The gift of love.

Giving and receiving gifts, whether big or small, is a beautiful way to show love beyond words. A gift is more than just an object—it’s a personal message that says, “You are special.” It can be something practical or something that simply adds beauty to someone’s life.

The joy of receiving a gift is unmatched. Opening a package is like unwrapping a heartfelt message from someone dear. It could be a handwritten card that reminds you someone cares, a bag of sweets to brighten your day, or a book filled with new possibilities.

Do you have a special friend, partner, or loved one? Perhaps there’s an item that always makes you think of them, or maybe you’ve come across a project or craft that would be perfect to create just for them.

I love making gifts—it’s one of my favorite ways to express love and appreciation. Over the years, I’ve sewn clothes, designed cards, crafted signs, and even baked delicious treats. There’s something truly special about sharing your talents to create something meaningful for someone else. And what better way to show love than through a handmade gift?

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, here are some simple and thoughtful homemade gift ideas you can make today!

Gift one: Candy gift bag

Small gift bags helps to deliver your gift to a teacher, volunteer, or friend. They can be big or small. These gift bags I created are small gift bags that are perfect for a volunteer or teacher. They are easy to make and you can put any small thank you inside. They are perfect for anytime of the year, but ideal for Valentine’s Day.

Items needed:

• small gift bag- red and white

• old book pages, music pages, or accent color page

• round thank you note

• glue

• scissor

• candy

• tape

Instructions:

1. first fold one long side of the bag in half.- do not use the already folded side. You want to use the “front” of the bag. You want to fold it from the top to the bottom.

2. Draw half of a heart. Once you have drawn half of the heart you want to cut the heart out. Then lay the bag out carefully.

3. Take your accent paper, I used old hymnal pages, and cut a small rectangular that is slightly bigger than your heart. You will glue the accent paper on the inside of the bag.

4. Then print a copy of the round thank you notes. Cut out the round thank you note.

5. Fill the bag with your treat. I used Lindor round chocolate pieces to fill my bags. Then fold the bag shut.

6. You will tape the top shut and glue the round thank you not over the top of the tape.

You now have an adorable thank you gift for your volunteer.

The thank you round I used is here for you to use.

Gift two: Cards

Making a homemade card is one of the most precious things to do. The best part all it takes is a printer, piece of paper, and a little bit of imagination. Anyone, any age is able to create a heartfelt card to give to a friend. The other added detail is to send it in the mail.

I remember as a child I really enjoyed receiving mail in MY name. It was exciting. It made me feel special. Today we do not always send a card in the mail. We shoot someone a text or call them to say “hi” or you are a great friend. Taking the time to make a card and send it in the mail let’s someone know they are a really special someone.

Items needed:

• Paper or cardstock- I use cardstock from Amazon

• colored paper

• variety of paper

• colored pens

• scissors

• glue

• envelope

• stamp

Instructions:

1. Take your paper or cardstock and fold it in half. You can fold it long ways or short ways. It does not matter. What matters is that when you fold your paper you either get a short fat card or a tall skinny card. Your choice.

2. Take your colored paper and decide how you want to decorate your card. Personally, I have a variety of printed out decorative paper that I use when I am making ,my cards. Then I use the color paper to accent the design. Once you have cut out your paper to what you want you will glue it on the front and inside of the card. (see the example below.)

3. Once you have decorated the outside of the card you can decide how you want the inside decorated. You can use more paper or you can just add a quote, saying, or verse.. Once you have finished decorating the card you are going to sign the card with a personal message.

4. Address your envelope with the persons address in the middle of the envelope. You will put your address in the top left corner. Then place a stamp in the top right corner.

5. Viola! You are done. Make sure to drop that card in the mail tonight.

Gift three: Heart shaped sachet

I love things that smell sweet. Something that you can place in your drawer, or hang from a door. This type of gift is called a sachet. My grandmother had a few of them. They were either in a drawer or laying on top of her dresser drawers in her room. As a child I loved to go in her room, and smell them. The sachets always smelled sweet. In a way they now remind me of my grandmother and the times I spent at her house.

This is a gift I love to give to friends. In a way I am giving a piece of my grandmother, and the joy I found in her home. Here is the instructions for you, so you can have a piece of her in your home.

Items needed:

• paper bag

• outline of a heart

• floral napkins

• scissors

• packing paper or stuffing

• essential oils- floral scent like Lavender or Bergamot

• glue

Instructions:

1. Take your paper bag and draw or trace two large hearts.

2. With the floral napkins rip them apart so you only have the thin top layer. Rip the napkin into sections. Glue the sections on to the two large hearts.

3. Glue the plain sides together leave one side unglued. This is important because this is where you will “stuff” your heart.

4. Stuff your heart with either stuffing or packing paper or newspaper.

5. Drop 12 drops of essential oils into the inside of your heart.

6. Glue the last side together.

7. If you want to make this a hanging sachet, punch a whole at the top of the heart. Then tie a thin ribbon or string through the whole.

Now you are done. Share this with a friend or loved one. When they smell the pleasing scent they will think of you and your friendship.

Large Snow/star Project

I love snow. I love the way it looks, the way it smells, and especially the way the world sounds when it snows. Everything becomes so peaceful. When I look out my window and see snow falling, I’m filled with joy and peace all wrapped into one.

Each year, I enjoy making snowflakes and “stars” to decorate my home and workplace. I’ll spend an hour or two cutting shapes from white paper or brown-and-white paper bags. It’s fun, relaxing, and a cherished tradition. When my kids were young, we’d cut out snowflakes together and hang them on the windows. Even if we didn’t see a single snowflake outside, we could enjoy our paper snow inside. It was simple, joyful, and brought a bit of magic to our home.

