Whatever your opinion on Valentine’s Day as an adult, you
have to admit that as a parent it’s pretty darn cute – and a welcome
distraction in what can be one of the darkest, coldest, and most boring month’s
of the year! Even if your kid has to
have the My Little Pony valentines, there are still some fun and crafty
projects you can do to jazz up your Valentines!
Felt Chair Backer
I saw these
at Pottery Barn a couple of years ago. I wanted to get one for Hannah last
year, but by the time I remembered they were sold out in the store and I
couldn’t justify expedited shipping costs on top of the $20 price tag for a
felt envelope. So I decided to make one myself. It wound up costing me $2 in
felt. The rest – ribbon to attach to a chair, embroidery floss to stitch the
edge, the scallop scissors and the glue, I had on hand.
Basically you cut out all the components to make an envelope
(I cut up some paper to illustrate):
Then just glue all the edges down and use your creativity to decorate. Craft stores have a lot of felt shapes and letters with sticker backs, or you can cut out your own shapes and glue them on. Shaping scissors can be used to decorate the edges of the envelope. A couple of slits in the back to attach the ribbon and you can tie right onto a chair!
Hannah’s is kind of like a Valentine’s Day stocking. It
comes out around the beginning of February with a few other decorations, and
then on Valentine’s Day she opens it and find cards from Mommy and Daddy,
grandparents, etc.
Gumball Necklace
I had originally seen this on Pinterest and
had pinned it as a “save for when Hannah’s older” project. But it’s just so
cute I decided to do it for this Valentine’s Day. Not wanting to be labeled as
“that parent who gave preschoolers gumballs”, I decided that we would save
these as Valentine’s Day treats for teachers, besties, and her gumball obsessed
auntie.
You’ll need:
·
Gumballs (I found these pink sparkly ones at the
candy store at the Natick Mall, but I’ve seen a lot of pink and red ones around
for the holiday)
·
Ribbon
·
Metal meat skewer
·
Tape
·
Paper, fabric, or felt flowers for embellishment
·
Hot glue gun (regular glue was unsuccessful)
Most importantly, you will need clean dry hands (especially
if you child is helping). Clean so we don’t spread germs and dry because if
your hands are even a little bit damp the color on the gumballs will come off
and get everywhere.
We only have wooden skewers, so I wound up using a mini meat
thermometer to make the holes in the gumballs. You want to go slow and steady
making the holes so the gumballs don’t crack. If one does crack, the best thing
to do is pop it in your mouth and move onto the next gumball.
Cut a length of ribbon. Wrap tape around one end of the
ribbon to help guide the ribbon through the gumball. Eyeball where you want
that gumball to be and tie a knot on either side. Continue with however many
gumballs you want to include on your necklace. Hannah and I had found some
fabric flowers in the scrapbook section of Michaels and used those to
embellish.
And that’s it! To give as a Valentine you can add a little
tag or card that says “I CHEWS you to be my Valentine!”
HUGS
This is such an easy fun project for little kids. Hannah
loved making them last year at 3 and still loves it this year. This is a great
candy-free, handmade treat for your little one to add to their Valentines.
You’ll Need:
·
Pompoms
·
Googly Eyes
·
Heart shapes (we used foam hearts, but you could
use craft paper or felt)
·
Elmer’s glue
This is pretty self-explanatory. Make one for your kid to
use as a guide and let them go to town!
Happy Valentine’s
Day!
