Easy Valentine Ideas (and free templates!)

I thought I’d repost some of the fun little Valentine goodies I made last year, in case you’re looking for some cute ideas for your lovies. I even have some free downloads for you. Many of you have already downloaded it, but for some of you it’s new. I am still waiting for some of that creativity to hit me for THIS year!! Oh well. I was 7 months pregnant with Haylie and nesting like crazy at this time last year, ha ha.

{I used “Schnookums” from http://www.ggdigitaldesigns.com/.}

Here’s what you need–it’s really simple and makes a cute gift or decoration for your home.

**whatever size of tile you want (the ones I made were 4.5 x 4.5 inches, only like 13 cent cheapos from Home Depot)

**whatever photo or design you want (I made little mini digital layouts sized to fit a little smaller than the tile–I forgot to do exact measurements but it worked out just fine! Just go with the flow.)

**A bottle of Mod Podge (I used Matte finish but you could do glossy if it floats your boat.)

**brush

Here’s how to be all crafty with Mod Podge:

I printed my photos out and trimmed them. I printed on photo paper from Costco because the photo won’t smear when I put the Mod Podge on it. Then I “painted” a thin layer of Mod Podge on the tile, placed my photo where I wanted it to go, and let it dry for about 5 minutes (until it wasn’t sticky). Then I did another layer of Mod Podge over the top of the photo and let it dry completely. I truly love how they turned out.

Pillow Boxes

Another really easy one, I used a project already done at http://www.ggdigitaldesigns.com/. They have lots of darling premade Valentine things. Just printed them, cut out the template, and folded and taped together. Voila. You can fill these with little love treats.

Oh! And I also made these Treat Bag Toppers.

Another really simple gift idea for this holiday of love. I made these for Brandon and Annie’s school and primary teachers. Again, I used various papers and embellishments from http://www.ggdigitaldesigns.com/ . They are my product endorsement for the day. Printed them out, trimmed and used double-sided sticky tape to wrap around Hershey bars.

And I have a treat for you. I made the template to download and use!! I’m sharing the love.

Click here to download: http://www.4shared.com/file/37498495/ef46548a/Candy_Bar_Wrapper_Template.html

I saved the whole thing as a jpeg, printed it as a 5×7 at Costco and trimmed the extra off (the template is a bit smaller than a 5×7 print). Then wrapped it around the Kit Kats. And here is how they turned out:

{I used the “Amore” kit from the free holiday sampler from www.shabbyprincess.com and stitched felt alpha by Dani Mogstad at www.sweetshoppedesigns.com }

So maybe you were thinking, “Hey, I want to make those too!” Well it’s your lucky day, because I have made another template to give to you!

Here’s the linky:

http://www.4shared.com/file/37440427/df980033/Small_Candy_Bar_Wrapper_Template.html

Thanks for those who leave comments and thank-yous when they download, it’s just so nice.

And lastly but not leastly. Last year we had a fun little Valentine’s Day dinner with the kids, a little scavenger hunt for surprises, and we had lots of fun playing BINGO with these little Valentine-themed bingo cards I made. I was REALLY nesting, if you can’t tell.

{I made this with the “Schnookums” digital kit at www.ggdigitaldesigns.com }

Again, printed at Costco as a 5×7 and then I laminated each card. I made 4, one for each of us.

We used little candies to cover the numbers. We’ll be bringing these out again this year, it was lots of fun. And here’s the bingo template!!! Hooray!!!!

Speaking of LOVE, my little brother Tyler got engaged to Lisa last Friday! We love her and are so excited for her to join our family. We’re ecstatic!

Have a lovely day!