Around here February is not only the month of Valentine's Day, it is also the month of my husband and my youngest daughter's birthdays. It is a busy month. Sometimes Valentine's Day can get a little lost in the excitement of birthdays. 
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Yes, we create a Valentine's Day meal, but I wanted to do more. So I set to work making a simple, reusable Valentine's Day countdown calendar. Much like a Christmas advent calendar. I gathered together a few materials, a little time and some chocolate treats and we had a fun way to celebrate the days leading up to Valentine's Day.
Valentine's Day Countdown Calendar
12" x 28" piece of white denim
heart shaped cookie cutter
pink, red, white felt sheets
red and white thread
white ribbon
stick
To make the countdown calendar, start with a piece of sturdy fabric, we used white denim. Hem the piece, with red thread, to be 11 ½ inches wide by 25 inches long. Sew a channel in the top of the panel, the channel is where the stick will be inserted, to hang the calendar on the wall. 
After sewing the panel, cut 14 hearts from the pink and red felt. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter as a guide. Cut out the word "LOVE" from the red and pink felt. Once the hearts are cut out, now cut out the numbers 1 thru 14 from white felt. I cut the numbers free hand. If you aren't comfortable with free hand, find your favourite font in your word processing software. Print the numbers at the size that fits on the hearts. Cut out the numbers and use them as a stencil on the white felt. 
After all the felt pieces are cut, sew the numbers onto the hearts by hand. Use a simple straight stitch. When the numbers are all sewn on, pin the hearts in place on the denim and sew them in place...leaving the top of each heart open...creating little pockets.
When the hearts and the word "LOVE" were sewn on, slip the stick into the channel at the top of the panel, tie a piece of ribbon to either end of the stick and and hang the calendar on a clear push pin on the wall.
Now, the fun part...filling the daily hearts. Our local chocolate shop had these super cute chocolate cupids and hearts, they were perfect. I also printed off our Valentine's Day jokes printable. Each heart has a joke and a couple of chocolates tucked inside.
So, how long did it take me to make this? Well, I'm a busy mom so while I would like to say it took "an afternoon" - it took a few afternoons. In my defence, I was been sewing this in secret...I didn't want my girls to see it until it was completely done. It would have been much quicker if I had done it all at once. The bottom line is I have made a sweet Valentine decoration that we can use for years to come...worth every minute of work.
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