Salutation: The word sounds formal, but in truth, the salutation is highly intimate. It’s the “Dear Joe,” or “Hey, Babe:” just above the body of your letter. For a newer relationship, you might stick to a simple “Dear Jane,” but for a more established love, here are some more passionate possibilities:
- Occasion: On our first anniversary, I just wanted to remind you how lucky I feel…
- Just because: You know I love you every day, but today, I felt like putting it in writing….
- Miss you: I miss you seeing your face…
- Appreciation: Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about all you do for us…
- Compliment: Just so you know, you take my breath away…
- Tough time: Hey, I know things haven’t been the best between us lately. That’s why I want to make sure you know
- New love: Just wanted to tell you that I’m having the best time with you, and I can’t wait to…
- Thinking of you: You’re on my mind right now…
Writing a love letter is the kind of gesture we 21st-century types don’t make every day—and that’s exactly what makes it so special. It’s something a little out of the day-to-day…unexpected…above and beyond. Odds are good your partner is going to want to read, reread, and hang onto it for a good long while. Love letters are just that meaningful.
Go Into Detail
Go on to add some specifics that could only come from you:
When to Send a Love Letter
Putting pen to paper gives you space to really open up, explore, and expand on what’s in your heart. That can be just the thing for when your feelings are so strong, you just know it’s going to take some extra time, thought, and heartfelt words to express all you’re feeling. A love letter gives you a chance to dive deeper and communicate things that can be hard to say face to face or capture in a text…even one with lots of heart emojis.
Here’s the short answer: Whenever you’ve got some saved-up affection, appreciation, and admiration to express to the one you love. To expand on that just a little, here’s a list of specific times perfect for a love letter:
Writing a Rough Draft
That’s right—rough drafts are not just for school essays, but for any important piece of writing, love letters most definitely included. Your rough draft might be as simple as a brainstormed list of lovable things about your partner in the notes app on your phone. Or it could be a fully fleshed-out practice letter you draft out on your computer or on scratch paper. Once again, go with the approach that feels most like you.
The files are delivered in PDF format, so you can download them to your computer, or directly to your mobile device.
You can print out each valentine on standard 8.5 X 11 computer paper.
This gift is only available with the first 250 orders,
so grab your copy before they're gone!
Be Mine: John 3:16
All Mine: John 10:27-30
True Love: Jeremiah 31:3
Love Me: Luke 10:27
I'm Sure: John 14:1-3
Sweet Talk: Psalm 119:103
Be Good: John 14:15
Here's How It Works
What kid doesn't love bubbles? You can pick up a bunch of mini bubbles at the party supply store and give them away as a Valentine Treat with this printable!
We are giving you two options that involve an edible treat ('Smores & Conversation Hearts) and two others that involve a fun non-food alternative (bubbles & glow sticks).
In addition to the Printable Valentines, you will be given the current edition of our KidMin Power Pack as our bonus gift (valued at $19.99)!
Your subscription will continue for as long as you like. For just $19.99 per month, we promise to send you a treasure trove of fun, fresh ideas that are applicable to your students world.
Click HERE to see some ideas about decorating your kindness rocks.
Get the day started by reading the book The Jelly Donut Difference. It is an adorable story about kindness and generosity.
Our Valentine Cupcakes project based learning activity will have your students practicing important math skills while they are engaged in a fun, real-world based activity about baking cupcakes.
All of my kids went through a stage where they LOVED all things Lego. (Honestly, my sixteen year old still loves Legos.) Our floors were covered with those tiny little things. If you are anything like me, you probably have tons of Legos at home. This Lego challenge is perfect!
Kiss Writing
Wowzers! There are so many fun activities that you can do in the classroom for Valentine’s Day! These activities are fun and academic, plus they are easy to prep. Enjoy!
Take a week long break from your usual vocabulary program and use these fun Valentine’s Day words instead. Students will be recording definitions, writing sentences, and brainstorming synonyms and antonyms. Then you can end the week with a quick assessment.
Then your students will write and color all of the pages that they glue in their book. It is so much fun for them to write about the books they love, things they love about school and so much more.
How can your class share kindness? Ideas shared in our teacher Facebook groups included making valentines for veterans or a nursing home. Another suggestion was to make fleece blankets for children in need. I also loved the suggestion about making heart-shaped animals to send to your local children’s hospital to decorate doors.
What kinds of Valentine’s Day activities will you be doing in the classroom this year? I am always looking for new and creative ideas that will interest my students. They have to be super simple to prep and I love mixing in those important academic skills.
Or, how about a heart-launcher catapult? Your students will love this one and it’s easy to prep.
Another idea is to participate in the Kindness Rocks Project by having your students paint rocks with sweet messages. They can take these home and have their families help them decide where to leave it, or you can set up an area in your school for your own motivational rock garden.
This activity includes a number of math skills, including graphing, adding, multiplying, elapsed time and fractions. There are multiple ways to differentiate the activities, so you can choose the perfect challenge for your students in grades 2-5. Detailed teacher instructions explain several ways to use this resource, whether you are learning in person or online. You can get a sneak peek inside Valentine Cupcakes here.
Valentine’s Day Vocabulary
Each of your students will need three paper lunch bags. You can find them at Walmart or any grocery store. You will put the bags on top of each other, fold them to form a book and staple the spine.
