Handmade Valentines

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I have a lot of work to do.

You see, last Halloween, I stitched a Halloween pillow (out of a scary skull print) for each of my daughters. They loved them so much (even sleeping on them at night), that come the winter holidays, I sewed Christmas pillows for them. And just the other day, one of my daughters declared that she couldn’t wait to see the Valentine’s Day pillows they are getting because “Mommy’s pillows are stitched with love.” With a statement like that, I just had to make them Valentine’s Day pillows. It seems that a holiday tradition has been born.

So this morning, I quickly finished up one Valentine’s Day pillow. I took plush, comfy blue fabric (since their room is blue and pink, two of their favorite colors), and stitched a big red heart in the center and added some iron-on heart appliqués. Now, I just have one more pillow to finish up.

Although their beds are likely to get very crowded soon (with their birthdays coming up this spring, I am sure they will be looking forward to getting birthday pillows), I am glad that we started this little tradition. I only learned how to sew about a year ago — a sewing machine was a Christmas present, and when they were Brownies I stabbed my finger way too many times trying to hand-stitch all those little patches on their uniforms — and my sewing skills are very, very rudimentary, my little girls just love the pillows I create. They see past the pillows’ flaws, and just see the gifts that their mom handmade for them. I bet that the pillows are something they will remember much longer than any stuffed animal or box of chocolates I could give them. (Although they are also getting chocolates this holiday.)

 Just last night, my daughters ushered me out of the kitchen, as they didn’t want me to see the handmade Valentine’s Day cards they were making for me. I am looking forward to seeing them – things like that are the best mementos and gifts a mom could get. Perhaps I am teaching them well.

Looking for some cute Valentine's Day craft ideas? Check out these ideas I found at Kaboose.com.