My Nerdy Valentine

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's day, except for the chocolate and the excuses to get crafty.  I also like getting stuff for the Tall Guy (who is the one getting me the chocolate) and coming up with some creative ideas.

Chocolates and Nightmare Before Christmas.  He knows the way to my heart.

I try to buy or make something he'll like, which often tends to be nerdy.  Last year, I made a card based on something I found on Pinterest.

Mario is Red, Sonic is Blue

Will you be my player 2?

It definitely took a while, but totally worth it.  Who wouldn't want a Nintendo valentine with Mario and Sonic?  I took out some fine-tip colored markers, printer paper, graph paper, and pictures of Mario and Sonic.  I'm nerdy enough to know that Mario is 8-bit and Sonic is 16-bit (originally), so each pixel for Mario would be four for Sonic.  Unfortunately, the squares were too big on the graph paper I had to do four squares for each Mario pixel, so I colored Sonic a quarter of a square at a time.  Each Mario pixel was one square and each Sonic pixel was 1/4 square.

Easy level

Hard Level

I sat at my computer staring at pictures to try to get it just right.  Of course, printing would be easier, but I was out of colored ink and too cheap to buy any.  Plus, as tough as it was, it was really fun.  The controllers were also pretty easy, but I had some difficulty drawing the wires in a heart shape.  Also, I used crayons, which worked, but pencils, pens, or fine-tip markers would have been easier.

Crayons: something every 20-something year old needs

He liked it, but he was definitely more excited about his cookie dough oreos.  Can't really blame him!

Valentine's Day Crochet Hearts with Lollipop Arrows

Holidays are big where I work and we're always finding excuses to bring in food and other things for everyone.  Mostly food.  For Valentine's Day last year, we decorated paper bags and anyone could fill them with treats.  It was a throwback to elementary school days of trading valentines with everyone in the class, but our parents weren't paying for it.  I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day, but I like candy and I love anything crafty and creative.  So, I came up with something to make it more fun.

Me embracing researching foreign laws too much

I'd love to say I came up with this craft+candy myself, and it's possible I did because after a lot of searching, I can't find anyone else who's done this.  I know that my initial inspiration was a pin on Pinterest showing crochet hearts.  Unfortunately, it was misleading and linked to an Etsy Shop instead of a pattern.  I looked around and found an amazing, free crochet heart pattern.  I had tried a few others in my search, but this one wasn't huge, was relatively fast to make, and came out actually looking like a heart.  I took some red yarn I had lying around, put my hook to work, and knocked out enough hearts for my coworkers and then some.

One of many.  The camera makes it look slightly less heart-shaped.

I liked it, but figured that a bunch of yarn in the shape of a heart wasn't the best gift, especially for the male coworkers.  Our team revolves around food, so I knew that was what was missing.  I wanted it all to go together, and finally thought of using something as an arrow through the heart.  It's a classic Cupid-inspired symbol of Valentine's Day.  Candy canes seemed too Christmasy and other treats wouldn't fit.  I even considered Smarties (which I can't have lying around or I will eat a whole bag in one sitting), but they didn't quite look right.  I either found it somewhere, or a lightbulb went off, but I realized dum-dum lollipops would be perfect!

Sweetest arrow in a heart I've ever seen

I got a valentines pack (which unfortunately only has 5 or so flavors...none of which are typically favorites in my experience) and started sliding them through the hearts.  I probably made 20 even though I only needed a dozen or so for work, and the whole thing took 4 or 5 hours spread out over a couple of days.  If you want to do this, it's not a total last-minute craft, unless you want to pull an all-nighter, but it doesn't take forever either.  This would be fun to do with kids too, especially if they're learning to crochet.  It's maybe a step above beginner and good for practicing counting, sc, dc, and hdc.

Finished pile

People loved them.  Some of the women even still have the hearts somewhere.  I can't complain about what I got in my treat bag either!

Nom nom nom

If you're looking for something a little different and handmade for Valentine's Day this year, this heart and arrow craft is great.  Maybe some people can even modify it and improve on my idea!

Have fun and happy early Valentine's Day!