The Valentine’s Day Countdown of Love

Hello February!  It’s time for a countdown to love.

I’ve been sitting on the idea of an advent-like countdown to Valentine’s Day for a while.   The boys love our Christmas advent calendar so much and I love Valentine’s Day so I thought I’d combine the two loves.  I saw something on Pinterest (way back when) that used sewn paper hearts filled with candy as Vday cards.  Of course, the last thing we need around here is more candy.

Instead, I opted for different loving activities;  love the earth by picking up some trash, love a friend by telling them a joke, love the cat by giving her a treat,  love your ears and make up a song, etc.  The activities are really simple and easy to accomplish. I think one of the most involved activities is “love your tummy: make something sweet to eat”.  My intent is not to make life more complicated or hectic but to slip a small something loving into our day.

Ta-da the birth of the Valentine’s Day Countdown of Love!

Of course, I woke up this morning surprised to realize it was actually February 1st.  Seriously, where did January go?  Sheesh.  I quickly made this up this morning.  14 different paper hearts sewn together with love-based activities inside.

Next, I rolled up and tucked the messages between two pieces of pretty origami paper and used a heart cookie cutter to trace a heart.

I used the traced heart marking as a guide for sewing the hearts together.  I love sewing on paper. Feels like I’m a sewist gone rogue.  So naughty.

I made 13 hearts in regular origami paper and 1 in silver paper.  The boys get to trade off who opens the day’s heart to reveal the day’s activity but the silver heart is saved for the Valentine’s Day itself.

The boys were definitely excited about ripping open the hearts and it took them a long bit of negotiating to decide who got to go first.  (Everything is a learning opportunity, isn’t it?  Even when mama is a little “done” with learning opportunities.)

 Let the countdown begin!