“Don’t break my heart and leave me nowhere to park,” said one of the notes, written in black marker on a large piece of pink construction paper.

So on Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, instead of placing an old chair or an orange cone on the ground to claim her territory, the 32-year-old teacher painted red hearts in the mounds of snow and put out festive notes for anyone who might try to squeeze into the spot she spent all weekend clearing out.

Valerie Kelly wanted to take a more positive approach to saving her shoveled-out parking space in South Boston.

The other said, “Grab a treat and continue down the street,” a prompt for space-stealers to take from the bowl of candy she had left out.


She also strung little glittery hearts in the snowand placed a bag with a heart on it in the spot.

“I’m a teacher, so I tend to get a little festive,” Kelly said, adding that she made a similar sign after Christmas two years ago, when the city was walloped by consecutive storms.

“Basically, I thought it would be a fun spin to a Southie tradition,” she said. “I was hoping it would make people laugh as they drove by.”

Kelly’s approach is a far cry from the truculent notes that are sometimes left on top of space savers, warning people to steer clear or risk having their tires slashed or their car keyed.

Vandalism has been a problem in the past in some Boston neighborhoods as motorists scramble to find places to put their vehicles following particularly heavy winter storms.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh last week announced that space savers could be used for 48 hours following a snow emergency, but he said any resident who resorted to writing a nasty note would face consequences — and lose space-saving privileges.


“If we see these signs up there, I will instruct public works to pick up the space saver and throw them in the truck. We are not going to be threatening people,’’ Walsh said during a press conference after last week’s storm. “Respect each other.’’

Kelly said her friendly space-saving notes were a mere coincidence, and she was unaware of Walsh’s edict.

A picture of Kelly’s setup on F Street was shared on a Facebook page for South Boston residents, and it received a lot of positive attention.

“Love it,” one person wrote.

“How sweet is that!” another said.

A snow emergency is no longer in effect, and Kelly doesn’t expect people to leave her spot free. But she said that’s fine. All she was trying to do was bring some joy to an otherwise dreary winter season.

“I love holidays and being festive so I just rolled that into a spot-saver theme. I’m only half expecting my spot to be there when I get home but I am glad it is making people smile,” she said.

Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.