Hey, free cards!

You did it again, didn’t you?

You waited too long to get Valentine’s Day cards for your child’s class (or you just couldn’t bring yourself to spend the money on them) and now the selection at the local Target or Wal-Mart is picked over, with nothing but last year’s Ben 10 and Dora The Explorer remaining.

Don’t worry! Your day, and wallet, is about to be saved!

All of this comes with the added bonus of making your kid (and I don’t exaggerate here) about 10 million times cooler than all the rest during the annual Valentine’s shoebox-stuffing at school.

Since I am admittedly addicted to printable downloads, my daughter and I usually go surfing for the coolest cards to give to friends each year for the cost of a couple of sheets of cardstock (which I usually already have on hand) and some printer ink.

Here are the links to are couple of most awesome ones we found….yes, legally:

Star Wars

Always popular with the younglings, these free printable cards from A Grand Life include characters from both the original trilogy and more recent movies like The Last Jedi, with adorable phrases like, “You R2 Cool!” These are the Valentine’s you’re looking for.

Nightmare Before Christmas

It’s Halloween meets Christmas meets Valentine’s Day! Complete with embellishments of one of my favorite styles to doodle, the Burton Curl.  Disney Family releases free printable Valentine’s cards each year, and though not all of them geek worthy, the addition of Jack and Sally is great for a little goth-lite.  Other cool styles they have include Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” and The Muppets, including ANIMALLLL!!!

Kawaii Ninjas

It’s never too early to get your child into the ancient traditions of those cuddly-yet-deadly Ninjas.  Joy Charde  (the artist behind CreativeMamma.com) has put out a sheet of peppy little Ninjas out through Craftzine ready for both love and mortal combat. My two-year-old will be taking these to her first Valentine exchange to subtly let everyone know she’s got their backs…yet she is not to be trifled with.

Angry Birds

Love them or hate them, these little PO’ed pig-hating peeps aren’t falling out of the sky of popularity quite yet, if my daughter’s tell-tale high scores on her Nook are any indication. Confound it, she’s supposed to be READING on that thing. But I digress. Angry Birds + Valentines = instant coolness among peers, and who am I to fight this tide.  FYI: These valentines are actually e-cards available via Android if you have their seasonal “Hogs and Kisses” expansion, but the examples are easily printable and ready to hand out. Gamezplay has some good images as well as several other fan sites.

Dark Horse Comics

Teenagers wanting to give their friends a Valentine’s wish without wanting to be “tooooo friendly” can use some free cards featuring characters like “Hellboy,” “Goon” and  “Usagi Yojimbo” courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. These came out last year, but are still available for download…and well worth every penny.

Teen/Adult Bonus: Zombies

If what you hate most about Valentine’s Day is the saccharine nature of it, add a little brains to your sugar for several examples of printable zombie-themed cards from cartoony to gore-infested. Even those who hate the zombie craze can’t resist seeing the face on that uptight loved-one who receives a card that says “I want your brain but I’ll settle for your heart.”