I will admit I'm not the biggest lover of Valentine's day. It does feel forced and Hallmark-ish, but that could just be my cynical husband rubbing off on me. He flat out refuses to participate in any Hallmark holiday, so I know exactly what will be going on in my house on February 14th. The same as last year, and the year before, and the year before that. The same routine that goes on in my house everyday, which with credit to my husband is filled with love and laughter. So not a bad thing, I just know that if I spend the day waiting for a big bunch of flowers or box of chocolates to turn up on my desk, I'll be bitterly disappointed. This is fine as there's no shortage of affection coming from my husband each day. It wasn't fine the very first Valentine's day we spent together, after we'd only been dating a short time, when nary a petal nor hint of strawberry creme from the inside of a dark chocolate truffle was sent my way. Back then we most certainly weren't on the same page when it came to Hallmark holidays, we weren't even in the same library, book or chapter. Six years of co-habitation have changed this. Thank goodness you all say so I can stop rambling.
I am going to make a little Valentine's craft for my kids to hand out at their mother's day out program. Super simple and cute, with a practical use. Tiny rice hand warmers to keep tiny hands warm. I found the inspiration over here. My husband will be getting a big ol' smooch and a DIY card, because I like to tinker around on the computer and I'm lucky enough to have Anna's designs to work with.
I wanted to create a card that was a little masculine, the pinks and reds and flowers and hearts typically associated with Valentine's day aren't going to work for my husband. I immediately thought of our Doodle Love wedding invitation and how perfect the doodles would be on a chalk board. I've always been a little scared to print a chalk board look on my home printer, black is a hard color to cover a page with, but when I printed a sample it turned out far better than I had imagined. I ended up using design elements from three of our wedding invitations: Doodle Love, Ornate Vintage, and Rustic Love Birds. The finished size of the card is 5 x 7" folded and it prints one per page. The inside is blank.
I'm giving you the free PDF template so you can print it off for your #1 fan also, to accompany the chocolates/flowers/mountains of kisses, whatever you'll be giving that works for your family.
If you prefer pinks and cherubs and cute animals we've got you covered over in the store. Anna has some cute and quirky Valentine's templates for this most loveliest of days. I also have a throwback to last year for you as you can still get Anna's 2014 free Valentine's template, Love You to Bits! It's an uber swanky pop-up card that you'll, well, love to bits. Head on over to Boho Weddings for the free download.
No matter how you celebrate of don't celebrate Valentine's day, fill the day, and every day, with love.
