Valentine’s Day Care Packages

Happy Valentine’s week, friends! Yes, that’s right. I’ve decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day this whole week and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you!

My favorite part of Valentine’s Day is sharing sweet notes with those I love. And while every day should be spent showing others how much you love and care for them, I’m a huge fan of dedicating an entire day week of the year to it as well. Because sometimes it’s extra fun to go out of your way for those you love. Don’t you think? And being a little cheesy doesn’t hurt either.

So today I’m sharing just one of the fun ways I like to surprise my family and friends on Valentine’s Day–snail mail of the sweetest variety!

While I’m quickly making new friends in Colorado (since moving here last fall), many of my closest besties and loved ones still live out of state. So this year I put together little Valentine’s gift packages that are easy to send to friends in the mail, no mater what city or state they reside in this Valentine’s Day.

As I mentioned above, my favorite part of Valentine’s day is giving sweet notes of love. My love language is words of affirmation after all. So my first order of business when putting together care packages is picking out the perfect card.

I love making my own Valentine’s day cards, but recently (read: most always), I just can’t seem to find the time between school and work. For these times, my go-to cards are always Papyrus. With their hand-crafted jeweled covers and intricate paper cutouts, there’s just something so special about the extra amount of effort that goes into making each one. And choosing the perfect card for each person on my list, based upon their unique personality, is something I truly enjoy doing. It’s genuinely the next best thing to making them myself, in my opinion. And Papyrus always has so many cute Valentine’s Day options to choose from!

Next, I like to add in little trinkets that really speak to each person’s personality.  And I tend to add in teeny things I know each person wouldn’t normally treat themselves to.

For my mom and grandma, I added in a sheer tinted lip balm and a mini eos hand lotion for each of them. For my girlfriends, I added in the cutest ribbon hair ties and dainty pieces of jewelry–like this necklace and this ring, or these red lips earrings. And for one of my besties who is in Vet School, I found these cute little cat hair pins I just know she’ll love.

And to finish off the package, I added in lots of sweet chocolate. Because who doesn’t love an individually wrapped chocolate or two or five?

When putting these care packages together, it’s really easy for me to want to buy all the cutest little pieces I can find. Creating and giving care packages is one of my favorite things to do after all. But to keep myself from going overboard,  I just remind myself that the point shouldn’t be to spend lots of money. It’s to send sweet little reminders of how much each person means to you in intentional ways. It’s the thought that goes into each piece sent and how you tailor them to your friend that speaks volumes. Be creative with it and have fun!

What about you? How do you like to show those you love how special they are to you on Valentine’s Day?

Photos by Colleen Kelly

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Little Trinkets…

Favorite Cards: for Mom, for Grandma, for friends

EOS Hand Lotion

Burts Bees Tinted Lip Balm: Red Dahlia, Rose, Pink Blossom, Sweet Violet 

Hair Ribbon Ties, Cat Hair Pins

Red Lips Earrings, Pink Gem Earrings, Flower Necklace, Gold Ring

Starbucks Gift Card

Raspberry Chocolate, Strawberry Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Hearts