I love Valentine’s Day in an elementary school. Kids don’t seem to get struck by  Cupid’s arrow so much as they playfully raid the quiver. They seem to put more thoughtful thought and effortless effort into this day. You can almost see the wheels turning in their little heads determining which is more romantic in a third grade world -- SpongeBob or Spiderman? Who gets the little Necco sweetheart that says, “Awesome” and who is deemed “My Sweet?”

This year, instead of searching amid the crowded holiday aisle selecting boxes of Valentines that we always have to buy double of what we need because there are 25 in the class, not 24, leaving us a net waste of 23 extra Scooby-Doo’s saying, “Ruv Roo Valentine!”… we made our own.

We downloaded (for free!) HP's Creative Studio templates for kids' Valentine’s and finger puppets for my daughter’s preschool class. For my third grader, we used the candy bar labels (look for it under Valentine Treat Bags) and he was able to print out personalized labels for his classmates. (And the Hershey bars were on sale at Publix …)

They both really got a kick out of the projects, and we all saved time, money and hassle by doing it ourselves.

And I think those arrows take better aim when they’re made from paper and crayon anyway.

-- Tracey Henry, Suburban Diva

[Photo: Fabulous candy wrappers and stickers from the Suburban Diva and her kids]