By Karen Shadrach
Our winter holidays are not yet over — the month of February brings us Valentine’s Day, and there’s nothing better than a homemade valentine.
Cards can be made for friends, family, teachers or neighbors. Valentine’s Day is a chance to share your love and appreciation with those special to you. They will bring a smile to someone on what could otherwise be a cold and dreary Northeast Ohio February day.
Grab Some Supplies and Go
Simple, yet very creative valentines can be made when you provide the hearts and let the grandkids decorate.
Begin by cutting out heart shapes from pink or red construction paper. Alternatively, heart cutouts of all sizes can be purchased at a craft store. First, write on them to personalize, then set out containers of assorted markers, crayons, stickers and sewing items such as buttons, rick-rack and the always-popular googly eyes for them to create a heart face.
Other ideas include pom-poms, cotton balls, puffy stickers, glitter pens, jewels or tissue paper pieces. All of the above can be found at a craft store if you don’t have the items in your home. A lot of embellishments come with a peel-off sticky backing. If not, use a glue stick or glue gun. Set everything out on a table and let the grandkids’ creativity loose.
Need More?
Handprint Valentines
If your grandchild is small enough, making valentines from their handprints is very special. Washable ink or paint works well for this project.
Grandma hint: Using a paintbrush to cover their hands with paint is better than dipping the hand into the paint. It’s much less messy and gives greater coverage of all parts of the hand. Both right and left hands can be printed, overlapping the palms a bit to form a heart. Cut a heart around the prints, then mount onto another, larger heart and decorate.
Make another type of handprint heart by placing both hands touching at thumbs and index fingers, forming an upside-down heart inside. This makes a larger print and you will probably need to cut it out and place it onto a paper rectangle, maybe using red to emphasize the heart formed between the fingers.
Layers for a 3-D Heart
Begin with a large heart and paste it onto another sheet of paper. Then, cut out three to four more hearts, each decreasing in size from the original. You can use the same colored paper or use a different color for each heart. Glue each to the center of the previously laid heart. The heart may be placed on the front of a card or placed into the centerfold, which will open up when reading.
Stamped Valentines
There are many different heart stamps to buy, or make your own from apples or potatoes. Carve a heart shape and let the grandkids dip it into paint to stamp onto another piece of construction paper or card stock. Fill it with stamps on one side, then fold and write your sentiment inside the card. Decorate the inside of the card with additional stamps or stickers, or color something special.
Old-Fashioned Doily Valentines
Purchase white doilies from a craft store or make your own doily hearts by folding paper and cutting out shapes along the fold and edges. Glue the heart doilies onto a contrasting piece of paper to make a dainty valentine.
Bake ‘Em
Valentines don’t have to be made out of paper. You can bake your valentine. Whip up a batch of brownies and cut pieces into heart shapes using a cookie cutter. Rice Krispy treats can also be cut this way. The heart shapes can then be further decorated with icing and small candies. Baking decorated valentine cookies or cupcakes also make great Valentine’s Day treats.
Chocolate? Sure, Why Not?
Melt and make your own chocolates. Purchase molds and pour melted chocolate into heart or cupid shapes (this requires careful grandparent oversight). Wrap in decorative foils and enclose these yummies into a valentine card.
Have fun creating your handmade cards and happy Valentine’s Day to you and your little loves!
Karen Shadrach is a Northeast Ohio on-the-go, in-the-know grandmother of two sets of twins. Read her Grammy on the Go grandparenting blog at northeastohiothrive.com.
