Procrastinating Moms of the World, unite! If you’re like me, you’ll be spending at least part of this weekend baking (or shopping) for Monday’s Valentine’s Day parties, and helping kids to assemble their cards. Of course, the cards must include candy, and of course we get “bonus” points if they’re crafty. So here are three ways to make Valentine’s Day cards with candy “pockets” (and if you scrap or do anything crafty, you already have everything you need).

I used card stock, patterned papers, ribbon scraps, twine, a hole punch, white glue, and decorative scissors. Oh, and I used these Valentine patterns (which is a PDF you are free to print and use, but not to resell). The finished Valentines end up being about 5 1/2″ wide and 5″ tall, but if you’d like to make them smaller you may want to scale down the PDF when you go to print it.

Print the patterns onto card stock and cut them out to use as templates. For the Lace-Up Valentine, cut out pattern pieces A and C (I cut out both in card stock). Place pattern C over A, lining up the points at the bottom of the heart, and use your hole punch to make holes around the sides about every 1/2″. Punch through both layers along the outside edge, then pull the top piece (C) off and punch holes along the middle (this is where the bow will be tied). Piece C will have holes punched all around the outside edge.

Cut a piece of ribbon or twine (I used Caribbean twine from The Twinery) and begin threading through the holes starting in the middle of piece C. When you reach the outside edge of the heart, place piece A beneath and continue to thread in and out through both sets of punched holes, stitching them together. Work your way around the heart’s point and back up to the front edge, then thread across to meet the other end of the twine and tie a bow. Snip the extra twine and you’re done!

The Two Hearts Valentine is even easier. Cut out a large heart (Pattern A) in card stock and a small heart (Pattern B) in a patterned paper. Add whatever embellishments you’d like to the small heart (I punched two holes near the top, slipped a ribbon through and tied a bow), then put a bead of white glue along the edge, leaving the top open to tuck in the candy. Center the tiny heart on the larger one and glue it, then use a pair of decorative scissors to deckle the outer edges of the Valentine.

The Frilly Valentine uses the same pattern pieces as the lace-up, with Pattern A cut out of card stock and C cut from a decorative paper. Before you assemble, use your deckle scissors or a decorative punch tool to decorate the top edge of Pattern piece C. Then glue all around the outside edges, leaving the center open to tuck in your goodies. Decorate the top of the Valentine with a bow or flower and you’re done!

Now all that’s left is to address them (you can add the To and From to the front or to the back side of each Valentine) and tuck in candy, lollipops, stickers, or whatever other surprises you’d like.

These are very simple ideas, but I’m sure you can think of lots more creative ways to decorate and embellish these last-minute Valentines! Happy Valentine’s Day!