Celebrating Valentines with the Sweet Hamper Company

This 'Huge Valentines Sweet & Chocolate Box' was provided by the Sweet Hamper Company.

Over the weekend this hamper filled with sweets and chocolates arrived, and I was surprised to find out just how many sweets could fit into a box which is similar in size to a realm of paper. Spoiler - it’s a lot!

As I undid the layers, I was struck by the level of detail and it was a real treat to discover what was inside. The red and white striped paper bags added an element of retro sweet shops, as well as tying into the Valentines theme well. The additions of a red foil covered chocolate rose and a large heart shaped lolly were clear Valentines additions.

It’s been a long while though since I’ve had many of these sweets, and there were some that were new to me too. But juicy red lips, the pink hearts and jelly love hearts (think jelly beans) remained favourites.

As the theme for this hamper is Valentines I thought I’d enter the spirit and share some Valentine inspired photos, along with a vintage cake stand and side plate. Now wouldn’t it be a real treat to have something like this as part of a Valentines spread?

There was more than the Valentines themed treats, in fact so much more in the hamper which costs £36.50. In total there’s 38 sweets and chocolates included in the hamper. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a candy necklace I can tell you! But there are more favourites such as the Refreshers and the Curly Wurly. I might have already mentioned that those might not be for sharing.

This is clearly a lot of sugar, and it’s meant as a treat rather than an everyday purchase. It’s good to treat ourselves now and again, and this hamper will keep us stocked for a fair while yet. I’m sure we’ll enjoy trying those that are new to us, and reminiscing over those we know already.

* With thanks to the Sweet Hamper Company for sending me this sweet hamper, as usual all views and opinions are my own. You can find out more about this hamper on their website.

Is it too early to be thinking about Valentines day chocolate?

Yes, I know it was only yesterday that I said I was getting around to the healthy eating and fitness regime that most people are already two weeks into, but you know how it is, you can’t rush a good thing and I’m hardly known for being early for pretty much anything, and I’m easily sidetracked.

I start off with good intentions, make a plan and then often somewhere along the way get derailed. But this year I’m hoping that will happen less often as with the tenacious attitude I’ll be adopting, there’s a chance that this year I’ll be buying Valentines day chocolates earlier than my usual night before the big day.

Photo by Jesse Goll on Unsplash

But even I know that if I spend the next month looking forward to and drooling over the Valentines day chocolates that I might buy, or even the ones that I’d leave large hints for MOH about, then January would be even a duller and longer month than usual.

So instead I’m going to be wondering about the history of the day and I’m sharing 5 facts that you might or might not already know:

1. Valentines Day is linked back to not one, but two, early Roman saints, both named Valentine but the connection to romantic love came later.

2. The first Valentines Day was in 496, so quite a while ago, and is thought to have originated from a Roman festival, called Lupercalia held in the middle of February, and the official start of their springtime.

3. Its first link to a romance appeared in the ‘Parlement of Foules’ poem by Chaucer in 1382, which contains one of the earliest references as St Valentine’s Day as a special day for lovers.

4. In Queen Victoria’s reign exchanging small tokens of affection or handwritten notes became common for friends and lovers of all social classes, as did the Cupid-themed gifts and cards.

5. The first Valentines day heart-shaped box of chocolates was sold in England by Cadbury in 1868 and was known as the Fancy Box, which as you might have guessed was a huge success.

So know you now, fascinating hey? There’s so much more to our romantic box of chocolates than you first thought, I bet.

And in answer to my original question, is it too early to be thinking about this, I think not. I mean January is well known to be the longest month in the calendar, with at least 91 or so days, so we definitely need something to look forward to.

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.

Happy Valentines - and beyond - from HomeSense

When HomeSense got in touch recently and shared details of their faux flowers, I knew that I could hold out no longer. I've seen an increase of Spring blooms in the shops, including some in a snowy Munich and as they say, resistance was futile. So after work on Monday, I headed off to the Homesense in Tunbridge Wells on a mission.

I didn't realise though quite how much of a challenge I'd set myself. I mean, just look at what I was confronted with.

Price-wise the stems ranged from £2.99 to £7.99 and while there was obviously no scent, that was the only difference to real blooms I could see. That and the fact that I'd unlikely to find such a wide array of blooms in a flower shop at this time of year. I was very tempted by the hydrangeas, their colour was good and realistic but they weren't quite what I was looking for.

And then I saw the pink peonies. Immediately I was transported back to our wedding day in 2017, where my surprise bouquet was, yes you've guessed it, pink peonies. I say surprise bouquet as I'd left the choice of my bouquet to our wedding planners (I guess that's a story for another day). They knew I wanted a modern style, I didn't want roses and that my dress wasn't conventional (it was bronze) and I trusted them to come up trumps, which they did. I hadn't realised until then, how much I liked peonies. 

So once I spotted the peonies it was more about how many and what colour, and what else would go alongside them to make the bouquet less wedding-y and less pink. It's not that I don't like pink, I do, but having a solely pink bouquet in the house full time could, I think, get a little wearing and a bit twee. 

But I'd made my choices and I quickly went to pay before I added another armful of these stems to the bouquet, they really are that good.

Back home I piled the armful of flowers onto the table and realised again how realistic they looked. And how unlikely it would be for me to have a bunch of fresh flowers quite this large. And on Valentine's day too. Not that MOH wouldn't buy me flowers, but I disagree with how the prices are inflated at this time of year, so I always say to him another time of year will be fine. It's a bit like going out for a meal around this time of year, set menus come out and that annoys me too.

But back to the flowers and celebrating Valentines. I decided to arrange them in a handheld bouquet, which gives the modern style I like, but also is quite hard to do - or at least I find it hard to do - as I find I need at least three pairs of hands to do it well and tie the ribbon around the stems without them rearranging themselves. 

But I'm pleased with the result.

It's such a large bouquet that as you can see I struggled to get the bouquet and myself into the same shot.

You might have already realised I'm impressed with these blooms, and while they're slightly unseasonal - peonies are usually out in June - it's nice to see such blooms right now. And to know they'll last too, so I'll be enjoying them for many months to come.

What do you think, will you be tempted by faux flowers this year?

*This is a collaborative post with HomeSense, however all views and opinions are my own.