Monday, January 30, 2012

Trails of love...

OK, that is the dorkiest title in the world and I can't believe that just came out of my keyboard but nonetheless, I simply don't know what else to call this thing.  Some years ago, I must have seen this idea somewhere but I no longer recall where so my apologies to some creative genius out there amongst us who came up with this.  I certainly know I was not imaginative enough to come up with this on my own.  Long story short, when we were kids on Valentines Day, my mom used to always doorbell ditch a special Valentines treat on the front door step for us kids to find when we ran to answer the door.  Well, I live in Idaho and I don't like doorbell ditching in the winter time because it means you have to huddle somewhere in the cold dark night freezing your bejeebus off while you wait for someone to answer the door.  That plus the fact that my kids don't seem to find any thrill in answering the door when it rings, so they don't, and you can end up waiting outside in the freezing cold for a long spell, sometimes nigh unto hypothermia sets in.  So when I saw this cute idea I decided to try this instead.  I get each of my kids and hubby some small gift (emphasis on small) and then hide it somewhere just out of sight in my living room.  Then for each person involved, I buy a different bag of Valentines candy.  Starting from the entryway of my living room, I leave a homemade Valentines card for the person at the "trailhead" and then place the candy (I prefer individually wrapped candy since they will be laying all over my living room floor) at certain increments across the room to leave a trail to where their gift is hidden.
Sometimes I get fancy and weave the trail around furniture and over the couches to try to throw them off the scent of where the gift is hidden.
By the time you have made seven trails across your living room, it can start to look really chaotic.  This makes it important to choose the candy wisely so that they are easily differentiated from each other so that each person will be able to follow their own trail.  Depending on what day of the week Valentines falls on, I sometimes will do this the night before so that they wake up to this first thing on Valentines day, or if they have school that day then I have it ready for them when they get home or right before dinner or whatever.  
To start, each person gets an empty bag and then follows their trail by picking up each candy that is theirs and collecting it in their bag.
The kids love following their trail and finding their special gift and the bonus is that they also have a whole bag of candy that they can then trade off with their siblings if they want a variety.  This has been a fun Valentines "tradition" for our family...  not to mention being much warmer for those exposed body parts. 
What traditions do you use to surprise your loved ones on Valentines Day?

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18 comments:

Simply Tasheena said...

What a wonderful V-Day tradition.

~Mrs. Delightful
ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com

Dixie Delights said...

That's adorable!

Creative Raisins said...

This is such a fun idea. I am sure it is something your kids will take with them as a fond memory of what mom did on valentines day.

Charissa said...

Fun! How did you resist eating some of the candy trail all night though?

Andrea said...

Who says I resisted? There wasn't a trail there for me because there didn't need to be by the time I had set the whole thing up. That's another benefit of variety and only buying kinds of candy that you personally find appealing.

Andrea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Heidi said...

I am starting this tradition this year for sure!!!

Get Hooked said...

What a fun idea! Sounds like a lot of work though! You ladies make me look and feel like a lazy mom!

tiffunny said...

I've always liked how you did that each year. It sounds and look so fun. My kids would love it. If only I was a better, funner mom . . . .

Rachael said...

What a fun idea!
Rachael
www.lifestylesofthecrazyandinsane.blogspot.com

Lindsi B said...

I found you on Tip Junkie. Would you please share this with my readers for
our Fun Stuff Fridays Valentine's Linky Party? I think it would be a great fit. http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2012/02/14-days-of-valentines-fun-stuff-fridays.html

Michelle Paige said...

I just LOVE this idea! I'm going to try it out this year! Would you be willing to link this up to my Valentine Link Party going on now? I'd love to have you! http://michellepaige.blogspot.com/2012/01/rockin-valentine-valentine-link-party.html

Boden said...

Love this! Thanks for linking up! ~Jen @ www.icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com

Michelle Paige said...

Thank you for taking the time to link up to my Valentine Link Party! I just love this idea!

Alison @ Oopsey Daisy said...

What a FUN idea! I bet your kids love it!!

Anonymous said...

What a lovely idea. I shall try to remember that when my two youngest are a bit older. Thanks for sharing.

Six Sisters said...

This is such a fun idea!! We love it! Thanks so much for joining us on "Strut Your Stuff Saturday." We loved having you and hope to see you back next Saturday with more great ideas! -The Sisters

controlling craziness said...

Thanks for such a great idea. We did this last night for FHE and I blogged about it here:
http://controllingcraziness.blogspot.com/2012/02/valentines-day-fhe.html
and here:
http://controllingcraziness.blogspot.com/2012/02/our-valentines-fhe.html

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