Ideas for Handmade Valentine's Gifts

**Update: I know many of you visiting for the first time this year or returning after seeing this post a few years ago are interested in the templates for the projects below, but sadly, they have been discontinued since they first came out in 2008!  I hope you enjoy the inspiration anyway, and you can still find some great free candy box templates elsewhere online by doing a quick google search for “candy box template”. Have fun!**

I have been SUPER busy making all kinds of hybrid Valentine’s gifts lately! I would have posted some of these earlier, but I have been too busy getting everything finished in time to be mailed out today . Don’t forget to check out the credits for these - lots of the supplies I used are available at PrimaHybrid.com.

OK, it’s show-and-tell time!

Candy Boxes (free template here)

I loved making these adorable little candy boxes! The free template was created by Cindy, one of the ultra talented Prima Hybrid Flower Girls . The template and Cindy’s tutorial were featured in the Prima Hybrid Newsletter. You can still grab the template right here. Also check out this tutorial written by Kristin. How fun!

Chipboard Album

I really, really enjoyed making this little album!! the process totally reminded me of when I used to make collage art back in high school. I just let myself have fun and I added layers and layers of printed digital papers, photos, printed transparencies, leather flowers, printed vellum – you get the idea. I even added some pink ink where needed, it is a Valentine’s gift after all . And since the album itself was the Valentine’s card, I added a letter to each page so that the whole album spells out “Happy Valentine’s Day”! Are you thinking “Gee – that’s a pretty extravagant Valentine’s card”? If so, I just wanted to let you in a little secret – you can buy these little albums from Oriental Trading Company for about the same price as a regular Valentines card! I love the instant gratification of making the whole album from start to finish in one day too!

“I Love You Because” Index Cards

When I saw the bonus word art in this quick album kit by Heidi, I instantly thought of this simple (yet fabulous) little project! I just printed out one of the “I Love You Because” designs on each 4×6 index card, added my own doodles and decorations and some quick love notes on the back. I have been leaving them around the house for my hubby  – one for each day of the week leading up to Valentines Day !

“My First Scrapbook” Gift

I LOVED this idea when I saw Mariquita’s project in the Shabby Shoppe Gallery! My seven year old niece is getting interested in scrapbooking, so I made her this little scrapbook to encourage her . I printed out the blank pages from Heidi’s quick album, plus some of the frames and hearts. Then I just added the pages to the blank scrapbook, and sent some frames, flowers and hearts she can use to decorate her book. She’s going to love it !

Chocolate Boxes (free template here)

All the work was already done for me with these boxes! The template by Iron Orchid Designs comes pre-decorated! And there are even built-in spots for those little jewels from Prima Hybrid, but I couldn’t get my hands on them in time, so I improvised with some flower petals cut into heart shapes. The boxes were designed to fit 3 See’s chocolate bars, but I put two Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate bars in and they fit nicely.

Mini File Folder Album

Melinda was sweet enough to send me a few of her templates to try, and I loved this little file folder album! It is on sale right now too ! I made two of these and I had fun mixing lots of bright, bold colors and patterns. These photos don’t do the papers justice – trust me!

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