valentine flower - Ideas for crafty, sugar-free classroom valentines

Every year when Feb. 14 rolls around, I feel like the biggest Scrooge (or at least his Valentine's Day equivalent valentine flower). It's only six weeks after the holiday tsunami of sweet treats, and I've usually just gotten my children back to the point where they'll accept apple slices as a snack. Another wave of candy, cookies and cupcakes sends me into fits.
But as the mom of two school-age children, I certainly won't deny them the fun of exchanging valentines with their classmates. It might have been three decades ago that I was decorating a cardboard "mailbox" for my cards, but I still remember the anticipation. And I also remember how much fun it was to get a little "something" in that box, instead of just a stack of cards featuring cartoon characters and bad puns.
So with Cupid's big day approaching, I went on a search for some cute, easy ideas for the school valentine flower exchange - ideas that featured a little "something," as long as that something wasn't candy. As usual, the wide world of craft and family blogs turned up a huge number of ideas.