A couple of years ago, I learned how to make three-dimensional snowflakes—sometimes called stars. I still call them snowflakes, even when I make them with brown paper bags. They add a cozy charm to our home and bring me joy whenever I see them hanging up. Even without real snow, I can enjoy the beauty of my handmade creations.

This is a project for all ages. It’s perfect for a cozy evening watching Christmas movies or listening to holiday music. These decorations can stay up long after the holidays—into January, or even February, if you’d like.

And let me say it one more time:

I LOVE SNOW!

Let’s make some snowflakes-

Supplies Needed:

• 6 to 12 lunch-size or smaller brown paper bags.

• 8.5x11 white paper

• scissors

• hot glue and hot glue gun

• tape

Directions for paper snowflakes:

1. fold the white paper into a square. This means taking one corner of the 8.5 paper and folding it to the opposite side. You should have approximately 1.5” of paper on the bottom. Cut that strip off.

2. Fold the white paper in half two more times. See the photos below to see how the folds look.

3. Cut into your white paper. You can cut triangles or swishes. You can also use a hole punch to punch holes in the middle. There is no right or wrong way to cut the edges. The most important thing is not to cut all of the folded edges! If you cut all of the folded edges your star will fall apart.

4. Unfold your paper. you now have a star!

5. Do you remember that piece of white paper? Now you can do the same steps with the small piece of white paper and make a small star. You can also cut your paper in half and cut out med. stars the same way we cut out the big star.

Pictures of the steps that are for the paper snowflake.

Directions for paper bag snowflakes/stars:

1. Count out 6 bags. Take one bag and fold it in half. Cut the center of the bag out. Unfold the bag and cut the edge of the bag either in a triangle or circle. Repeat this with all 6 of your bags.

2. Once all the bags are cut you are going to glue your bags together. Please note: If you are younger have an adult or older teen help you with the hot glue gun. Heat up your hot glue gun. Once it is heated you will glue the six bags together. Set them aside and let the stack of bags cool.

3. While the bags are cooling take a piece of twine and cut it approximately 6 to 10 inches long. The length of the twine will depend on how low or high you want your snowflake to hang.

4. When the bags are cooled slowly unfold your stack. You will want the bottom bag to meet the top bag. Add some hot glue to the top of the stack and place one end of the twine on top of the glue. Then press the bottom bag onto the top. See the pictures to see how that works.

5. Once the last bit of hot glue is cooled you are done and ready to hang your snowflake.

Pictures of the steps you follow to make a three dimensional snowflake.

I hope you can enjoy a cozy evening of making snowflakes. This is a wonderful way of creating memories with your family no matter the age. So pop on a Christmas movie, pop some popcorn, and start making snow!

Family Easter Egg Hunt

Spring time is a wonderful time to open your home, and hop out into your back yard for some fun family time. And what better way to do this than hunting eggs, specifically Easter eggs, but remember this hunt can be done at any time.

Don’t get me wrong I love a good Easter egg hunt. As a child I loved to hunt for Easter eggs. I still remember visiting my grandparents in the spring. And their small town would host an Easter egg hunt for all ages, even the adults. It was so much fun to run around that field grabbing as many eggs as I could. I still remember that feeling to this day!

The wonderful thing about memories, and spending time together is you can do it when it fits into your schedule or when you discover a new activity. There is nothing that says you can only do egg hunts at Easter time. Although it is much easier and a whole lot more fun when it is nice outside.

When our kids were little they loved hunting for things, whether it was inside or outside. Now mind you, just like in my childhood, egg hunts were also around Easter. And we have done them in so many different places, especially since there have been years that all we got was rain!

Doing egg hunts, or treat hunts is something you can plan at any time with anything. All you need is something to hide, somewhere to hide it, and a plan to make it happen. And that is what I am going to help you with today. Planting the seeds to plan a Easter Egg Hunt.

I have added a Easter Egg Planner for you to download and print for easy reference. You will also find a blank planner in the back to create your own Easter Egg Hunt, or whatever kind of hunt you want to create. Remember this is a starting point, a spring board you might say, to get you started. For now….

Let’s get started planning!

First you want to plan on a block of time, I would say about 2 hours, to put aside for the actual hunt. Make sure you are giving your kids time to hunt down all of the hidden gems, and not feel like they have to rush to find them. Although I can almost guarantee they will probably rush just to make sure they have all of those little gems you have hidden.

Second, decide what you want to hide. With this example I am going to use eggs, specifically Easter eggs. You can use anything that you can image, colored rocks, stuffed animals, or even notes that can lead them to another location.

Third gather and prepare all your supplies. I went and purchased plastic eggs, candy, and other surprised to use with my egg hunt. I also made Easter eggs with real eggs to add a bit of variety to our hunt.

Fourth you will prepare your hidden gems, and finish your other preparations for the big day. I filled my plastic eggs with small candy and pennies. I also made the colorful hardboiled eggs. Then I gathered up the “prizes” that the kids would be able to choose from after the hunt was done. This last bit is an extra. Buying or providing prizes is not something you need to do. Just putting small candy into the plastic eggs would satisfy any participate.

Lastly it is the big day! Gather all your gems, eggs, or whatever you are going to hide. If it is not raining outside, take your hunt outside. Find easy and hard places to place your “gems”. Make sure to keep in mind the age of the participants, your kids. You want to make the hunt a challenge but not such a hard challenge they cannot find the hidden “gems”. If it is raining don’t worry, move your hunt inside. To be honest my kids loved hunting for things in the house as much as hunting outside. And when you think about it there are sometimes more creative ways of hiding those “gems”.

The most important thing I can tell you is to have fun! This activity is a way for you to create a fun, challenging activity for your kids and their friends to do on any given day. It does not have to be perfect. All it has to be is fun.