Last year I posted about our annual homemade valentines tradition. Since Valentine’s Day is sneaking up on us, I thought I would post those ideas again and add the ones we ended up making last year (BIG thanks to reader Jen for the idea!).
Each February we hand-make valentines for all of my daughter’s classmates. It is a tradition they look forward to and one that makes me question my sanity (do you know how long it take a 5-year-old to hand write 22 cards?!). But I seriously love the end result and the memories made in pursuit of that result.
I wanted to share a few of our past valentines and give you a bit of time to shop for cheap supplies (I always use a Hobby Lobby coupon or a Michael’s coupon to save up to 50% off supplies!) if you choose to give one a try!
Last year we recycled leftover candy canes:
What you’ll need:
Small candy canes
White Almond Bark
Heart sprinkles
Little baggies
Scrap paper hearts
Crayons/markers
Ribbon
Hole punch
Arrange candy canes together in a heart shape on a baking sheet. Bake at 250 for about 6 minutes or until candy canes soften. Remove from oven & immediately pinch points together with finger tips (they aren’t that hot, so they won’t burn your fingers!). Melt almond bark & pour into hearts. Shake sprinkles onto wet almond bark. Bag. Tie. Enjoy!
Two years ago we combined the digital age with the homemade:
What you’ll need:
A picture of your child holding up an invisible sucker (smiling child preferred!).
Scrap paper
Crayons
Heart stickers (or any cutesy heart scrapbooking items you have)
Lollipops (my older daughter insisted on heart suckers which I didn’t think turned out as cute!)
I used coupons on the suckers and printing the pictures.
Three years ago we got our hands dirty:
What you’ll need:
Thumbs!
Red stamp pad
Marker
Ribbon
Little bags
Candy to fill the bags
I used coupons on the bags, ribbon and candy.
Four years ago was a bit messier:
What you’ll need:
Styrofoam sheet (like the kind meat used to come packaged on-can find something similar at craft stores)
Red paint & paint brush
Sharp object to carve reverse words onto styrofoam
Ribbon
Little bags
Tags
Candy to fill the bags
And there you have just a few fun valentines ideas. Do you have any to share? I’m in need of an idea this year!
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She’s adorable!
These are all adorable!!! I love, love, love the suckers in the pics! Here’s what we did last year, and probably will this year too (last year was preschool- now we’re in kindergarten with all new kids…!)
http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/02/happy-valentines-day.html
mini candy canes (on clearance!), melted chocolate & sprinkles!
You can try using all of the foamies that have been on sale at Rite Aid recently. Very fun craft ideas. I have seen the glittery foam sheets(includes red sheets) and pink bags of letters. These are sticky backed. A lot of creative fun for you and your girls.
For the candy I have lots of ups rewards and I am sure you do too:)
For the past two years my daughters have made homemade valentines using individual packets of Pop Rocks. We made cute notes on the computer that said “Valentine, You Rock!” and “You Make My Heart Go Pop!” and then attached the Pop Rocks. I found a bag of individual packets of Pop Rocks at Cash & Carry where they were really inexpensive but my Rite Aid also sells them individually (much more expensive that way). Amazon has them as well. They were a huge hit with their classmates. I think boys would probably like to give the ones that say “You Rock!”. It can be hard to find or create valentines that boys, especially upper elementary age boys, like. I wish I had a picture to submit but, unfortunately, I never took any!
I just had a great idea. If you can find baby food jars. Fill them with color candies for Valentines and then use sharpies[to color on glass(deal at Rite Aid this week)], ribbons, and colored paper for the lids.
I think we are going to try the picture cards for my son’s kindergaten class and my other sons daycare but how are u keeping the suckers from falling out do u tape the stick on the backside also i would think the weight of the sucker would cause the picture to bend. Did you print the picture as just regular prints at walmart? These are all such great ideas very cute and creative also your daughter is adorable!
Lacie,
We didn’t use tape, just made the sucker holes smaller than the sucker stick so the hole acted as a grip. I suppose you could tape them, but we had no problems with them coming out. I got the prints done at Walgreens using an online coupon, then had them shipped to the store. So cheap & so fun!
Ok great thanks for your help
We love and just decided to use your pictures with lollies idea!! This helps if you have shy or unpopular children as well since it gets a pic of the child to all the classmates! Thanks so much!
Would you explain the styrofoam idea a little more? Do you “write” (push the styrofoam) from the backside to make it raised and then just paint over it? I guess I don’t understand how your letters came out so clean.
You do write your letters out, but you have to write them backwards! You’ll need to make them fairly deep to keep them looking as clean as the letters above. Then you paint over the top, press gently & walah! Cute Valentines!