My Valentines were never home made.  It was an exciting event to go down to the drugstore and pick out what themed cards I was going to give that year. It was always something terribly commercial ie.Looney Toons, Muppets, Masters of the Universe, Smurfs. I remember loving the celebration of Valentine's Day at school. How romantic it felt to give my square paper gift to all my classmates, and receive 30 more in return, happily to be placed in the Valentine mailbox I made the week before. And then there was always the curious question of whether the boy you had a crush on meant to tape on your card the conversation heart that said, 'i love you'.

It's funny because I would never consider allowing my children to purchase these (I know I'm a control freak), but I have to admit I found so much simple pleasure in them! I've tended to torture my boys over the years by asking them to get excited about anything homemade...they see no value in it and are always begging for store bought (in vain of course). Thank God I have a daughter now who greatly appreciates my crafting efforts! Because let's be honest, I make the valentines, she is just the assistant. She (I) wanted to make arrows this year. So I sifted through my supplies and mocked up a prototype. It took a few hours and a lot of patience with her little hands in the mix, but I love how they turned out. Rumi said that the boys will use them as swords and that girls will shoot love at each other. I know that once they leave here, there time left on Earth is short but I'm okay with it. There is always next year...