I went on a search for fun ideas for Valentine’s Day. My teacher Facebook groups did not disappoint! I found all kinds of fun activities mentioned by teachers in the group. I also threw in some favorites that I have done with my students.
Click HERE to grab some FREE Valentine’s Day Lego challenge cards.
This fold and cut heart template is also perfect for younger children. Have them fold the paper in half along the dotted line, then use the printed half heart as a guide to cut a full heart. Make sure to use a pair of child sized blunt scissors!
This double heart shape printable is so cute and perfect for Valentines!
Cutting a lot of small hearts by hand is very tedious, so consider getting a heart shaped hole punch if you need a bunch of little heart shapes!
Stop scrolling Pinterest for Valentine's Day printables and crafts - check out these Valentine's posts right here on The Artisan Life!
Printable heart envelopes
Create cute Valentine's Day images to color by connecting the dots in these fun, free Valentine's dot to dot pages.
In this post you’ll find free printable templates for extra large hearts, heart writing paper, red heart printables, a fold and cut heart, small heart templates, heart envelopes, and more!
You’re a busy person – save valuable time and download all 16 heart templates with one easy click when you buy the package for just $1!
However, please note that these heart stencils are available for your personal and classroom use only. Please do not redistribute the digital files or printed copies to others. Just send your friends, family, and coworkers to this post so they can download their own copies!
Excerpt from Cliff Valentines, 1813 (Google Books)
I chose a tough art paper for cutting, since I wanted it to stand up to lots of handling. Although Cobbold seems to have used mostly smooth wove paper in the JHU album, I worked with a laid-texture paper that I happened to have on hand. I free-hand sketched the designs with a soft pencil on tracing paper while looking at the Flickr images. Then I flipped the tracing paper over onto my art paper and rubbed over the pencil lines with a bone folder. I used the resulting lines as a guide for cutting from the back-side of the paper, while the front of the paper remains clean and white. As I worked on those delicate vines and flowers, I found that they weren’t as difficult to execute as I thought they would be. Each flower is formed out of simple petal shapes that are filled in with finely-cut lines. The vines are formed of repeating three-leaf motifs. All the extant valentines attributed to Cobbold are glued to red or pink paper, although in her description of the Valentine Lottery she only mentions wrapping them in “blue demy paper.” I have left mine unmounted for now, but I placed them on bright paper to get the best contrast for photos. I had so much fun with these two designs, I might just have to try out that Chameleon. I’ll share it if I do!
“For you all the Choicest of Birds in the Air,” Cut Paper Valentine by Elizabeth Cobbold (Live Auctioneers)
Cobbold’s modest description of her poetry and her cut-paper work really doesn’t express the intricate playfulness in her designs! Although familiar valentine images of hearts and cupids appear, Cobbold didn’t limit herself. She chose themes as varied as the Fairy Queen Mab, a Chinese Landscape, an Indian Boat, even a pyramid covered in hieroglyphs! We’re so lucky that any designs of these ephemeral party favors survive at all, and amazingly enough some of them survive in two different formats. Two extant copies of Cobbold’s Cliff Valentines 1814 contain pen-and-ink drawings attributed to Harriet Cobbold- possibly Elizabeth’s daughter. Fortunately for us, UC Boulder Libraries, which holds one of these hand-illustrated books, has digitised it and made it freely readable! Read Cliff Valentines 1814 and admire Cobbold’s designs here. One of my favorites is this “Lacerta Chameleon”, which must have shocked the gentleman who drew it out of Mrs. Cobbold’s basket! The verses explain that the recipient’s bride-to-be will not be a scaly lizard, but she will be a gentle creature that changes her emotional color to match her husband’s, just like the chameleon.
Recreating Skills and Pastimes of Jane Austen's era (1770-1820)
This Valentine must be for a gentleman, as it uses typically feminine textile “implements” to predict that the lucky recipient will have a “meek domestic bride.” I love how the scissors, thimble, and netting tools seem to be spilling out of the unrolled sewing case or “housewife”. On the lower edge, you can see a bodkin for threading eyelets or drawstrings, along with what I think might be a tambour needle.
Valentine’s Day has finally provided me with some inspiration and motivation to get back to my writing desk! Many of today’s holidays were celebrated very differently in the Georgian and Regency periods, but Valentine’s Day is an exception. Then as now, it gave an opportunity for sweethearts and friends to exchange tokens of love. Last year I looked at folded and decorated puzzle purses, and made some of my own. This year I am captivated by the delightful valentines made by one very accomplished Regency lady, Elizabeth Cobbold. I just had to try making some myself!
" data-medium-file="https://herreputationforaccomplishment.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/sfk_ccm_r_1946_113a_624x544.jpg?w=248" data-large-file="https://herreputationforaccomplishment.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/sfk_ccm_r_1946_113a_624x544.jpg?w=450" src="https://herreputationforaccomplishment.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/sfk_ccm_r_1946_113a_624x544.jpg?w=700" alt="sfk_ccm_r_1946_113a_624x544" srcset="https://herreputationforaccomplishment.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/sfk_ccm_r_1946_113a_624x544.jpg 450w, https://herreputationforaccomplishment.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/sfk_ccm_r_1946_113a_624x544.jpg?w=124 124w, https://herreputationforaccomplishment.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/sfk_ccm_r_1946_113a_624x544.jpg?w=248 248w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" /> Elizabeth Cobbold, painted by George Frost (BBC)