Cheap, Inexpensive Valentine Ideas

As Valentine's Day approaches, many people start to stress over what to give those special people in their life. For those of us on a budget, it may not be feasible to go out and buy a box of gourmet chocolates and a beautiful bouquet of flowers, but that does not mean we still can't do something special for those we love. Here are some cheap, inexpensive ideas to make Valentine's Day special for those that you care about.

Heart Attack Someone
Though the title of this little project may sound morbid at first, rest assured no one will be harmed! To heart attack someone you will just need some construction paper, scissors, tape or glue, a pen or marker, and possibly some popsicle sticks. Simply cut out different sized hearts out of the construction paper. After cutting out the desired number of hearts write cute little Valentine messages on each one, or you can leave some blank. You can write messages like you might find on conversation hearts, such as "U R 2 Cute" or something more personal. After writing messages on your hearts you can do many different things with them. One way to heart attack is to stick the hearts on the front door of someone's house. You can also stick the hearts on the car of that special someone. If you do this, I would recommend only sticking the hearts on the windows, so that you do not risk pulling off any paint. Another idea is to glue the hearts to popsicle sticks and then stick them in the front yard of someone's house. However you choose to use the hearts, your special someone will be pleasantly surprised to find lots of sweet messages just for them.

Write a Nice Letter
Another meaningful and inexpensive gift to give on Valentine's Day is a nice letter written from the heart. You do not have to write a letter only to your significant other. In the past I have written a letter to each of my sisters and my parents, expressing love and appreciation for them. I like to share with them what I admire most about them and thank them for specific things they have done for me. A box of chocolates will get eaten and then thrown away and flowers will die, but a touching letter may be kept and looked back on for years to come.

Make and Decorate Sugar Cookies
Who doesn't like eating sweets? Find your favorite sugar cookie recipe, or buy a pre-made dough from the store, roll out the dough and cut out your desired shapes. Try cutting out hearts. After baking them write messages on them, making sugar cookie conversation hearts. Another great idea is to cut your cookies out in flower shapes. After cutting out the dough insert a popsicle stick or wood skewer into the dough, bake them, and then decorate them like flowers. You can then stick them in a flower pot filled with Styrofoam to keep them in place. Walla! A beautiful flower bouquet that not only looks beautiful, but tastes great too!

Make Personalized Band-Aids
For this inexpensive gift all you will need are some plain band-aids, and some different colored markers. On each band-aid write a little love message or word, or draw pictures such as hearts. My aunt and little cousins sent me some of these to me for Valentine's Day last year, and I loved them! People will be looking for excuses to use a band-aid when they get these.

This year for Valentine's Day, don't worry about spending a fortune. Using these ideas, you can give a gift from the heart without breaking the bank.