Saying "I Love You" One Cheesy Valentine at a Time...

Remember when you used to make/decorate your own box and then exchange valentines with your classmates? The creative side of me always looked forward to decorating my own box about a week before the big day. And I loved picking out just the right box of valentines for my classmates...they had to be just right. Meaningful for my closest friends, sweet for everyone. As Valentine's Day approached, everyone in the class would bring their specially-picked cards/candy to place in everyone's boxes. I have fond memories of my valentines, since my school ensured that everyone was included and no one was left out. Sometimes, I would even receive special valentines from special someones in the class (oh young, elementary school crushes). As a kid, it was such a cute and fun tradition.

Growing up out of elementary school though, the novelty and cuteness tend to wear off. So much pressure can surround this one day, and the practical side of me thinks the commercialization is a little silly. Can I just say, I love the fact that my aunt and uncle celebrate "Martinine Day" (their last name is Martin) on Feb 15th- when all the Valentine stuff goes on sale! Haha :) But even still, I enjoy celebrating the ones I love, wearing pink/red, and eating chocolate with the best of them!

Since this is only my 2nd Valentine's Day to actually have a valentine (and my first married Valentine's!), I wanted to make it special. So I decided to bring back the tradition of the Valentine Box, complete with cheesy valentines. Part of the idea was born too, out of my desire to become better at Words of Affirmation for Mike. I figured a valentine countdown would be a good place to start. So while I had a ton of fun finding the cheesiest valentines I could, I also made sure to spend time writing down in words how much I love Mike.

Here is a gallery of the cheesy valentines I created for his countdown...thank you to Pinterest and Google for your help in identifying some cute ones! ;)

Feb 1- "Won't you 'bee' my valentine?" included an intro to/instructions for the countdown

Feb 2- "Will you o'fish'ally by my valentine?" obviously included some Gold Fish

Feb 3- "How about you 'chews' me?" included a pack of gum (attached to the back)

Feb 4- "I'm wild about you!" was the lion pattern attached to a lollipop

Feb 5- "You are one 'hot tamale'!" obviously included a box of hot tamale candies :)

Feb 6- "I couldn't ask for anything 's'more' than to have you for a valentine" included everything to make s'mores- a fun date night in our backyard fire pit!

Feb 7- "I'm 'bananas' for you!" included a cute paper monkey and the bananas from Runts candy (I also gave him the rest of the box, because does anyone actually like the bananas in Runts??)

Feb 8- "It makes 'cents' to me!" included enough change for him to make a Sonic drink run (Mike loves Sonic Coke Zero)

Feb 9- "LOVE is more than a 7 word score"- no extras in this one beside the love note...Mike and I just like to play Scrabble and Words with Friends together :)

Feb 10- "I'm 'nuts' about you!" included a bag of nuts

Feb 11- "I'm so fortunate to have you!" included a Chinese take-out box and DIY fortune cookies

Feb 12- "We were 'mint' to be!" included some peppermints

Feb 13- " 'Owl' always be yours"- just the cute owl and a love note

Feb 14- Valentine's Day! I finally found the iPod Mike had been wanting :)

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart! I hope you know how much I love you! :)