Easy Valentine's Day Decorations and Gifts

Spread the love with a special hand-made card. Draw a design on white cardstock with a white China marker or white crayon. Lay some watercolor on top to reveal the design and bring bright color to the page. Pair with a bright envelope.

This project is inspired by a nostalgic winter craft: paper snowflakes. Lightly brush watercolor paper with paint, let dry, then cut out hearts. Next, use white basket-style coffee filters to create embellishments. We submerged a stack of five flat filters in water mixed with 10-20 drops of food coloring. Separate and lay flat to dry. Once dry, fold each filter into thirds and cut flower shapes. Secure onto hearts with glue. 

Create a personal message on either packaged or homemade sugar cookies. Use a pastry brush to dab red food coloring onto clean rubber stamps normally used for crafts. Lightly press a message into cookies.

Related: Our Best Valentine's Day Dessert Recipes

These colorful watercolor-look gift toppers elevate any box or bag. Use a pencil sharpener to shave crayons, keeping colors in separate piles. Set a sheet of waxed paper on a piece of kraft paper, then sprinkle crayon shavings onto the waxed paper. Cover crayon layer with another sheet of waxed paper then kraft paper. Pressing gently, iron on low to melt shavings. Let cool, then cut out hearts.

These clever gifts do double duty both as a bookmark and a candy holder.

To make them, look for sturdy paper that is patterned on one side and solid on the other, or glue together two pieces of paper, one patterned and one solid color, using spray adhesive. Cut into a rectangular shape, then cut heart shape at top and add slit along left side, as pictured. Crease the center from top to bottom and fold. Open left side. Use double-stick tape to adhere paper flap below open heart to the right side to create a pocket. Fold top flap closed and punch a hole in upper right corner. Add treat, thread a narrow ribbon through the hole and tie.

Draw or print out coloring designs on full sheets of sticker paper for these treat bags. Cut out heart shapes and color as desired. Press sticker onto a colored bag and add treats. To seal, fold over top, punch two holes and tie the bag closed with a string. 

Corrugated cardboard gives these hearts a playful appeal and sturdy texture. Trace around a 5-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter or another 5-inch heart shape for your first heart and cut out. Gently fold heart on the diagonal and punch holes in the center through both layers about a half-inch from the fold. For the second heart, use pinking shears to cut a heart about a quarter-inch larger from a contrasting piece of paper. Apply crafts tape along the sides (but not the top) of the small heart and attach to larger heart. Create an arrow from a paper straw and cardstock head and tail; insert through holes in top heart, attaching arrowhead after this step. Insert small candies, or, just use the heart for decoration.

Package Valentine's gifts in a personalized muslin bag. Place a piece of cardstock inside the bag and stamp an image on the front. When the ink is dry, fill with candy.

Package your Valentine's cookies in a simple, pretty homemade bag. Slip a cookie or two in a plastic treat bag (available at crafts stores) with a piece of scrapbooking paper. Fold contrasting paper over the opening, punch two holes, and tie with ribbon.To make your cookies pink, add a few drops of gel food coloring to sugar cookie dough. Decorate with sugar hearts (attached with frosting) if you like.

Once you've narrowed down your pancake recipe, use a pancake pen (such as the Tovolo one) to "write" X and O shapes with pancake batter on a hot griddle pan. Or use X- and O-shape cookie cutters to creates shapes after round pancakes are cooked. Add fresh fruit for color and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Create these cards with heart-shape cookie cutters, 5x7 cards, a 4-inch foam roller and acrylic paint. Roll on paint, leaving about a half-inch border. When dry, dip cookie cutters in contrasting paint and stamp.

Do you help pack lunch for someone in your house? Leave them a surprise by clipping on Valentine's candy. We used pinking shears to cut a scalloped border around red card stock, layered on a contrasting piece of paper, then attached foil-wrapped chocolates with double-sided tape.

Create cute Valentine's placemats in minutes with muslin, paint, a brush and a round stamp shape. Use the brush to make X's and the stamp to make the O's. A fingerling potato sliced in half may be the right shape for the O's.

Here's a sweet Valentine's Day project to make with kids. Fingerling potatoes sliced in half lengthwise make perfect stampers for Valentine's treat sacks. Put a piece of cardboard inside a 4"x6" muslin bag. Take one potato half and press into an ink pad or paint, then press onto the bag to create half a heart shape. Press the other potato half into a second ink pad or different shade of paint and press onto bag to complete the heart. Let dry before removing the cardboard. Fill with candy or other treats.

Make a garland of hearts cut from fabric scraps layered and attached with iron-on adhesive. Tie together with ribbon. You could achieve a similar effect using sturdy scrapbook paper, too.

Related: 50 Romantic Midwest Getaways

Make a container of soda or beer more special by adding scrapbook papers, ribbon and a tag. Use double-sided tape or glue to attach paper.

Naturally full of holes, doilies make a perfect choice for hand-stitched treat holders. Use 4-6 layers for both the front and back, stitching together using embroidery floss (leave the top oven). Tuck a plastic treat bag with small candies into the pocket, and close with a twist tie.

Homemade tags from scrapbooking papers, ribbons and stickers make any gift look special. Use a palette of no more than three to four colors for the prettiest results.

Package homemade cookies with paper hearts-held together with a brad-for a lunch or dinner family treat. Frosted sugar cookies or heart-shape marshmallow rice treats are sure to please. 

Give a bookmark with heart to the reader in your life. Cut rectangles out of cream-color and red wool felt. For the bookmark at left, we cut a heart out of the cream-color felt, trimmed the edges of the red felt with scallop-edge scissors and glued the pieces together. For the bookmark at right, we stitched up the middle using embroidery floss, then glued on a red felt heart.