Last-minute Valentine’s ideas? Take a peek at Pinterest.

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. What’s your plan, eh? If you are single and have no plans at all, there are those who would envy you. As each year goes back I get the feeling that Valentine’s Day is becoming a bigger deal, just like Halloween and school prom night.

Perhaps that is because I spend too much time on Pinterest (you can find me here) where, across the pond, crafters with too much time on their hands go overboard on occasions such as these. I’ve been scrolling through pin after pin of Valentine’s gifts to make for your children and your children’s teachers. Is that a thing now? They include ideas like putting a lot of pretty pencils in a jam jar and then making a big colourful label that reads, “Teacher, you’re just WRITE for me. Happy Valentine’s Day.” Um, I adored my teachers, but I would have felt terrifically uncomfortable about handing Mrs Mitchell-Gears or Mrs Morris a romantic Valentine’s present.

And I don’t know about you (also, I must be hideously unromantic), but some of the other crafty ideas being pinned and repinned like billy-o just sound like too much hard work. Between working, parenting and blogging, I barely have enough time to stick the laundry on, let alone create a heart-shaped, cranberry-scented wreath for the front door.

That said, I would like to roll the boat out just a little bit for Valentine’s Day. Like last year, we are having a thrifty one at home with my husband cooking a special dinner. So I have been looking for little flourishes: items I can make quickly and easily, mostly from things we already have knocking around the house, to make the evening feel a little more special.

At this point, I have a confession to make. Those “little flourishes” of mine are going to be very last minute. It’s been one of those weeks. This morning was the icing on the cake: I tiptoed downstairs at the crack of dawn, to set to work, only to find water pouring out the bottom of the boiler. Craft plans scrapped in favour of an emergency plumber. Hmm, that’s not quite so romantic, is it?

So here are a few of the things I’ll be making this evening, when the house is quiet again. Pinterest, of course! But I’ve collected some of the simpler, easier ideas for your crafting pleasure:

They range from heart-shaped paper chains (easy to make, with coloured paper and a stapler) to heart-shaped cookies, to simple bookmarks made from those free Dulux paint swatches.  Take a look: you don’t have to be a member of Pinterest to do so.

As for cards: if you are looking for free printables, check out this post from A Thrifty Mrs, which compiles some of the prettiest ones around.

So, hopefully that’s me sorted (subject to any further domestic apocalypses between now and tomorrow). What about you? Where is your favourite place to go, in real life or online, for last-minute Valentine’s goodies and bargains?

 Image credit: Jamelah.