Four Lovely Valentine Card Crafts

By Guest Blogger Adrienne Erin

Valentine’s Day can be just as heavily anticipated by kids as it is for adults — sometimes even more so. Rather than sending your kids to school with the same old generic Valentines everyone else is giving out, why not make some very clever and unique cards with them?

In addition to your kids standing out with the coolest cards in their class, you get bonus quality time with your children. What’s not to love? Here are four great ideas I’ve found for you to try.

Minion Valentine Cards

Valentine’s Day does tend to have a heavily feminine tone with all of its pinks, hearts, flowers and cuddly teddy bears. That doesn’t mean boys can’t get in on the fun, though. Just lend a masculine touch to your son’s cards. Here are a couple of excellent examples:

These little cards by Michelle at Sassy Dealz are ridiculously adorable. They aren’t overtly girly, so your son can feel confident handing them out. All you need is a bit of blue and black construction paper, individually wrapped twinkies (enough for the whole class), googly eyes, aluminum foil, a bit of tape and a pair of scissors.

Cut the blue paper in a strip wide enough to cover the bottom third of the twinkie. Wrap it around the twinkie and secure with tape. Cut a narrow strip of black paper to wrap around the top of the twinkie, and secure with tape as well. Cut out small circles of foil to tape to the black paper, and then glue a googly eye in the center of the foil.

Once your minions are assembled, you can cut out tags for them. Pink hearts are classic, but if your son doesn’t like that idea, go with the blue. Write “You’re One in a Minion!” on the tag, have your son sign his name and attach one to each minion.

Roaring Dinosaur Valentines

Let the boys roar with this cute valentine. Pick up some small plastic dinosaurs from the dollar store —you might be able to find a bag of several in the party favor section. You’ll also need construction paper or card stock, tacky glue and a miniature heart stamp with some stamp ink.

Cut the paper into heart shapes and attach the dinosaur toward the bottom of the heart with the glue. Use the heart stamp to create cute little footprints behind the dinosaur in whichever walking pattern you like. Finally, write the message on the card and sign names. It may be easier to write the message first and then attach the dinosaur. One cute message would be, “Valentine, You’re Dino-mite!”

Glittery Butterfly Valentines

Girls can really get into the Valentine’s Day spirit by creating an assortment of frilly, glittery, oh-so-sweet cards. Here are just a couple of ideas to try:

While many kids give out candy with their cards, giving something practical can be just as appreciated. You’ll need construction paper, scissors, glue, glitter, pipe cleaners and an assortment of pencils.

Start by cutting out several hearts from your construction paper. Draw heart outlines on the big hearts with glue. Sprinkle glitter over the glue, shake off the excess and let dry. Alternatively, you could use glitter puffy paint to streamline the process. Just be sure to protect your furniture.

When your hearts are dry, take two of them and overlap them together about one and a half inches at the bottoms. While holding them at the join, fold them glitter-side together. With them folded, cut two slits into the fold. Open the card back up and slide a pencil through the two slits.

Use half a pipe cleaner to create the butterfly’s antennae. Simply wrap the center of the pipe cleaner around the top of the pencil and bend the two ends to your satisfaction. Write a clever message on the back of the hearts, such as “You Make My Heart Flutter.”

The variations you can take on this are virtually endless. Paint designs instead of using glitter, use stamps to create the design, or just glue assorted pieces of colored construction paper on the wings.

Valentine Blossom Cards

These cards are absolutely adorable, and they contain candy — the perfect Valentine! You will need colored construction paper or card stock, scissors, lollipops and tape.

 

Start by cutting small hearts out of your paper. Each card will need three hearts to use as petals. You’ll also need to cut a couple leaf-shapes for each. Assemble the petals by poking a hole in each heart near the bottom. Slide each petal onto the lollipop stick and arrange them to look like a flower. Repeat with the leaves, then secure it all together with a bit of tape underneath.

You can write your messages on one of the leaves, and sign names on the other. One clever message idea is, “Our Friendship is Blooming.”

Have fun with your kids as you create one of these great Valentine card crafts or explore one of your own ideas. What are some clever Valentines you’ve made with your kids before? What are you planning on trying this year? Share in the comments below!