Handicraft Valentines Day Gifts for your Sweetie or Special Friend

You don't' have to be attached to celebrate Valentines Day . Take a girl's night out to celebrate womanhood, or children can share their love with their parents too.

While the holiday can seem somewhat commercialized, there are gifts that you can create from your own imagination and heart. If you are the poetic type, or you like to express your thoughts and feelings in words, try writing a special poem , or even making a handicraft valentine day card. The poem and greeting doesn't have to rhyme.

For greeting cards, find some colored stock paper, and then fold your greeting inside. Tie some pretty ribbon, add some Valentines Day stickers, and a personal touch. Put in some movie tickets from a first date; add a small printout from a favorite movie, television show, or product.

Place it on a scrapbook page, and add some of your own words with the page. Last of all, you could create a treasure hunt within a box of candies. If you're special somebody is a candy or chocolate fanatic, create a mini treasure hunt within the candy. If it's a female, try placing a pretty pair of earrings underneath one of the candies, or a necklace. Or if you would like to propose marriage, this would be a great place to put the engagement ring.

For males, you could fold a t-shirt within the box, put a box of cologne inside some pretty foil wrap surrounded by candy, or place sports trading cards underneath pieces of candy within a box too. By adding some fun, sweets, and words from the heart, any Valentine Day gift can be made special. Thoughtful gifts don't always come from the store, they come from the heart.

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Valentine's Day History

Many people try to complain that Valentine's Day is nothing more than a "Hallmark holiday" dreamed up by businesses seeking to profit from the desperate masses seeking love. Valentine's Day traces its history back to ancient Rome, long before any such businesses started looking towards their bottom line.

In ancient Rome, February 14th was declared to be a celebration for Juno, queen of all the Roman gods and goddesses. Some believe that St. Valentine helped prisoners of harsh Roman prisons escape and thus was imprisoned by the Roman Empire. This legend continues that, while in prison, St. Valentine fell in love with his jailor's daughter and began to send her written love letters signed "From your valentine."

The prevailing legend is that St. Valentine was a Roman priest who began to secretly marry couples against the direct orders of Emperor Claudius II. The people continued this for a short period of time, and then reverted back to choosing names of girls instead of the saints.

By the 15th Century, St. Valentines Day was celebrated with lovers singing their romantic feelings to their chosen ones. Soon, valentine brands became known for their unique properties. Fraktur Valentines were known for their ornate, medieval-style lettering. A piece of paper was folded and cut into an elaborate, lacey pattern for Cutout Valentines. Puzzle Purse Valentines were complex puzzles of folded paper, allowing different portions of the valentine to be exposed at different times. Oilpaper stencils were used to paint Theoren Valentines. And Pinprick Valentines were made by, naturally, pricking a piece of paper repeatedly to transform the paper into a lace of sorts.

By the 18th Century, Valentine's Day became extremely popular throughout Great Britain and lovers began to exchange token gifts alongside their valentine cards. In the 1840's, Esther A. Howland began her company producing valentines in the United States. She became known as the Mother of the Valentine, producing beautiful cards of colored paper, lace, and ornate lettering. By the late 19th Century, valentines were produced in factories by Norcross, later to be known as Hallmark.

These factory-produced valentines grew to encompass more than just declarations of undying love and devotion. Today, Valentine's Day is celebrated as a holiday honoring romance. Boys and girls no longer pick names out of a jar, but instead exchange valentines with token messages of affection. In the tradition of Great Britain, children often exchange small sweets, while adult lovers give each other large cases of sweets and gifts.

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