By Jennifer Crain
We’ve painted rocks. We’ve broken out trays of watercolors and filled the table with bottles of glue and sequins and spools of twine. We’ve depleted the construction paper multi-pack of reds and pinks. And we’ve left pages and pages of sticker books empty.
We’re not fancy valentine people, but we do make our own. And as we tick off more and more classroom Valentine’s Day parties, I’ve found that the process doesn’t have to be a big deal. With a few art supplies and some help, kids can turn out custom valentines that are an ego boost for them and a kind gesture for their classmates.
Here are some of our favorite ideas to spruce up garden-variety paper hearts and spur ideas for your own valentine-making spree.
Office Dots My daughter received a do-it-yourself craft book recently and one idea that caught her eye was a craft using office dots, the circular stickers used for color coding files or marking prices on yard sale items. Kids can stick a dot or two to each card and use a marker to make them into custom love monsters, aliens or fuzzy animals. A few lines of ink and each child in the class will have his or her own little creature, with love from your kiddo.
Pop-Up Cards Fold a rectangle of paper in half to make a square-ish card. Snip two lines across the fold an inch or so apart, parallel to the top and bottom of the card. Open the card and invert the cut section on the inside. It’s a pop-up card! Affix something to one of the pop-up’s surfaces – a sticker, paper heart or picture from a magazine – and there you have it. To streamline the process, you can cut out the cards and pop-up sections while your kids customize them on the inside.
Photocopy If you have a decent home photocopier, all’s the better for valentine making. Our copies at home turn out too faint so I make a run to a local copy shop when it’s time for personalized thank-you notes or birthday invitations. Likewise, using copied kid art is a great way to simplify customized valentines.
Ask your child to draw a single character or symbol with a black marker on a plain piece of paper. Have it copied so a number of them fit on one page and run enough of these so you have one picture for each child in the class. Kids can cut them out, affix to a square of colorful card stock and write a note on the back. Better still, have your child write out a short Valentine’s greeting, copy it as above and affix that to the back of the card, a time-saver for kids who are still learning to write. At home, I ask that my kids write out the recipients’ names and sign every note themselves, to personalize it.
Pet Rocks One of the simplest assembly-line projects, pet rocks are cute and 3-D! Go out to the yard or to a local beach and pick out one small rock for each recipient. Scrub the rocks and let them dry overnight. Lay down some newspaper and have your child paint them using acrylic paints. When they’re dry, dab some white and black paint on for eyes or use tacky glue to attach googly eyes. Kids can paint a heart and their name on the bottom or tape the rock with a masking tape loop to a signed square of card stock.
Watercolor Paper My friend Melissa buys sheets of watercolor paper and has her kids cover one side completely with watercolored designs. Ask your kids to do the same, painting five or six 8 ½ x 11 sheets. Cut them into sixths when they’re dry. If you jot notes on the back, the painted side of each valentine will be a unique piece of keep-able art. Try wetting the paper before painting for a dreamy effect.
Make a Family Heart Bunting While you have the scissors and paper out, local artisan Colleen MacDonald says you can make a simple decoration to spread the love in your own home.
“It doesn’t get much simpler than a red construction paper heart that says ‘I love you’ on one side,” she says. “You can cut out a bunch of them, punch a hole in the top two ‘humps’ of the heart, string a piece of twine through the holes and have heart buntings for your window frames! Each heart could list a quality that you love about the person or about each other. They’re like little prayer flags of love.”
If homemade valentines still feel overwhelming, don’t sweat it. Get help and inspiration at the Hands On Children’s Museum’s card-making studio, free with admission or membership. Pick up some special art supplies, such as printed play papers and scissors to make a scalloped edge, at Wind Up Here.
All photos by Jennifer Crain.
Thrifty Thurston highlights inexpensive family fun in Thurston County. The weekly series focuses on family-friendly activities throughout our community. If you have a suggestion for a post, send us a note at submit@thurstontalk.com. For more events and to learn what’s happening in Olympia and the surrounding area, click here.
