Love is in the air, and there are plenty of easy ways to make February 14 extra special for you and your loved ones this year. From homemade valentines to chocolate-covered strawberries, here are six great DIY Valentine's Day ideas to try.

  1. Heart Garland

  2. All you need to adorn your fireplace mantel with homemade heart garland is paper, a heart-shaped paper punch (or scissors), tacky glue, and string. Start by cutting out paper hearts in the size of your choice and adhering them to the string in matching intervals. When you're done, hang the garland on your fireplace. You can use traditional red or pink paper, a less traditional shade, or a different material like newspaper—feel free to get creative.

  3. Stained-Glass Window Hearts

  4. If you have wax paper, old crayons, a pencil sharpener, an iron, and some fishing line or thread, you have everything you need to make a fun Valentine's Day craft at home. Use the pencil sharpener to make shavings from the old crayons, and then spread them out between two sheets of wax paper. Layer old fabric or thin towels below and on top of the wax paper, and use an iron to gently warm the crayons enough for them to melt. Once the paper cools, cut out the hearts and string them on fishing twine or thread before hanging them in your windows.

  5. Homemade Valentines

  6. Who says homemade valentines are only for elementary school? Pull out the construction paper, scissors, and glue, and start crafting. Whether you help your kids make cards for family members, or you create a few homemade notes for your own friends, there's always something special about a DIY Valentine's Day note.

  7. Heart-Shaped Eats

  8. Enjoy fun Valentine's Day goodies by taking some of your favorite foods and shaping them into hearts. Whether you shape pizza crust into a heart shape before baking it, cut sandwiches into hearts with a big cookie cutter, or slice brownies into hearts straight out of the pan, simply going with a heart theme can make your meal appropriate for Valentine's Day.

  9. Pink Drinks

  10. Surprise your kids Valentine's Day morning with red or pink smoothies, or start a romantic dinner. When drinks are pink, they're a little more fun and festive.

  11. Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

  12. Dip fresh strawberries in melted chocolate or fondue and set them on parchment-lined plates or baking sheets to cool in the fridge. This super simple dessert feels wonderfully decadent, which makes it the perfect Valentine's Day treat.

There's no end to the ways you can carry out a Valentine's Day theme. To go even further than the six ideas above, try wearing red and pink clothes or sewing red felt hearts onto matching T-shirts. Turn on romantic music for the day or watch a romantic movie at home for a cozy date night. The bottom line is that when you decide to DIY your Valentine's Day celebrations, you have a lot of opportunities to make the day fun.