Walk into any store this week and you’ll find yourself surrounded with all things Valentine’s Day…flowers, candy, cards, heart-shaped boxes full of chocolate…it’s everywhere. But one of my favorite things about this holiday, and really all holidays, is coming up with creative, alternative ways to show people you care. Valentine’s Day offers plenty of opportunities for getting crafty and making something really special and handmade for the one you love. Here are two alternative valentines that I, for one, would love to receive – and love making for others! If you have ideas for fun alternative valentines let us know in the comments, or send a photo to blog@freepeople.com. We would love to see :).
What you need: For the first project, all you need is a heart-shaped box of chocolates (empty out the chocolates first!) and a selection of little trinkets that are personalized to fit the person you are giving the valentine to. For the second project you’ll need match boxes, paint, and I also used tissue paper and some washi tape (both from a craft store).
Remove the chocolates, and fill the empty spaces with meaningful objects! I added a crystal, a stone with a heart drawn on it, a shell, dried roses, a tiny animal figurine, a small apothecary bottle with a hidden message (see last year’s DIY valentines!) and a ring. I would MUCH rather get this than a box of chocolates, wouldn’t you?
For the second alternative valentine, I loved the idea of making tiny valentines with matchboxes. Start by painting the matchboxes in your desired colors, and let them dry. Then you can decorate them as you wish! On some of mine I painted little hearts, and I used the washi tape on a couple as well.
Use the tissue paper to wrap a small gift like a tiny present – like a necklace with a special message!
For this one I opted to leave the box empty and just wrote a sweet message.
More DIY projects from the BLDG 25 Blog!
Photos by Julia.
Comments
These are great ideas! I would love to receive those little gifts instead of chocolate but most I my friends would probably rather just eat the chocolate, unfortunately :(
I love these ideas! So gonna use ‘em :D
I would be so upset if someone gave me what looked like a box of chocolates and it turned out there were no chocolates in it! Make sure you know your audience for that gift!
Great ideas!!!
:D
WE♥DIY:
Diyearte
cute ideas!
i love the chocolate box of trinkets! such a wonderful idea! i want to make one for my honey :)
I like the matchboxes.