Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day—you already know that. You know because store windows are full of gifts and hearts, and there are ads everywhere. When this day comes around, one of two things usually happens. Maybe you like it, or maybe you’re not a fan of these celebrations and see it as overly commercial. So whatever your feelings about this day, we want to make you a proposal: shake up Valentine’s Day and make it special in your own way!
The first thing we’re going to do, once again, is take Love’s surname away. Not romantic love, motherly love, or friendship love… just Love. Love in the absolute sense. For the whole family, adults and children, your coworkers, your friends, the baker who sells you bread every morning, the customers who come into your shop—for everyone!
The second thing we’re going to do is remove the “buying” connotation from gifts. Instead, we’re going to use our imagination, our hands, and all the fabric scraps or old clothes we have around the house to recycle.
Do you want to make a whole bunch of beautiful things that are very easy and quick to give to the people you care about, without spending a euro?
Here are our ideas.
Little Valentine’s Day gifts for everyone!We’ve come up with three simple but very loving little gifts that you can give to all the important people in your life. Small objects with much more sentimental than material value, ones that can easily be placed in any visible spot in the house. Let’s get to them!
1. Mini-garlands with messages
A little cord, yarn, or thread, a fabric marker (so the ink won’t smudge), and scraps of fabric. That’s all you need. The most important thing is the message. Think of different words or short phrases with positive feelings: smile, I love you, thank you, beautiful, love, you’re worth so much…
Use the enormous power of words!
Something that makes the person who sees it smile and feel good. That way, if they put it somewhere visible where they spend a lot of time, they’ll remember during the other 364 days of the year that you love them.
2. T-shirt-yarn bracelets
If you’d rather have the person carry that message with them so they never forget it, it’s better to make something they can always wear. You already know that to make T-shirt-yarn bracelets, you don’t need to buy a spool. Just cut old T-shirts you have around the house into strips.
Click the image on the left to see the step-by-step instructions at full size, or learn how to make them with this video from our YouTube channel.
3. Plump hearts to hang
And if you’re a fan of hearts as the universal symbol of love, you already know that these plump hearts are incredibly easy. You can make them with a sewing machine, sew them by hand, or use fabric glue. Like the garlands, they can be hung anywhere: from the rearview mirror, a desk lamp, a doorknob, the headboard of the bed… And they have the power to make whoever sees them smile and think of you.
Because they’re small, you can also make them by recycling scraps of fabric. It would be wonderful if, before joining the two fabric pieces (and of course before adding the stuffing), you also wrote a sweet message on one side or both. That would make them even more special.
4. Fabric flowers
Are you more of a flower person than a heart person? No problem. That said, flowers are a little more involved and require using fabrics in different colors and larger amounts. So you may need some extra materials for this (although if you’re anything like us, you’re sure to have scraps, more or less large, left over from other projects).
Visit this post to learn how to make fabric flowers. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll be amazed by the beautiful flowers you can make. And they’re all very easy!
Now it’s time to get to work. Recycle, sew, give gifts, surprise someone who isn’t expecting any special gesture from you, sow smiles, and shake up Valentine’s Day.
Happy Love!