It finally hit me a few years ago that the reason I love Valentine's Day so much is because of the many fun craft options it affords. Forget flowers and expensive dinners; I'm happy with paper, glue and copious amounts of glitter!

Since discovering digital scrapbooking, I've found that my favorite Valentine crafts involve a hybrid of digital and paper creations. It's a pretty perfect blend of creativity with saving time, not to mention cutting down on mess. Going digital lets me play with elements until I get them right, then print out exactly the number I need (rather than making the same thing 10, 20 or even 50 times). Last year's Valentine, made with a card template from The Shabby Shoppe.

While my teenagers aren't into swapping Valentines with their friends anymore, they do like spreading the sweet love. Candy, people! I'm talking candy! We've made personalized candy bar wrappers (a request that's returned for this year), lollipop covers and sandwich bags filled with a mix of goodies and a stapled-on topper.
You can find lots of great products out there especially made for Valentine's Day. Some of my favorites:
• The Shabby Shoppe
• Shabby Miss Jenn Designs
• Two Peas in a Bucket
• ScrapDish
• DigiScrap Boutique

Mary Abreu blogs each Wednesday about crafting for kids and moms. She learned a love of all things crafty from her late mother and enjoys diving into new crafts — at least until she gets bored and moves on to the next thing. She blogs regularly about her crafty adventures at Confessions of a Craft Addict.