlie)! Love, Mom and Dad The cute “pop” love note is from Darling Doodles. She has a template you can print out if your interested in doing something similar for your spouse!
Be My Valentine: “Bulls Eye Heart” Cookies
Bulls Eye Heart Valentine’s Day Cookies
You can use any cookie recipe you want to make these fun cookies. We did a sugar cookie base, but chocolate chip would work great too. The best part is you make your favorite cookie recipe and add frosting in the shape of a heart to make it special. You could even do store bought cookies and add the frosting to make it even easier if your tight on time! 🙂
Our family likes picking up the writing frosting that sets up after a few minutes so you can stack the cookies without them sticking together. The two brands we have used most often are Betty Crocker Writing Icing and Wilton Icing Writer (see picture below). You can often find them for $0.99 (or less) for a box of 4 colors at Bargain Foods if you are in Upstate, South Carolina area or a couple dollars at Walmart or your local grocery store. I have found that these tubes of frosting are easier for the girls to use as well. Plus since you are not icing the entire cookie they get less frosting which means less sugar!
Be My Valentine: Memory Jars, Cookie Surprise, Scrapbook Highlights, Romantic Dinner for Two, & More!
Last year I started the “Be My Valentine” series to help celebrate the upcoming Valentine’s Day Holiday. Here are some fun ideas from last year that our family enjoyed:
Be My Valentine: “I Love You” Memory Jar
A unique Valentine’s gift this year packed full of love and memories! I have created jars (or containers) full of memories for various occasions in the past and they have always been a huge hit with both kids and adults.
Be My Valentine: Cookie Surprise!
Surprise Valentine's Cookie - this one had three different flavors! A fun cookie to make with your kids. It is a sugar cookie with crushed hard candies to make window panes. Fun activity and delicious!
Be My Valentine: Scrapbook Highlights
how your spouse and family you love them on Valentine’s Day by doing a Scrapbook highlighting the big events over the past year. (Photo by shimelle)
Be My Valentine: Romantic Dinner for Two!
You can go out on Valentine’s Days (or any other Date Night) for less when you pack a picnic for two.
Gift Giving: 12 Days of Appreciation
I did this 12 Days of Christmas Appreciation for Jake at Christmas time but it would be a great one to do for Valentine’s Day, your Anniversary, or birthday!
A picture of one of the 12 Days of Appreciation for my husband to help get you started on ideas!
I would love to hear some of your ideas of how you are planning to make Valentine’s Day special with the one(s) you love! Feel free to share you link below in the comments! 🙂
Be My Valentine: “Steal My Heart” Cookies
“Steal My Heart” Valentine Cookies
Last year I picked up this Valentine Heart pan on clearance after Valentine’s Day. The girls were very excited to try it out this year. We made these fun “Steal My Heart” Cookies together. The girls had a blast mixing up the cookie dough and they thought the cookies tasted pretty yummy too. You can use a variety of cookie mixes with this cookie sheet. Below is your basic sugar cookie mix, you can add in a few sprinkles for an extra special touch.
Sugar Cookies
- 1/3 cup Butter or Margarine
- 1/3 cup Shortening
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Egg
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- Sprinkles (optional)
- Icing (optional)
1. Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt. Beat till combined, scraping the bowl so everything is well blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add the flour into the mixture.
2. Cover and chill dough for 1 to 3 hours to make it easier to handle when making cookies or cutouts.
3. Lay down wax paper and lightly flour. Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Use a variety of cookie cutters to make the shapes you want. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
4. Cut out a heart shape in the middle of the cookies. Fill the hole with a crushed hard candy. The candy will melt during baking creating the glass window pane hearts in the middle of the cookies. *We tried using up extra candy canes but they didn’t melt well (they tasted good) but I would stick to the one color hard candies like life savers!
5. Bake at 375° for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are firm and light brown. Cool until the middle window are set then transfer to a platter.
Heart Shaped Pan
Plate full of Valentine cookies
Heart shaped Valentine cookies
For more fun Valentine’s Day ideas go to Living in La La Land!
