Last Minute and Original Valentine's Day Gifts for Your Love

Every Valentine's Day all I ask for is a heart-shaped box of chocolates and every year my husband delivers. I am easy to buy for, no matter the occasion! But when it's my turn to give a gift to him, I freeze. The more years we are married, the harder it is for me to find a gift to buy for him. So I've turned to homemade gifts that are from my heart and unique to our love.

This Valentine's Day I created a love letter listing all the reasons I love my husband. The twist is that the text is shaped into a heart. I printed it out on cardstock and put it into a nice frame. It's so simple yet heartfelt, unique and just for him. There's no other one like it and you can't buy it in a store. He can hang it in his office and whether the day is good, bad or somewhere in-between, he can read about our special love for each other. Some of the reasons I included are serious, some off the cuff and funny and then there are the ones only he and I will understand. Those are the most special.

The second thing I'm doing is with my girls and it's also simple yet special. I cut out all different heart shaped colors and sizes and each of us wrote one reason per heart why we love him. They are posted around the house – on the door, the refrigerator, his bathroom mirror, etc. We have about 30 of these hearts and it's like a "heart attack" but in a good way.

The little bit of snow foiled my third surprise of a chalk attack on our driveway. I was up early and wanted to draw a huge heart with cupid's bow and arrow and our initials in the middle of it.

The final gift is a card from my daughters spelling 'Love' with their handprint and footprints. The one handprint makes the letter 'O' and the two feet form the 'V'. It captures their little footprints and handprint and demonstrates their love for their dad.

I feel it's important to make a big deal out of Valentine's Day as a family especailly when the children are young. When the girls see their dad giving me flowers and my heart shaped box, he is modeling the love a husband has for his wife. When we make homemade gifts for him, we demonstrate that love in a family is important and gifts don't have to break the bank; ones that come straight from the heart are best. And, when we all eat the chocolates in my lovely heart shaped box , we show that sharing is part of a family's love too. Happy Valentine's Day.