Valentine's Day is an especially fun day to craft with kids, because there are so many fun crafts that turn out so well.
1. For an extra special-valentine, or a heart wall decoration, try our tissue paper hearts.
Just use a sturdy cardstock, for a card, or heavier paper for a wallhanging. Draw a heart the size you want the finished piece to be. For a wall-hanging, cut the heart out. Now, draw a smaller heart inside the first one, making a border between the two hearts.
Cut up tissue paper into small squares. You will need two colors. You can get a very nice effect by using white squares for either the inside or the border, and the other color being pink or red.
Coat the inside heart (or a section of it if your design is large) with white school glue. Have children place a square of tissue paper over the eraser tip of a pencil, give the paper a slight twist up over the pencil, and use the pencil to press the paper into the glue. Younger children might be able to more easily just use their fingers to press the paper into the glue. Continue until the area is filled in, and then do the same with the border heart in the other color.
This will make a very special (though bulky!) Valentine card. Or you can add a hanger for a wall-hanging.
2. Heart gift boxes
Purchase paper-mache heart-shaped boxes at a discount store or craft store. Let children paint them in red, pink, white, purple, or other appropriate colors. Almost anything goes after that ... they can glue on silk flowers, ribbons, a lace border, buttons, paper doilies, small heart decorations, paint hearts or polka-dots all over the box, write a message on it, attach a photo inside or outside, apply stickers, or whatever else their imagination and your craft cupboard allows. These can become any style the child wishes, from romantic and elegant to funky.
Use these as a gift themselves, or better yet, fill them with wrapped sweets, bath luxuries, buttons or beads, flower seed packets, extra photos, personalized "coupons" (like "good for one hug anytime"), or whatever else would be appreciated by your recipient.
3. Salt dough magnets
These magnets are fun to make and would also make nice gifts, either as magnets or by punching a hole in the salt dough before baking, adding a personalized message, and threading it on a cord to give as a necklace or ornament.
Salt dough recipe: Mix 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of water, and 1 cup of flour until dough consistency is reached. Knead on a floured surface. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle just a little flour and work it in.
Roll dough out 1/4" thick on a floured surface with floured rolling pin.
Use heart-shaped cookie cutters to cut hearts. You may also cut them out freehand with a butter knife.
Make any special effects you like before baking, such as layering hearts on top of one another, forming groups of hearts, adding tiny balls of dough for 3-d polka dots, adding texture, or punching holes for hanging.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
The hearts are ready to paint with acrylic paints. You can write messages on them using a very fine brush or a toothpick, etc.
Spray with acrylic sealer if desired.
You can now thread them onto a cord for necklaces or ornaments, hot glue a magnet or pin-back onto the back (parents should handle the glue gun).
4. Fancy lace heart wreath
This one turns out beautifully in spite of its simplicity. You will need wire for the base ... preferably a little lighter than coat hanger wire, though coat hanger wire can work. Try florist's wire and choose one in a heavy gauge.
Cut the wire long enough to make your finished heart, plus about 4 inches.
Cut a length of lace that is twice or even 2-1/2 times as long as your wire.
Shape the wire into a heart, without joining the ends.
Thread the lace onto the wire, as if you were "sewing" one edge of the lace with a running stitch using the wire.
Push the lace back from the ends, twist the ends together, cutting off the excess wire using wire cutter pliers.
Pull the lace down to the ends, and fluff it to space evenly all over the heart. You can dress it up with ribbons, silk or dried flowers, florist's moss, etc. Hang using a loop of ribbon.
This one turns out nicely enough to try even if you don't have kids!
1. For an extra special-valentine, or a heart wall decoration, try our tissue paper hearts.
Just use a sturdy cardstock, for a card, or heavier paper for a wallhanging. Draw a heart the size you want the finished piece to be. For a wall-hanging, cut the heart out. Now, draw a smaller heart inside the first one, making a border between the two hearts.
Cut up tissue paper into small squares. You will need two colors. You can get a very nice effect by using white squares for either the inside or the border, and the other color being pink or red.
Coat the inside heart (or a section of it if your design is large) with white school glue. Have children place a square of tissue paper over the eraser tip of a pencil, give the paper a slight twist up over the pencil, and use the pencil to press the paper into the glue. Younger children might be able to more easily just use their fingers to press the paper into the glue. Continue until the area is filled in, and then do the same with the border heart in the other color.
This will make a very special (though bulky!) Valentine card. Or you can add a hanger for a wall-hanging.
2. Heart gift boxes
Purchase paper-mache heart-shaped boxes at a discount store or craft store. Let children paint them in red, pink, white, purple, or other appropriate colors. Almost anything goes after that ... they can glue on silk flowers, ribbons, a lace border, buttons, paper doilies, small heart decorations, paint hearts or polka-dots all over the box, write a message on it, attach a photo inside or outside, apply stickers, or whatever else their imagination and your craft cupboard allows. These can become any style the child wishes, from romantic and elegant to funky.
Use these as a gift themselves, or better yet, fill them with wrapped sweets, bath luxuries, buttons or beads, flower seed packets, extra photos, personalized "coupons" (like "good for one hug anytime"), or whatever else would be appreciated by your recipient.
3. Salt dough magnets
These magnets are fun to make and would also make nice gifts, either as magnets or by punching a hole in the salt dough before baking, adding a personalized message, and threading it on a cord to give as a necklace or ornament.
Salt dough recipe: Mix 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of water, and 1 cup of flour until dough consistency is reached. Knead on a floured surface. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle just a little flour and work it in.
Roll dough out 1/4" thick on a floured surface with floured rolling pin.
Use heart-shaped cookie cutters to cut hearts. You may also cut them out freehand with a butter knife.
Make any special effects you like before baking, such as layering hearts on top of one another, forming groups of hearts, adding tiny balls of dough for 3-d polka dots, adding texture, or punching holes for hanging.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
The hearts are ready to paint with acrylic paints. You can write messages on them using a very fine brush or a toothpick, etc.
Spray with acrylic sealer if desired.
You can now thread them onto a cord for necklaces or ornaments, hot glue a magnet or pin-back onto the back (parents should handle the glue gun).
4. Fancy lace heart wreath
This one turns out beautifully in spite of its simplicity. You will need wire for the base ... preferably a little lighter than coat hanger wire, though coat hanger wire can work. Try florist's wire and choose one in a heavy gauge.
Cut the wire long enough to make your finished heart, plus about 4 inches.
Cut a length of lace that is twice or even 2-1/2 times as long as your wire.
Shape the wire into a heart, without joining the ends.
Thread the lace onto the wire, as if you were "sewing" one edge of the lace with a running stitch using the wire.
Push the lace back from the ends, twist the ends together, cutting off the excess wire using wire cutter pliers.
Pull the lace down to the ends, and fluff it to space evenly all over the heart. You can dress it up with ribbons, silk or dried flowers, florist's moss, etc. Hang using a loop of ribbon.
This one turns out nicely enough to try even if you don't have kids!
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