If you’re looking for an easy gift idea for this Valentine’s Day to express how much you care for a friend, family member or partner, here’s one suggestion: take something small and sentimental and turn it into art.

That’s what I did for one Christmas gift to Daniel this past holiday, but it’s an idea that can work for any gift at any time for someone you care about.

We still had the matches from the restaurant we went to on our first date in 2010: 7A, a former staple in the East Village in New York until it closed almost a decade ago. Daniel had kept these matches from that date (in general, we always keep matchboxes from restaurants and bars we go to and use them to light candles at home). In going through our bag of matches a couple of years ago, I saw this set and pulled them aside for safe keeping.

For this past Christmas, I ordered a small, double-sided glass hanging frame (this one), unfolded the matchbox, removed the matches so the matchbox could lay flat, and closed it up.

Now this simple matchbox is a piece of art and made a sweet little easy gift that, dare I say, produced a tear!