Most families these days just don’t have the time to spend hours decorating and creating for Valentines’s Day. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy making some love-filled crafts with your kids, though. Here are six quick and easy things that you can whip up with your children in no time at all.
1. Valentine Message Pouch
For this fun craft, all you need is a rectangle of white or red felt, 3″x6″, and two or three small hearts cut out of red, white, or pink felt. That and a needle and thread, plus some glue, are all you need to turn out a very cute little pouch that can hold some love messages
First, fold the rectangle in half. Sew up the sides with a whip-stitch and knot off at the top of each side. Next, use a hot glue gun or craft glue to add the hearts on the front. Tuck in a folded love letter and you have the perfect Valentine.
2. Sweet Hearts Frame
This craft requires a bag of those sweet candy hearts, glue, and a thrift store picture frame, the plainest you can find. Glue the hearts around the frame, overlapping some if you want to cover it completely. Add a photo of yourself and give it to your sweetheart!
3. Love Tin
You’ll need an empty mint tin and some pink or red spray paint for this craft, plus a permanent marker.
Spray the tin with paint until it is thoroughly covered and let dry. Draw little hearts with a permanent marker or write some romantic lines like, “Be Mine”. Fill it with mementos, candies, or love notes before giving it to your Valentine.
4. Tin Hearts
Use tin snips to cut open an empty soda can, remove the top and bottom, and cut the can from top to bottom so you can flatten it out. Use a hammer to smash it up a bit. Then cut out some hearts with pinking shears
Now all you need to do is paint your heart and use a nail to punch a hole through the top so it can be strung on a piece of yarn and hung up. Use a permanent marker to write your message of love on top of the dried paint.
5. Beaded Valentine’s Hearts
For smaller children, this is a simple craft that only requires a white pipe cleaner and a supply of pony beads in red, white, pink, or all three. Have the child push the beads onto the pipe cleaner until everything but a half inch on each end is covered. Twist the two ends tightly together and then shape the loop into a heart. A simple, yet special Valentine’s gift that is easy to make.
6. Lover’s Journal
This craft requires a hardcover notebook and either some Valentine-themed wrapping paper or a sheet of paper decorated with markers by your child. You will also need clear contact paper and glue.
Cut the decorative paper to just a bit larger than the book cover, front and back. Glue it down and let dry before trimming. Alternatively, you can fold the excess into the cover and glue it so it wraps around the edges.
Cut the contact paper so it is a quarter inch larger than the book and carefully press it down over the wrapping paper. Notch the corners and fold around the edges of the notebook cover. Press out any air bubbles and trim as needed. This can be given along with a nice pen as a cute gift.
Just because this overly hyped holiday is rapidly approaching doesn’t mean you need to spend too much time and money trying to come up with some gifts. Often simpler is better!