Some Valentine's Day gift ideas

I gave my Secret Sister her Valentine's Day gift yesterday. I wanted to share part of it with you, just in case you like it as much as I do and want to make a few gifts for Valentine's Day.

First of all, let me tell you that this lady has the biggest servant heart of anyone I've ever met. She retired early from her job with the government so that she could take care of her mother when she got Alzheimers. Her mother never went to a nursing home, but this lady cared for her day and night for five years.

Now her sister is also suffering from Alzheimers, and she is caring for her (and her ailing husband) almost day and night. Her goal is that her sister will never have to go to a nursing home, either.

Added to that, she is our church treasurer, one of our main church bus workers, a Sunday school teacher, and helps a lot with the special singing in church ... This lady is 74, and I have no idea where she gets all of her energy and strength, except that it comes from God.

Now I think you'd agree with me that this lady deserves a couple dozen roses. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of budget. In fact, our gifts are supposed to cost $10 or less, so I had to get creative. And I found the perfect idea online: a dozen rosebud "Kisses."




These are really easy and very inexpensive, especially if you picked up after-Christmas clearanced Hershey's Kisses. (I got mine for $0.75 for a big bag.)

For one dozen rosebuds, all you need are 24 Hershey's Kisses, 1 square of tissue paper (2 if you're going to wrap the vase like I did), bamboo skewers ($0.97 for 100 at Wal-Mart), and floral tape (I think I got mine at the $1 store).

Cut the tissue paper into 4" squares, one for every rosebud. You should have some tissue paper leftover. Place two Kisses flat end to flat end and center them in a tissue paper square. Take the sharp end of the skewer and poke it through the point of the bottom Kiss. Then use the floral tape to secure the tissue paper around the Kisses and bamboo skewer. Since I was covering the vase, I only covered my skewers halfway.

They are really easy, and you can get pretty fast by the time you're done with the last one! :)

In case you need some more ideas, here are a few links to some other great ideas I found online. I'm thinking about trying the paper fortune cookies myself. I'll let you know how they turn out if I do!

1. Make paper fortune cookies with love notes inside for your honey this Valentine’s Day!

2. Are you giving a box of chocolates to anyone this Valentine’s day? How about creating a "belly band" for it? What a great idea!

So what are you making for Valentine's Day this year? I'd love to see your projects!