Create a little romance this month with inexpensive paper doilies. Their pretty cutwork is just right for lending a touch of nostalgia to Valentine's Day.

Give flower seeds with little pots to your valentine. Use a rubber stamp to make hearts and sweet messages on the packets.

Even the ribbon and paper on a valentine present can say "I love you." Romantic poetry -- try Byron, Keats, or Shelley -- will provide words appropriate to your amorous circumstance.

Need a truly last-minute idea? Treat your sweetheart and whip up a warm cocktail topped with whipped cream.

Over the centuries, envelopes have contained many secrets and declarations of true love, so it's appropriate to use a group of them to store dear old letters and treasured notes -- or to fill them with trinkets for your valentine.

It only takes about 30 minutes to whip up these romantic treats.

Create beautiful candy cups with nothing more than plastic cups, crepe paper, and gold trim.

Make Shirley Temple-inspired cherry bombs with grenadine, citrus soda, and maraschino cherries for a nonalcoholic Valentine's Day cocktail.

This practical valentine befits your favorite bookworm.

A scattering of pink and red petals and a few wispy buds, positioned just so, summon a fleeting "I love you" moment. Choose a spot sure to meet your beau's or belle's gaze: in the entryway of your home, atop a table as an intimate prelude to dinner, or on a pillow. The silhouette is bound to elicit an endearing response.

For a valentine the entire family will love, stack family photos into playful wall art in the shape of a giant heart.

Flowers and candy are the touchstones of courtship and romance. But handing over a bouquet and a box of chocolates isn't the only way to show you're sweet on someone; combine both of these elements into a unique floral arrangement for your valentine.

Are you feeling soft-hearted this Valentine's Day? Reach for some marshmallows and transform them into confections of affection.

Hang strands of playful heart garlands around your home to celebrate this Valentine's Day.

On February 14, only one flower will do. It's not that a big bouquet isn't sublime, but a single genus best conveys a message of love: the rose, preferably in lush tones of red and pink.

The petals of these romantic flowers are overlapping paper hearts, inscribed with words or single letters that spell out a message. If you make them with wire stems, the valentines can be displayed in a vase; with ribbon stems, they can be tucked into envelopes.

This simple shortbread recipe is patted firmly into a baking pan; heart shapes are cut out with a cookie cutter.

Send a touching message with valentines traced from little hands.

These easy frames are as cheerful and humble as the illustrations they're meant for.

Snip candy hearts for an entire class in a snap.

Pipe sweet designs and messages onto store-bought chocolates.

With just a little TLC, colorful hearts flourish as the petals of a new flower variety -- one with a lollipop center and stem.

These chocolate cakes are easier to make than you think. They're the perfect valentine for chocolate lovers.

Secure a small satchel of Valentine's Day treats with this festive fastener.

These cupcakes bear hugs and kisses for a special someone -- or an entire classroom.

Use our easy technique to add a bit of sparkle to your Valentine's Day roses.

Warm someone up by adding a handwritten note to a tea bag.

Cut two hearts out of red construction paper using a heart-shaped crafter's hole punch (available at crafts stores). Use a metallic pen to write a short message on one of the hearts. Next, remove a tea-bag tag and, at the end of the string, affix two hearts, back-to-back, using double-sided tape or a stapler. Package bags to give as a present, or steep one in hot water and serve.

Friends will be aflutter over envelopes that turn into valentines. Cut a fat heart from paper that has a white side and a patterned side -- wrapping paper works well.

Make a romantic toast with an elegant cocktail made using red currant puree and Champagne.

Get your baby ready to fight the winter chill: a festive pilot's cap embellished with felt hearts helps keep tiny ears toasty.

Cut two large hearts from felt. Then use a needle and thread to stitch them to the cap at three points. If you want the decoration to be permanent, affix hearts with fabric glue before sewing.

Rosemary represents remembrance, so our shortbread cookies are sure to make a lasting impression.

The secret to capturing a heart is to use a button -- at least when the heart in question is made of felt. Create this no-sew decoration for Valentine's Day: Cut hearts from pink and red felt based on the size of a shirt's buttons (ours are cut from 1-inch squares). Fold each in half horizontally, and cut a vertical slit, or buttonhole, about the same size as the button. To wear, button up shirt, and then slip hearts over buttons.

You only need a few ingredients to make these heart-shaped cookies.

These easy-to-make envelopes don't hold your valentine cards -- they are the cards.

Surprise a loved one by hanging a heart-shaped container filled with candy on his doorknob or near his computer.

Use a cookie cutter to make regular brownies extra special.

A valentine of any age will enjoy the fun messages that this arrangement delivers. Pastel candy hearts proclaiming "class act" and "be true" and tulips in complementary colors, such as creamy 'Cheers,' pale-pink 'New Design,' and 'Apricot Beauty,' convey your feelings with more than words.

Crushed raspberries and mint syrup are shaken up with vodka and a splash of cranberry juice to make this red-hot cocktail.

A rose by any name smells sweet -- so why not create place cards decorated with blooms for a romantic dinner for two?

Fold a 3-by-8-inch piece of card stock in half, inscribe it with a name, and cut a small hole in the crease. Trim a rose stem to 2 1/2 inches; slide it through the hole. Place in a plastic floral tube.

Write a special message to your valentine on these simple-to-make cookies.

A mixed bouquet can be artfully rearranged among a dozen slender vases, freeing each bloom to flaunt its beauty. Much is made of long stems, but trimming them to staggered heights lets individual roses stand out.

Dress up the table with heart-shaped doilies made using colored paper napkins.

Use a simple folding technique to turn a single strip of paper into an open heart filled with sweet sentiments.

Leafy vegetables make great-tasting salads -- and sumptuous floral-shaped stamps, too.

Place heart-shaped cookie cutters inside a clear, round container and fill with multicolored candies for a unique presentation.

Say "I love you" with a fruity cocktail that combines raspberry with the traditional flavors of a cosmopolitan.

Wrapping for Valentine's Day doesn't have to be a frilly affair. Add a personal touch to standard white or brown paper boxes by placing your cookies in individual cupcake holders and tying them up with bright lengths of ribbon.

Kids can create this card by making signs out of construction paper, doilies, and adhesive letters from an office-supply store. Photograph your children holding the signs, then let them tape the pictures to construction paper and fold the card accordion-style.

Fill flattened cupcake liners with candy and let kids distribute to their friends. The liners' pleats nicely frame scrap-art pictures or paper hearts (we used scalloping scissors to trim some). A craft punch or paper flowers can make cute borders.

Customize your significant other's morning eye-opener with a valentine traced in frothed milk.

Filled with grenadine, Cointreau, brandy, and raspberries, this Champagne punch has "Valentine's Day" written all over it.