Last year I bought Valentine’s cards. They were much less work for me. However, I couldn’t help but notice that all the other parents shop at Target too. There were many duplicates. This year I decided that we would make cards for my youngest’s class and use printed ones for my son’s class. (My son’s kindergarten teacher made filling out the cards with each student in the class’s full name a homework assignment! ) So he decided to help with the 20 we need for Pea’s class.
Since I have a lot of school work due on Sundays the kids tend to watch more television than I like on the weekends. This week’s psychology assignment was on researching the effect that watching violence on television has on children. What I learned was watching any television for long amounts, even our beloved Disney Jr, resulted in more aggressive kids! I shield them from violence in the media and on tv and had no idea that watching non-violent television too much had similar short term results. (Hope is not lost.)
So today I decided to have a no television day, which meant that we had to do something else. I came up with these easy and impromptu Valentine’s cards.
First I taught Pea how to cut out hearts while Pork Chop, who already knew how, started cutting some out. I cut them out in all sizes because I am cheap thrifty and hate to waste even scraps of paper. We glued little hearts on or doodled on each of the larger hearts and made simple heart collages. I even pulled out some fancy scrapbook paper.
I already had some chocolate hearts that I was planning on handing out with the cards. I’ve been wanting to try printing on brown paper bags so I took the opportunity. Using some cute fonts I made a few tags to add to the hearts.
If you are short on time and want to try this project, then you can download the printable labels for free by clicking on this link here. Just cut the bottoms off of brown paper bags and set your printer to print 5×7 (do NOT “fit to frame”). I printed on one side then flipped over the bag and printed on the other side. I cut the label with some fancy scrapbooking scissors.
I put a plain heart under the decorated heart and punched holes around the sides. The kids helped me sew the hearts together with cotton yarn and plastic yarn needles. We placed the chocolate heart inside the cards before closing it up and tying.
Sew Simple! When Pea’s classmates get the Valentine’s card, they just have to “open up” their hearts to get their candy!
what a great idea! we don’t have kids at home but am thinking a little bit more sophisticated designs and adults could send. saving for next year.
thanks for a great post.
best,
diane
Dropping by from SITS girls today.#SITSBlogging
diane padoven recently posted…Hot Chocolate, New Mexican Style
What a great idea. Love that you took the time to make Valentines and these are different and fun!
#SITSblogging
Elle recently posted…Couples That Sweat Together
I love this idea! We buy ours at the store and there are a lot of duplicates. Maybe next year I’ll be more ambitious! 🙂
Emma @ P is for Preschooler recently posted…Play & Learn with Recyclables and Kids Co-op
I love this idea!! They look super cute, Definitely pinning to keep in mind for when Eli gets older! 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up at the MaMade Blog Hop! Don’t forget to stop back to link up again next week and see if you were featured! Have a great week 🙂
Michelle @ The MaMade Diaries recently posted…10 Toys for Speech and Language Development
Thanks Michelle. This was a really easy craft and the little brown paper bag Valentine’s saying really “fancied” it up enough for me.
These are so cute! I used to do handmade valentine’s for my son’s class, but this year when he started kindergarten the student count nearly doubled, so I’m taking the coward’s (and busy mother’s) way out with store-bought cards. I did go to a rather chi-chi online retailer known for it’s high quality paper products, however, so I’m not feeling too bad about myself in the duplication department. 🙂 Stopping by from SITS Girls Comment Love Tribe. Looking forward to reading more about your journey from mom working outside the home to SAHM. Have a great day.
Gailyc recently posted…Cleaning House
We actually used printed ones from Krispy Kreme donuts (which were free) for my kindergartner’s class. These were for my preschooler’s class. I think getting high quality paper printed store bought cards gain you major points! I NEVER plan ahead enough to order them. I was rather proud of myself for coming up with these on Monday rather than Thursday 🙂
Those are adorable. I gave Malone some printer paper and puffy heart stickers and called it a day. He’s in preschool so they are just perfect. On the inside I wrote one nice thing he said about each friend. They are completely unfancy, but 100% awesome in my book!
NJ @ A Cookie Before Dinner recently posted…10 Must Have Baby Products
That is awesome! Pea and Pork Chop helped with the first 8 but I got stuck making the rest of them lol. They made me valentines while I finished the rest for her class.
Herchel recently posted…Easy Filled Heart Valentine’s Cards
Those looks cute! I was lazy and went with store bought ones this year. I’ve just got too much on my mind lately to mess with crafts!!
Rabia @TheLiebers recently posted…Do As I Say; Not As I Do
Nothing wrong with that, Rabia. I went with store bought last year. I really needed something to do with them, to keep them occupied since I am limiting tv, and we went to the park a few days this week already. I don’t watch much tv but since they aren’t in daycare until the evenings any more, I have to really pay attention to the amount of time they spend watching it. This was a fun way of killing two birds with one stone.
I tried to craft with them when they were younger and it was soo frustrating. We may be hitting that “sweet spot” of parenting.
That’s really cute! I like how you mixed up the fancy paper with brown paper bag and construction paper. Very crafty! I bet their classmates will love it.
Gracielle recently posted…Help Me Choose: Rivet & Sway Glasses
She’s already told them that they are filled with chocolate. They won’t last very long. I can see the kids ripping them apart.
They’re beautiful, actually! Last year we made some lame last minute ones. This year, we forgot again and printed out some Doctor Who valentines from the internet. Some I thought were way too inappropriate for preschool, and had photos of monsters on them! So I had to leave some out, lest the class thinks our family is creepy.
Tamara recently posted…Have a Good Cry, Enter a Good Giveaway.
We used free valentines that we got from Krispy Kremes (guess how many dozen we ate to get over 24 valentines) for my son’s class. Each recipient gets a free donut. The hand made ones actually came out better than I thought. I think this age is perfect for crafts!
That is so cute, Herchel! However, I’m glad that I don’t have to make Valentine’s cards anymore. Hello…Hallmark! Glad you had some good one-on-one time with the kids.
Sandy Sandmeyer recently posted…What Could Be Wrong With Brownie Brittle?