Overwhelmed by aisle after aisle of hearts and flowers? You don't have to break the bank -- or your busy schedule -- to celebrate Valentine's Day with your family. With a quick trip to your neighborhood market or drugstore for these five Valentine's essentials, you'll have plenty of treats to fill your family's day with love and laughter.
Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter
There's nothing sweeter than a batch of homemade, heart-shaped cookies -- except maybe the other adorable things you can make with a heart-shaped cookie cutter.
Warm your family's hearts (and tummies!) with heart-shaped Heart-Felt Pancakes. Or add some love to a brown-bag lunch by cutting ordinary sandwiches with the heart-shaped cookie cutter to make a Two-Toned Heart Sandwich. For a nutritious afternoon snack, treat them to fruity Healthy Hearts.
You can use your cookie cutter as a crafting tool, too. Help kids express their love on Painted Valentine's Canvases. Or pick up a few extra cookie cutters and dress them up to be given as Valentine's gifts.
Forgot to pick up a cookie cutter? Using a small aluminum foil ball, you can make heart-shaped Cupid's Cupcakes in a pinch.
School Supplies
Some cute Valentine's pencils, a pack of crayons, and a ruler certainly won't cost a fortune, but these everyday items can go a long way in making some really simple, fun gifts.
Break up crayons into pieces (you can even use old ones) and you'll be amazed at how quickly you can recycle them into colorful Crayon Hearts that kids will love.
With an ordinary ruler kids can make a clever craft that sends the too-cool-for-school message, "You Rule!". They can also give pencils as gifts by adding special charms or toppers.
Valentine's Paper Products
With a few simple paper products, you can decorate the table and turn an ordinary meal into a Valentine's party. Serve Cupid's Lemony Love Potion in red paper cups and the food on red paper plates lined with pink or white doilies.
After mealtime, use the leftover cups, plates, and doilies for a Valentine's craft extravaganza. Turn cups into I'm Cocoa for You valentines and make the doilies into Flowery Sentiments.
Recycle paper plates into a Love Note Tote for kids to carry their Valentine's cards. Or turn a plate into into a frog puppet, paper dove, and a mosaic with these Paper Plate Crafts.
Drugstore Craft Supplies
There's no need to make a special trip to a craft store to make fun Valentine's projects. You can get creative with items you already have around the house, like markers and scissors, and a fresh supply of construction paper and pipe cleaners from a dimestore.
Show your loved ones how much you appreciate them by giving them your own book of homemade Valentine's coupons and checks. Just print out the motifs you like, glue each one to a rectangular piece of construction paper, and then staple them all together for a one-of-a-kind gift!
Also, construction paper is pretty much all you need to make irresistible Valentine paper crafts that will definitely amuse your little ones -- as well as melt the coolest teenage heart.
As for the pipe cleaners -- as any crafter knows, they always make the possibilities endless. Use them with the construction paper to make easy toys like this Love Bug or these snazzy glasses.
And of course, you can't forget the card! Try this clever Bumblebee Valentine or this Magic Message Card to make use of all the extra materials.
Valentine's Candy
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but you might be surprised with how much fun you can have with a small selection of Valentine's candy.
Make his day soar by using gum sticks, Life Savers and Smarties to build a Candy Airplane. Or send a sweet message with clever Candy Wrapper Valentines or a homemade Candy-Button Cellphone.
You can also sweeten up play time with Gum Guy Cupids or Pixy Stix Sweet Hearts.
Got a great shopping trick for last-minute Valentine's Day ideas? Looking for one? Find and share answers in the comments section below.
