Valentine's Day Paper Crafts

I don't usually go crazy over Valentine's Day gifts.  However, this year I am on vacation with my husband and his family, so I decided to make a little gift for everyone.  Thankfully, I thought of this before we left, so it gave me time to make sure it fit the following criteria:

• The items would have to be small since it needed to fit in my luggage, which was already overflowing with my daughter's stuff as well as mine.
• The item had to be able to withstand the cold of flying, and the heat of the tropics - chocolate was OUT.
• It had to be simple and appropriate for both males and females ranging from mid-20s to mid-50s

While I searched for fun Valentine crafts that weren't too cheesy or over-involved, I ran across this tutorial for crocheted hearts:

http://saltforthespirit.blogspot.com/2009/02/itty-bitty-crochet-heart-tutorial.html

I quickly whipped up five little hearts in some pink crochet thread:

They were cute, but obviously I was looking for a little something more.  I started looking around on Pinterest and found a pin filled with cute boxes folded out of craft paper.  After a quick internet search, I came across a box that was simple enough for a beginner to make, but still somewhat fancy.  Sadly I lost the link, otherwise I would post it.  I could then fill the boxes with those conversation hearts which are a lot harder to melt than chocolate!  (The best part?  Walmart had a five pack for just a dollar!)

First I printed and cut out the template from the internet.  I picked a few fun sheets of craft paper and traced the outline on the back:

After cutting them out, I tried my hand at "scoring" the backs so that they folded neater.  However, this pattern was simple enough I probably could have just used a straight edge to fold them.

And here is the final result!

The best part is, I was able to flatten the boxes down and tuck them in a book to be assembled once we arrive!