5 days of Valentines

Many people complain about Valentines day for several reasons. I agree with many of those reasons, but I think of it in a different way. Valentines day is a reminder to appreciate the people that you love in your life. I don't think about Valentines day as just for couples, I think about it as a day for love whether it be romantic, platonic, roommate or familial. This post is to give you some inspiration to spread the love this week and make the people in your life feel appreciated and special, and while some of you may think that you do that all year 'round, it can be nice to express it in some more creative ways.

I'm gonna cover treats, crafts, cards, and inexpensive (or free) gifts that would make anyone feel great!

Treats:
Having something homemade and absolutely delicious would brighten anyone's day. I'm ranking these in order of difficulty starting with the easiest and moving to the hardest.

Chocolate pretzel hearts (optional: peanut butter chocolate): These are incredibly easy and seem as if they take about 5-10 total minutes with a big turn out. They would be perfect to bring into the office as a little surprise. Since there are so many different heart shaped candies out there, you aren't limited to just the plain chocolate hearts, you could go crazy and use the peanut butter chocolate hearts (although make sure you tell everyone you are giving them to that it contains peanuts). The butterfinger hearts would work well also. You can find the instructions here.

Fruit roll up fortune cookies: This recipe does call for parchment paper, so make sure you have access to it before you commit to this one.  These are great for passing out to a few special people around the office that have helped you, a small group of friends, or each day leading up to Valentines day in your significant others lunch. The messages are all up to you so they can be as friendly or as sexy as you want. You can get the instructions here although you don't necessarily need a round cookie cutter you can just use a cup (with a round top) and a knife.

Pink heart rice krispy treats: These are adorable and perfect to bring into the office or to a friends house. There are instructions here. If you want a little bit of a different flavor you could make brown butter rice krispy treats. Despite what the instructions say, you do not need a heart shaped cookie cutter.  You can spread the finished rice krispy treats out across a baking sheet and use a sharp buttered knife to cut hearts.

Heart shaped chocolate covered strawberries: The fun thing about these is that they can be as easy or as complicated as you want. The recipe I found is a little on the excessive side. It calls for filling the strawberries with marshmallow cream before dipping them in chocolate as well as decorating with eatable glitter which can be really hard to find. I think I will be doing them with just chocolate. These are great to bring to a small Valentines party or for a romantic surprise after dinner.

Heart shaped jelly cookies: These are time consuming, but they have a great pay off. I believe they are called linzer cookies, and for some reason I always have really fond memories of these cookies from my childhood. Here, here, and here are a few different recipes.  You can also improvise and use your own favorite roll out cookie dough or sugar cookie dough just keep in mind that they make half as many as you cut out because you use two cookies to make the sandwich. I also prefer to use strawberry jam instead of raspberry.

Crafts:
You always know you are cared about when someone actually spends time making something for you.

Valentines day garland: With only a few supplies (construction paper, scissors, stapler/glue) you can make a countdown to valentines day or just something to brighten an apartment or an office/cubicle/desk. If you wanted to make it a little more personal, you could write special love (home) or inspirational (work) messages on each one. You can find instructions for the different garlands here, here, and here.

Valentines themed sun catchers: When I say Valentines themed, they don't have to be, any of these would bring warmth to any place (with sun). There are a few different ways to do this project depending on what supplies you have access to.  The first method requires crayons and parchment paper which you may not have access to while the second method needs contact paper (which you can buy at Target and most dollar stores, but may not be easily accessible).

Valentines candle holder: Candles don't have to be romantic, although they certainly can be. You can make cute candle holders out of any old jar you have lying around (make sure it is GLASS not plastic). If you are surprising your sweetheart with a romantic night, candles in homemade candle holders would be an especially nice touch. If you are just showing someone how much you care you can give it to them with the intention of them having a relaxing evening maybe with a calming spa night. They can also double as pencil holders for your desk! There are a bunch of different techniques for doing these with any different variation of supplies. Here are a few ideas: glitter, mod podge/tissue paper, sheet music, mod podge and acrylic paint, and regular old string.

Craft stick notes/photos: This is a cute way of presenting a photo or message. All you need is craft sticks (big or small). There are two ways of doing this. Personally, I like the photo puzzle better because it is a bit more elaborate, but the messages one (I apologize, the craft is actually a few posts down on this page, but there is no way to make it just that post) is very nice as well.

Cards:
Perhaps the easiest way to make someone feel special. I made this post last year with 6 homemade card ideas.  Here are a few more:

Heart shaped envelope: Perfect for writing a quick note inside so they have to unfold it completely to see it. Use heart stickers to seal it!

Heart handprint card: Great for if you are in a rush on/the night before Valentines day.  You could even fill up the different fingers with reasons why you like/love that person.

Paint and pencil heart: I realize that the instructions are for a heart tote-bag, however, you could apply the same strategy to cardstock or really any thicker kind of paper to make a beautiful card. You could even buy a small canvas and make a card they will keep forever!

Brown paper bag valentines: You wouldn't have to use the phrase "I love you with all of my heart" either, but it is definitely adorable that way. 

Gifts:
Just because you don't have the money to buy something or time to make something, doesn't mean you can't still show a person that you love them while spending little to no money.

Love is the best medicine: Go to your local dollar store and grab a daily medicine container, grab some of their favorite candy (make sure it fits). Write different sayings or different things that you will do for them (for a roommate: will do the dishes that night or for significant other: 30 minute back rub) so that they have something to look forward to each day.

Sharpie mugs: Head back to that dollar store and grab a ceramic mug. Write on the mug with sharpie pen and bake at 425 for 35 minutes and you have a handmade mug! Perfect for any coffee/tea lover.

Scavenger hunt: This could be a fun group outing idea, but it would be especially nice for a date night or to make someones day special throughout. If you know that your significant other has a favorite restaurant around their work maybe get them a gift card that they can use there and put it in the envelope.

Printable love coupons: You can also totally make your own really easily, and I would suggest doing that if you are giving them to friends because most of them seem to be centered around romantic love. In any case, it is a great gift to your significant other because you can not only do the usual thing, but you can add things you know that a break from it would feel good (i.e. taking out the trash, or doing the dishes). You can also give this to friends (day of fun activities-make sure you include a list), family (next time you are home you will make dinner one night or that you will plan a family fun night), roommates (that you will do the dishes or they have a free pass when it's their turn to clean the bathroom).

Surprise notes: I'm not including a link because this is just something that my mom used to do when I would go to sleep away camp or spend time away from home.  She would write little cute notes and hide them in all of my stuff so that as I was unpacking and going through my stuff I would find little notes saying that they loved me and that they missed me. I adopted this when I moved in with Chris.  He would be going to L.A. for work and I would write out little notes telling him to have a great time or that me and Wedge missed him. I would stick them in his pockets or inside his kindle cover. It can really brighten someones day to know that you are thinking about them.  Even if it is just sticking a note on a co workers computer thanking them for helping you with a project or slipping a note into your roommates lunch box saying that you think they are awesome or telling your significant other that you love them it can really make someone feel good!

A bouquet of paper flowers: This also belongs in crafts, but I like it here too. Flowers are always nice, and these are simple and elegant. 

Anyway, I hope this post inspires you to do something nice for the people you love!