Easy, Affordable and Personal Valentine Day Cards

I HEART Costco. 

They are genius.  Somehow they have managed to mix low cost and high quality together, and they deliver just that.  Plus, they are awesome with their return policies.  One shopping trip I bought Tangled, the movie, and the DVD didn't make it home.  I honestly didn't know if I left it in the cart in the parking lot or if the cashier forgot to put it into my cart at checkout, but it was paid for on my receipt.  I went right back to the return counter and explained just that--I wasn't sure what happened and it could have very well been my fault.  Without hesitating, they gave me another copy and said, "Have a nice day!"  That, folks, is a lost art at stores these days.

Anyway, I digress.  Last year, we made homemade scrapbook type Valentine cards with a cute photo of the boys to mail to relatives.  It took a long time, but it was affordable and cute.  This year I don't have that much time, but I still wanted a cute, original, and AFFORDABLE Valentine card to send to our hundreds of relatives (I exaggerate, but we have a lot of family!).  If there ever is a time to send snail mail and put a stamp on an envelope, it is Valentine's Day. 

Costco to the rescue!  For $7.99, you can design a greeting card and get 10 copies, along with pre-printed return address envelopes.  Seriously, that is the cost of 2-3 cards at the Hallmark store these days.  If you have more to send, you can do the greeting cards people send at Christmas, but with Valentine trim and wording.  They are 50 for about $15.00.  They come with unprinted envelopes.  All you need to have is a Costco membership.

Here is our creation. 

My 5 year old decided to be uncooperative and would not allow his brother to hug or kiss him.  He held out his arm, winced, moaned and tried in every way to ruin the photo session.  I finally got the ONE shot of my 2 year old sneaking a kiss, but I had a mess of all the other photos.

So, I decided to just roll with it.  I added a little bit of humor to the card.

The kids punched out hearts and glued them to the inside.  On the other inside page, we will sign a little personal message.

I love the fact that you can add a little message and picture on the back of the card too!  Fun!

So, if you don't want to go spend $3-5 dollars on an impersonal card at the store, try Costco!  Oh, and I am getting no money or endorsement for promoting them.  I just like Costco.  : ) 

Happy card creating!