There are hundreds of different presents that you can purchase for someone that you love for Valentine’s Day. Jewelry, roses, chocolates … even the list of standard Valentine’s presents is pretty long. But do these material things really tell someone that you care about them? Wouldn’t a handmade DIY-style gift be a lot more personal and show a lot more love?

I don’t know about you but I definitely feel like the experience of receiving a gift is made much more special when the gift is something that the giver took the time to think over creatively and to make by hand. It really doesn’t even matter to me what that gift is; the fact that someone would take the time out of his or her busy life to make something just for me says a lot about their love for me. And I take notice of that. It warms something in my heart.

In the spirit of that, here’s a look at 10 really cool projects that you can make for someone that you love along with links to the online instructions for making these gifts: 

It’s really easy to put together a small scrapbook of memories, quotes about love, Valentine’s Day recipes and photos. Each page or image should reflect things about the person that cause you to love them. Although this is easy to make, it’s something that everyone who receives one will really treasure.

This is something that you can make for any person that you love. In fact, it’s something that you might want to make for every person that you love at least once during their lifetime. It can be big or small. It can be filled with poems and stories or made up entirely of images. How you make it is entirely up to you.

But here are some links to follow for Valentine’s Day / Love scrapbook ideas:

• Fiskars I Love You Scrapbook Page
• Making Memories Scrapbook Page
• About.com Valentine's Scrapbooking Ideas
• I Love You Scrapbook Layout

This is a great “found object” DIY project. Take an old box. Cover it with beautiful, romantic found objects. Decorate it with paper and ephemera that reflect the loving sentiment behind the box. Then add quotations or small nostalgic love items to the inside of the box. Making something like this hardly has to cost you anything at all in terms of the materials that are required to make it but it will end up having a lot of value for the person that you love.

Instructions for making one type of love box can be found here.

You may not be there every single night for your loved ones to hold on to but that doesn’t mean that they can’t hug something warm when you’re not around. Make them a fuzzy heart shaped pillow to hang on to whenever they need to feel your love close to their own hearts. This project is fairly simple to complete but it will produce a special pillow that the people you love will probably really enjoy.

Instructions for making this pillow can be found here.

There are a lot of variations for making heart-shaped pillows to give as loving gifts. Here are three more:  

• How to Make a Heart Shaped Pillow with Lace Trim
• Valentine's Day Heart Painted Throw Pillow Covers
• Crochet Heart Pillow

Are you someone who likes to get just slightly risqué in the bedroom? If so then perhaps you might be interested in making this kind of DIY gift for the person that you want to get under the covers with. This particular example was made for sale on one San Francisco artist’s Etsy shop but it’s easy to make at home. You can basically do anything that you want with a gift like this. Head to the local adult store, pick up a pair or two of blindfolds and get creative with putting messages on to them. 

Think that you are someone who isn’t crafty enough to put together things like pillows and blindfolds for the person that you love? Perhaps you’re more tech-minded? If that’s the case, you could easily put together an LED Circuit that reads out the word “love”. The directions for this project are fairly simple for those people who don’t have problems with electronics. And the person who originally made this project says that it only takes about two hours to make so you can have a great little gift that shows you put some time into it without actually having to find a whole lot of time to spend. It’s a great twist on the typical homemade Valentine’s Day presents.

The instructions are here.  

Many people who think that they aren’t good at making DIY crafts may find that their area of do-it-yourself love gifts is the area that starts in the kitchen. Homemade fortune cookies are a really terrific Valentine’s Day present. They allow you to give something sweet (literally) to the person that you love while sending a message of love to them (also literally). Bake fortune cookies following one of the recipes below. For the fortunes, you’ll want to include anything that sends the message of love. Whether you phrase these in the style of a traditional fortune or just write quotes about love, the message will surely come through.

• How to Make a Fortune Cookie
• How to Make Fortune Cookies
• 9 Tips for Making Fortune Cookies 

This is a favorite little DIY project for people to give and receive on Valentine’s Day. Most people are familiar with it but the creativity lies in the specific coupons that you create. Basically you’re just putting together a coupon book of things that the recipient of the gift can cash in with you later. You might have coupons for a romantic bubble bath, a full body massage or a weekend trip. When making this type of gift, think about what types of things the person you’re giving it to will really want. This shows that you really know the person. Try to get creative in the design of the book itself. Every moment that you spend making this is a moment that expresses your love.

One example of instructions for this project is here 

Put your paper-folding talents to use creating little sexy origami creations that will provoke smiles and laughter from the people that you love. If you don’t want to get dirty then you can always revert to a sweeter style of Valentine’s origami. 

• Naughty Origami Models
• Naughty Origami Kit
• Make an Origami Valentine

Flowers are one of the most traditional gifts that you can give someone for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, they aren’t very original and don’t show a lot of thought for the person that you love. Instead of going with standard cut roses, why don’t you try making these cool junk box flowers instead?

Instructions can be found here. 

You don’t even necessarily have to make a gift in order to give the person that you love something really special for Valentine’s Day. A simple card may be all that’s needed to tell that person how much you love them. But don’t just go buy a card – get creative with making a card to show that you really put effort and time into this little gift. Below you’ll find the instructions for making a cute pop-up Valentine’s Card and a doily envelope to put it in. Of course, the real gift here is the gift of the love letter that you write on the card after you’ve made it!

• Valentine's Day Pop Up Card Directions
• Doily Envelope Directions