Fantastic craft idea to remind your Sweetheart how much you love them.

With Christmas focused on children and families, we tend to forget the most important people in our lives... our spouses.  I found this absolutely fantastic idea over at The Dating Divas where they show how to strengthen marriages "one date at a time".  

This wonderful idea will help remind your spouse how much you adore them. Twenty-five days of L.O.V.E. just for him/her!  I am going to show you Tara's original Countdown…and if you are SUPER busy…..there is a “quick” version that you can instantly download! 

Begin with a spool of cherry red ribbon, 25 clothespins, some removable clips that you can put on your walls….without ruining them.   They are pretty cheap and you can purchase them anywhere – like Walmart. Put stars next to the nights that are Fridays & Saturdays….since those were the nights that you should have time to either do a date night or stay up late.  Next to each number write one of three things:

• 
  
• A Compliment – something you LOVE about them {this made up 2/3 of the countdown}
• A Service – something you are going to do for them {this was 1/2 of the last 1/3 of the countdown}
• A FUN Christmas Activity – something you can go and do together….having to do with the season {this made up the remaining 1/2 of the last 1/3 of the countdown} 
• 
  
• Make sure that they were ALL mixed up.  BTW – don’t try to book every last weekend….things will come up, so make sure your schedule is flexible!  Also – THEY might secretly be planning fun things for you…so make sure to keep some of your weekend nights open.  I would let him/her know in advance what particular nights you have “set” plans…..just mark with a heart on those days on your family calendar & tell them that those are nights they should keep open.

Type up all of the different cards & scrapbook each one.  You can do them ALL in different themes/colors/sizes. 

Here are a few examples of the “Compliment” cards:

Make sure you take this opportunity to point out to your spouse ALL of the wonderful things that you love about them!  You can NEVER compliment a person too much!!  Let them know how much you adore their funny quirks…that only YOU know about!   Have fun reflecting on your years together and jotting down the things you love about them.

NEXT – the “Service” cards!

Here’s an example:

Think about things your spouse would REALLY enjoy…and then use those as your “service” cards!  For example, if your husband or wife LOVES back rubs, promise to give him/her an AMAZING backrub!  If they love food, tell them you would create ANY dessert they want.

You get my point, right?  Remember that December is going to be a CRAZY busy month for you…so don’t promise anything you can’t deliver on!   LAST but not least are the actual FUN Christmas activities that you will do together.  Keep them all a secret and use the cards as “teasers”.

Here are a few examples:

Some other activities planned were a Christmas “Movie-a-thon” -  watching FAVs while eating favorite Christmas treats, checking out the lights in the area, planning a night under the stars {camping out by the Christmas Tree}, going to the Festival of Trees with family, etc.  They don’t ALL have to be Christmas-related!  An entire night of Wii games. There are SO many fun Christmas things you can do together!  This is where you can also involve the whole family!  Have a “make a gingerbread house” night or decorate Christmas cookies or go caroling to your neighbors.  Just make sure they are all activities that they would enjoy!  THEN – you, of course, need to end the Countdown with a LOVE note!!

Now – if you are thinking….Are you crazy?!? When am I going to find time to scrapbook 25 cards?? No worries!  Find a pre-made cute Christmas notecard that you can download to use for YOUR cards. Just So Scrappy has super cute digiscrapbooking kits.  She created a FREE download that would be perfect for this countdown idea!

Click HERE to be sent to that post.  Just scroll all the way to the end of her post and the download is at the end.  You can place the card png image on a Word document and size it to be ANY size you would like!  I would suggest printing these on white cardstock….as they are in color.  Cut them out and if you would like to make them “pop”, adhere them to Christmas-colored paper.

Also type up the numbers #1-25 in your FAVORITE font….that you can download & cut apart. THEN – instead of putting your cards in an envelope, just flip them over and adhere the numbers on the back. Click HERE for that free printable. Voilà!  You are done!

Oh yeah….don’t forget to jot the actual “script” on each card!

Then put up the removeable hooks on your wall, string the festive ribbon along it, and clothespin the cards up.

Put it up the last day of November {well, it would be late this year}….before they get home from work.  Read one each morning for the entire month of December.

If you still have children at home, you can involve them by letting them “help” Daddy or Mommy read their card each morning.  You could make this countdown something for the whole family….but your spouse would be pretty touched if you did this JUST for them!!

...and look how decorative this is!