Secret Cupids: A Valentine’s Day Family Tradition

Secret Cupids is a beloved family tradition that we do each February leading up to Valentine’s Day.  You are going to love it!

I love Valentine’s Day, guys.  Like, LOVE it.  Yes, I love my kind and jolly man and I love that he (usually) remembers to get me flowers that day. 😉 But, to me, Valentine’s Day is really not about that.  In my mind Valentine’s Day is a family affair, just like all other holidays.  And the reason for that is my mom.  My mom made each and every holiday such a joyous celebration.  She made up family traditions and always had a ball with us doing them, even during the years when she was suffering from breast cancer.  She was simply the BEST.  I have written before about her Christmas ornament traditions, and last year I shared one of her Valentine’s Day traditions: Heart Attacks!  Both are simple to execute, but very meaningful.  My sweet mama, Sally Westover, passed away ten years ago, which was far too young, but my sisters and I have carried on her traditions in an effort to remember her.  Today I am sharing with you my very favorite Sally Westover family tradition: SECRET CUPIDS!

I can’t wait to tell you all about this tradition.  I will be illustrating it for you with some super classy, very unprofessional pictures and handwritten notes from a past year.  This is how we have always done it.  For the purposes of this post, I decided to make cute printables that you could print out and use for your family, but they are really just a little cutesy icing on the cake.  I have been an active Secret Cupid each February for about 20 years or so, and this will be the first year I use cutesy printables.  They are fun, but not necessary.  This is a very low-stress family tradition, which is part of the reason that I love it.  It does take a bit of planning on Mom (or Dad’s!) part to get the “SC Store” ready, but all you really have to do is hit up the dollar store and then lay things out in your room.  Let’s look closer.

This tradition starts one week prior to Valentine’s Day.  Start by writing down each name of your family members.  You can use some rad kiss post-it marks like the ones that I found in my little sister’s old dresser (we live with my widower dad in my childhood some—saving some dough) or you can use the cutesy printables that I share at the bottom of this post.

Last year was the first time that this little cutie really understood what we were doing with this tradition.  He was pretty pumped!  Next give everyone a brown paper bag and some fake money to use to “shop” in the “SC Store.”  Since my son was so little I decided to just lay things on the floor in rows and write down how many of each he could take (and obviously I went “shopping” with him and told him what to take).  My mom always gave us “SC Bucks” and had each item labeled by “price” and we just picked and chose.  You can do it however you would like, but I do have a printable for $1 and $5 SC Bucks at the bottom of the post.  Each person goes into the SC Store on their own and sneakily shops, unless of course the kids are super little and need a little bit of help.

Can you feel the excitement?  I can.  🙂  Love this boy!  STOP GROWING UP SO FAST!!!!!  Anyway….

From this point onward Secret Cupids is a very simple family tradition to execute.  Quite simply, each day everyone leaves a little gift and note for the person whose name they drew.  Here is an example from my dad, who drew my son’s name.  He has some pretty fantastic handwriting, dontcha think?  😉

At the end of the week (on Valentine’s Day) you get together for a fun family night and get to guess who your Secret Cupid was and reveal the truth.  We always had a ball trying to be detectives and figure it out when we were growing up.  Obviously, last year it was super simple to figure out, but we pretended we were clueless for my super excited three-year-old’s sake.  I just love little kids.  The world is SO exciting in their eyes!

That’s it, my friends.  Secret Cupids.  I just LOVE it.  My sisters and I even did it before we had kids.  We would just hit the dollar store with our husbands and a spending limit and each grab some little things to hide throughout the week for one another. One year in college I even did it for my boyfriend.  Gee, that was a great mystery for him.  Haha.  It wasn’t, but it was really fun for him to find surprises every day and to know that I cared about him.  This is a tradition that works for anyone that you love, regardless of your family setup!  Now let’s take a look at those printables, shall we?

Here is a peek at the free printables that I have created for you (and me!) to use if you decide to try out Secret Cupids as a family.  If you want them in full form I will link them below.  I have also made available a blank version of the Secret Cupid Notes page in case these are too silly, girly, or lame for you.  😉

Download the full version of these free printables here:
Secret Cupid Name Drawings
$1 SC Bucks
$5 SC Bucks
Secret Cupid Notes
Secret Cupid Notes BLANK

Here are a few fun Valentine’s Day goodies that I spotted which would be great for your Secret Cupid store (affiliate links): Valentine’s Day pencils, Valentine’s Day stickers, chunky toddler/kid heart jewelry, and Valentine’s Day children’s books.

UPDATED 2/9/16: Here are a few pictures from the day we made Secret Cupid bags and Valentines last year.  I love doing this year after year and seeing my kiddos look forward to it as February approaches each year!

Let me know if you try out my favorite family tradition!  I would love to know that my mama’s genius lives on and is blessing other families!  Have a lovely day!

 If you enjoyed this post then you make also enjoy the following posts:

Heart Attack: A Valentine’s Day Tradition

2 Ingredient Colorful Magic Shell Recipe

How to Set Up a Valentine’s Day Photo Shoot

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Sarah Westover McKenna

Sarah is the scattered creative mind behind Bombshell Bling. A former elementary school teacher and a current stay-at-home mom, she loves developing her creativity through her blog and her jewelry design business, Bombshell Bling Jewelry. Sarah is a lover of all things vintage, colorful, and BLING. She is also a sweets addict with a major obsession with s'mores.

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