No matter how many times I say Valentine’s Day is silly and I plan to ignore it this year because my service member isn’t available, a secret part of me is still sad. My husband proposed to me the day after our first Valentine’s together, and no matter what I tell myself it’s always going to be a special time.
I’m probably not the only one who feels this way about Valentine’s Day. I have plenty of friends this year dealing with Valentine’s Day on their own. I know they are telling themselves that it’s not a big deal and it’s just a dumb greeting card holiday – but the day will still be hard, anyway.
That’s why I created this tutorial with Valentine's Day care package ideas for friends. When someone we know is having a hard time, we want to hold them up and love them through it. Because that’s just what military spouses do.
How to create a Valentine's Day care package for a friend:
1. Gather your supplies. I wanted to create a care package with a cozy comfort theme, so I shopped for things that struck me as soothing. Since it’s Valentine’s Day and I’m not above clichés, I also wanted to include plenty of chocolate, something alcohol-related and lots of pink and red. Here’s what I ended up with:
-- "You’ve Got Mail." Can you believe it’s been more than 15 years since You’ve Got Mail was released? Yet this is still one of my all time favorite chick flicks. I think everyone should own a copy. When I’m having a really hard day I like to take a breather with this movie.
-- A giant mug and gourmet hot chocolate. Because you can’t watch a cozy movie like You’ve Got Mail without drinking something cozy, too.
-- Something with alcohol. Since I’m shipping this USPS I couldn’t include actual alcohol. But I could include cabaret chocolates. And so I did.
-- Something that smells amazing. I like to include a nice smelling candle in packages like these. But when I was shopping for one I came across that darling bird figurine instead. Inside the bird is a cinnamon scented sachet.
-- Something for the bath. I love hot baths after (or even in the middle of) hard days. This sugar scrub should be enough to inspire my friend into one for herself.
-- Chocolate. It’s Valentine’s Day. Need I say more?
2. Decorate your box. I decided to use the colored duck tape box decorating method again since it really livens up the inside of the box without a ton of effort.
You can read more about how to do it here.
I then cut two pieces of pink card stock nabbed at Hobby Lobby into 10x4 strips, and secured them to the box using double-sided tape.
Next, I dug out these adorable Valentine’s Day stickers that I found some months ago on clearance at Hobby Lobby and did my worst to the flaps of the box.
Cute, huh?
3. Pack your goodies. With my box looking great, I took a few minutes to cutsie-up my gifts.
Next, I made sure to bubble wrap the breakables.
And since bubble wrap is ugly as sin, I also wrapped each in some tissue paper. After wedging all of my items in the box, I tossed loose chocolate on top.
And then covered the whole thing with more colored tissue paper.
That’s it! This Valentine’s Day care package for a friend should be just the thing to add a little friendly happy to an otherwise not so fun solo deployment day.
What do you like to include in a Valentine's Day care package for a friend?
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