Printable Valentine Cards

This year as Valentine's Day quickly approaches I decided that I wanted to design some little printable Valentine cards. I especially wanted to make some that could have a little non-candy treat attached.

Ever since my daughter's Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis last year I have been a lot more conscious of giving out candy. Not that candy in any way contributes to Type 1, it has nothing to do with eating candy and I don't want to encourage that myth. But, what it does change is the fact that my daughter can't just sit and eat a bunch of candy like other kids can. She has to decided exactly which candies she wants to eat and then we have to figure out the carbs for each piece and give her a shot of enough insulin to cover the carbs. You throw in other issues like food allergies and sensitivities in just about any classroom and having a non food option just makes sense.

I first got the idea when I was walking through the seasonal section of Walmart and I saw some big packs of Valentine's themed lip balm, as well as some that had characters, like Paw Patrol and Marvel. I thought they would be cute to include with a valentine.

I walked around the aisles to find a few other things I thought would be cute and ended up with some ring shaped erasers, some colorful crayons, and some little spiky balls.

I made 4 different Valentine cards, 1 to go with each item. Here are the 4 designs along with some alternate ideas of what you could include with them, including some candy ideas.

1-You're the Balm

This one I made specifically with the lip balm in mind and truthfully, I'm not sure what else you could include in place of it, any lip balm, chapstick, or lip gloss would work though.

2- You Color My World

For this valentine I chose these heart crayons that I found in the Valentine section of Walmart. Other things you could use instead include:

• any kind of crayons, even just a couple regular crayons
• markers or colored pencils would work too
• anything with rainbows or rainbow colored, I saw cute little rainbow shaped erasers that would be fun
• Skittles 
• for a little larger gift you could pair it with a coloring book

3- You're a Gem

For the gem valentines I picked up erasers shaped like a big diamond ring. Other fun alternatives include:

• play jewelry, rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc. 
• ring pops
• sparkly stickers

4- Have a Ball

For this one I chose to use little spiky plastic balls that I found a big pack of in the Valentine section at Walmart. They were only a couple dollars for a pack of 24. You could also use:

• any kind of little small balls, bouncy balls, squishy foam balls, tacky sack type balls, etc. 
• Anything sports themed, toys with basketballs, footballs, volleyballs, etc.
• gumballs
• other round, ball shaped candies like sixlets or whoppers 

You can download the printable valentines by clicking the links below, each one prints 4 to a page

You're the Balm Valentine

You Color my World Valentine

You're a Gem Valentine

Have a Ball Valentine