galentines for kids -5 DIY steps (2024)

I love celebrating Valentine’s with Juliet because it’s such a fun girly holiday filled with hearts, pink, red and lots of love. Every year, we transform our dining area with themed decor, I make my annual pink heart pancakes and break out all our Valentine’s colored fashions. Another annual tradition we enjoy is hosting a Valentine’s-themed, posh play date. See last year’s pajamas and pancakes play date, or Wild For you play dates! This year, I’ll show you how we threw a pink and metallic Galentines for kids. You can Do It Yourself at home too in 5 easy steps!

1. Pick a color theme.

   I generally recommend picking and sticking to no more than 3 colors when decorating (with white not counting). (That is unless you are having a rainbow themed party in which case color explosions would be required). Because Juliet’s upcoming birthday party decor items were pink and metallic, I decided to make double-use out of items already laying around the house and use what we already had. The white, pink, silver and gold went well with our home’s neutral color theme, and the shot of baby pink just made things so much sweeter. To go along with the theme, I asked Juliet’s friends to dress up in those colors which made for super cute coordinated outfits (and photos)!

2. Dress the table.

   I like to dress up the dining area for special occasions and holidays and it never takes much money. The flower centerpiece was actually a gift from a blogger event I had just attended, The pink paper plates were found at the dollar store and set on top of our fancier chargers to elevate the look, the borrowed sequin linen was folded into a runner and I made placemats out of cardstock paper.

   

   I have bought a giant pack of patterned cardstock paper during Michael’s sale and have found them so useful year-round for all sort of crafts, activities and yes, as placemats! Just throw them out once a mess is made plus they look so cute under the clear chargers, don’t they? Another tip when dressing your table is to layer. Notice how the placemats and plates are layered on top of one another with a Valentine’s greeting card on each plate? Or see how the pom pom ball string was added to each side of the runner? All these layers add visual interest and elevate your standard dining table setup.

   See Also

   The 45 Cutest Valentine's Day Gifts for Kids of 2024

   

   Juliet helped me DIY placecards by adhering letter these circular white and gold stickers to each plate, spelling out each child’s name while reinforcing her alphabet recognition.

   3. Get photo ready.

   With each holiday, you’ll want to capture all the cute memories and milestones. You’ve already asked your guests to come dressed in color theme, so think about the photo opps! For a simple backdrop, I cut out letters out of the same cardstock used in the placemats and spelled out “Happy Galentine’s,” scotch taped them to the wall for an easy, temporary banner.

   

   Then I added xoxo letters to my dining area’s mirror and a love balloon (found at Target) to my other mirror.

   

   My selfie station included lip, heart and kiss me photo props with a framed sign encouraging guests to, “pick a prop and pose” (and they did)!

   

   4.Plan an Activity

   Every get together needs an entertaining activity. For a little girls’ Valentine’s get together, I like to have them do some simple decorating of food items like topping their heart-shaped pancakes like in my last Vday party (or for this party), sprinkling sparkly confections onto already frosted cupcakes. Valentine’s card crafting could be another fun activity for moms and kids to do together but for the sake of time, I find it best to choose just one.

   You could save time by purchasing store-bought cupcakes but Juliet and I enjoyed preparing for the party by pre-baking our own before the party started.

   (Don’t you just love the shot of chocolate that Max Brenner gave to me as a blogger who attended their event?) You can inject it into the cupcakes, or just spread it over the top! The colorful sprinkles and candy toppings were a major hit too!

   And if you’re hosting a play date, sometimes, it’s fun to plan an activity for the moms as well. I had prepared this fun get-to-know-you card game given to me by the brand during a toy fair. “Ladies night” it’s so fittingly called; and each card poses an interesting and revealing question, perfect for getting your Galentine’s going! Combine this with a little pink champagne or rose’ and you’re all set!

   5. Party!

   Lastly, don’t forget the background music, prepare enough time to set up before your guests arrive and when they do, relax, and party with your girls! Valentine’s is the perfect time show your girlfriends your love. Happy Galentine’s!