Trivial Pursuits - Valentine's Day gift ideas

We’ve just celebrated St Dwynwen's Day* in Wales (the patron saint of Welsh Lovers) and with St Valentine’s Day just around the corner, thoughts have turned to some creative ideas you can make at home.

I've made a few of these as wedding gifts for friends in the past and although it takes a little time to line them up, they work rather well.  It's worth investing in a heart shaped paper punch to ensure the shape and size of each heart is identical and I've used good quality wedding wrapping paper to create most of the hearts.  
Interspersed I've added printed hearts celebrating the occasion and included names, date and place of the wedding together with other significant details or quotes.
There's a neat tutorial by someone else here.  I must do my own tutorial some day too.

Another really easy version could be something like this. Especially if you can find part of a map with particular significance.

For simple but effective garlands, check this tutorial out. Again, perfect for weddings and other romantic celebrations but cute and inexpensive if you want to make a bit of an effort over a romantic dinner at home.

And these are a great alternative and could easily be adapted for birthdays. I love the circular version with greetings on it. Check out the tutorial here.

www.cobwebknits.co.uk

*Here's St Dwynwen's story.

The story goes the Dwynwen was the prettiest of Welsh king Brychan Brycheiniog's twenty-four daughters. She fell in love with a man named Maelon Dafodrill, but her father had already  arranged for her to marry someone else. Distraught, Dwynwen prayed to God and asked for help in forgetting Maelon. An angel visited her in her sleep and gave her a potion to erase her memory of feelings for Maelon and turn him into a block of ice.  With each of her dreams coming true, Dwynwen devoted her life to God; she set up a convent on the island of Llanddwyn, off the coast of Anglesey. The remains of the church can still be seen on the island, along with Dwynwen's well.

It's believed the well is home to sacred fish who can predict whether couples relationships will succeed; if the fish are seen to be active when visiting the well, it was seen as a sign of a faithful husband.  God offered Dwynwen three wishes. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed, the second that God should meet the needs of all lovers and the third that she should never marry.  The well has since become a place of pilgrimage for young Welsh lovers since Dwynwen's death in the 5th century.