Febuary, 9 2026 by Olivia Clemmensen (‘26)
Valentine’s Day is this Saturday, and if you are planning on hosting a galantine’s day girls’ night, you must come prepared with some cute and creative things to do. Here are my top five suggestions for what to add to your galantine’s to-do list; all of which are guaranteed to leave you with many laughs, fond memories, and unique party favors!
5. Candle Decorating
Pictures of candle paintings have flooded my Pinterest, and I can’t help but want to try. Get a pack of tall taper candles along with some mini tea lights in pink and red, grab some paint brushes, and use the melted colored tea lights to paint designs onto the taper candles. You can paint anything from simple hearts to floral embellishments, and if you don’t want to use hot wax, use paint instead! Either way this is a super fun thing to do with friends, even if you aren’t artistic.
4. Valentine Gram Note Wall
Valentine’s day in elementary school had to be one of the best days of the year; endless amounts of fun-dip and sweet tarts, little notes and drawings from your friends, and an opportunity to finally give your crush something with your name on it in the “to: & from:” box. Everyone went around the room delivering candy (or in my case heart erasers and pencils) and ended up with a box full of classmates’ notes and gifts. Why not bring it back and exchange notes again? I think this is such a thoughtful thing to do with your friends to communicate how much you mean to them. Make mailboxes with each friend’s name on them, hang them all up on the wall, and deliver your handwritten cards to each guest’s mailbox- and at the end of the night, read all the notes your friends gave to you.
3. Bouquet Making
Everyone deserves flowers on Valentine’s Day whether you are single or not. If you are having friends over for the holiday, tell everyone to bring a bundle of their favorite flowers when they arrive. Put all the bouquets of flowers in the center of the table and let everyone tap into their inner florist. When all the flowers have been divided up, you will end up with matching bouquets to take home and beautiful flowers to admire. I think this is such a sweet thing to do with friends before prom, homecoming, or Valentine’s Day.
2. Cookie Decorating:
Cookie cutters, rolling pins and piping bags are usually stuffed in the pantry cabinet to wait for the December holiday season, but there are plenty more occasions for baking sugar cookies and decorating them. This February 14, either as a date idea or with friends, bust out the baking sheets and icing sugar and decorate some cookies! With heart-shaped cookie cutters and white, pink and red icing in hand, a classic Christmas holiday tradition can be turned into a fun February party. If you and your guests are competitive, you can even make it into a competition and judge who decorates the best cookies. I know anyone who’s watched any baking show has wanted to be a judge at least once, and who said sugar cookies and red icing were just for Christmas?
1. Pipe-Cleaner Flowers
I feel like I have seen these everywhere on my feed. If real flowers aren’t for you and you want a unique craft to do, pipe clean flowers are your answer. I have yet to try these but don’t doubt me when I say I will be making a trip to Michaels and buying out their pipe cleaner stock shortly. While making flowers out of a fuzzy bendable twig may seem daunting, there are so many types of flowers I’ve seen made like this, and I’m positive even the most inexperienced of crafters could figure out how to do it. Pipe cleaners were, in my opinion, one of the most underrated craft materials of our elementary school days, and now it’s time to bring them back for your galantine’s day festivities.