Hi Friends! I can’t believe it is already time for Valentine’s Day and one of my favorite family parties of the year!! I am excited to share with you what is in store for the table and this year’s holiday craft for our Valentine’s dinner party!

With guys and gals invited, this year’s tablescape was an explosion of reds and pinks hoping to inspire a romantic fun flair to the night’s events!!

With pulling reds from my Christmas stash and pinks from my collection, I had everything I needed in tableware. It is so fun to see how the same things combined differently can give an entirely different look to this year’s table reveal.

I just couldn’t resist these placemats from my pals at Back Row Home. There are two birds kissing in the center of each mat, adding just the right amount of whimsy! The pink napkins were my grandmothers, and their scalloped edges made the most beautiful floral roses. I was so happy that my daughter Kirby was there to help! Even though I followed the tutorial exactly from my Pinterest board- hers were so much prettier!! Notice first one-hers vs. this one-mine!

Here is a how-to from Lauren Conrad’s Blog. She has a great example of a heart shaped napkin in there as well!!

Be sure to save your decor from year to year. The chandelier embellishments are from the party I hosted last year for a mother-daughter-granddaughter luncheon for my Mom!

With all my kiddos and their dates attending, I had to use smaller folding chairs to fit us around the table. These chairs I purchased years ago from Ballard Design! Fortunately, pink is my favorite color and I was able to add a few chairs I had from my living room to make a table for eight! I did find the marble based, chrome heart from Marshall’s Home Goods for $20.

Using a gold base I had for height, I layered potted roses from Trader Joe’s, glass hearts from the dollar store and brass XO’s from The Martha Stewart Collection at Macy’s! The heart confetti scattered on the table can easily be found on Amazon.

The party favors, most from Amazon and the dollar store, were housed in these cute boxes, also from the dollar store! You don’t have to spend a lot to create something custom for your guests!

I found these sweet fur Adrienne Landau Heart Key Charms for the gals on my favorite discount shopping site, Ruelala. They come up periodically for $5.99 and retail for $24 at many sites.

Sprinkle a bit of love wherever your guest might roam!

It doesn’t take much-just these potted plants from Trader Joe’s and these heart shaped candies in a white dish to do the trick!

Cocktail picks are a great way to add a festive flair to any spread. They come in all sorts of color and themes! I always get these white pearl ones-100 @ $6.99 because they will translate to any theme!

For those 20 something guests, the bar set up seems just as important as the tablescapes. These statues, which were my grandmother’s, come out each Valentine’s Day.

This year I have started doing something a bit different for all of our events: each kiddo brings something to contribute. For the Valentine’s dinner, my daughter Kirby brought some veggies, my son Matthew brought some bottles of wine to share, and Sammy brought this cheesecake she decorated for the special night. I can’t tell you how much this helps, creates less for me to do, enables me to relax and enjoy the night! I wish I had started this tradition earlier. The kids honestly have loved to help! NOTE TO MOM: Never dictate what they bring!!

My son Matthew actually inspired the craft this year. He took a date to one of those painting wine nights and this is what his masterpiece looked like. I decided to use it as a back drop for our Valentine’s dinner party and inspiration for our craft. Join me next week to see how to create a family paint night, sweet heart style!! XO Leslie