The the combination of chocolate brown and pastels is sophisticated yet sweet. It's a classic mix any time of year -- the earthiness of brown playing off the ethereal feel of pale hues -- but it's especially ideal for Valentine's Day. Here are our favorite chocolate-and-pastel ways to express your love -- all more surprising, but no less delectable, than a box of chocolates.

Slim and stylish yet wonderfully childish in color, these heat-resistant carafes are perfect for serving hot-cocoa lovers of any age. 

$75 each, elementschicago.com

With their feminine scalloped edges, the Simrin linen cocktail napkins (in brown or white) are as appropriate for dessert as they are for cocktail hour.

$63 for a set of 4, mazehome.com

Made by French artisanal candy company Arnaud Soubeyran, these delicately sweet marshmallow ropes are beloved by our food editors.

$24 for 11, melandrose.com

Ornately patterned and hand-painted in Central Europe, these tiny pots de creme are a fanciful alternative to your standard white ramekins.

$18 each, europe2you.com

Serve up ice cream with a side of style: The combination of fancy handles and colored tips give the bone china Miix spoons a witty, modern look.

$24 for 5, momastore.org

From a family company in Utah, the all-natural Big Bear brownie mix yields moist, fudgy, just-like-Mom-used to-make-from-scratch brownies.

$5.75, kodiakcakes.com

Lightweight yet unbelievably warm, these mohair throw blankets feel every bit as dreamy as they look.

$240 each, yvesdelorme.com

Using Juara's Candlenut Hydrating Shower Gel and Hand and Body Balm, made with a moisturizing Indonesian nut oil, feels like a spa treatment in the Tropics.

$28 (Shower Gel), juaraskincare.com
$25 (Hand and Body Balm), juaraskincare.com

As soothing as warm milk, supersoft Martha Stewart Collection 400-thread-count sheets ensure a good rest.

From $35, macys.com

Shearing-lined PePe T. Moro women's slippers are so plush, you'll make a beeline for them as soon as you get home.

$140, makieclothier.com

Glamorous and refined, these rose-cut rose quartz earrings pair equally well with jeans or a cocktail dress.

$56, bellocchio.com

The dramatic Ernesto Cierge Camee pillar candle delivers 80 hours of  its seductive woodsy scent.

$90, ciretrudon.com

These soaps are almost too pretty to open, but their fragrances -- which include grapefruit, lavender, and oatmeal --are too tempting not to.

$10 each, loveandluckshop.com