Valentine Crafts and Other Goodies

 I know this is a bit late, but here is what we tried this year.

"Love Boat" Valentine Holder

This looked super cute when I saw it in the magazine, but it was a bit tricky to make.

(Read: Mia, age 4, could barely help me except for choosing colors and occasionally gluing on small details at the end. Plus, it must have taken a good hour or more to make, and that is keeping in mind that I am a craft "pro." I also thought it was odd that the directions said to cover the OJ container with paper and then cut out the opening for the Valentines. This made me tear some of the paper so it didn't look as "finished" as their picture perfect example. Another complaint I had was that they said to use a glue stick and I found that just didn't seem to work, so we used tape and Elmer's glue.)

{The Maiden Voyage of the S.S. Valentine}

An addition I made to the original project was to use ribbon to trim the smokestacks and around the boat instead of paper as suggested, which I think was cute. I would recommend this craft for upper elementary and older if you want them to be able to do it independently.

Yarn Hearts

{Our Works of Heart}

Another one I saw in the magazine and thought we had to try. Again, it was a bit of a flop for us. The corn starch glue, while quick and easy to make, was a terrible consistency that was a pain to work with. And Mia hated the texture and barely touched it before declaring that she was done. I haven't gotten around to this yet, but I think I will thread some embroidery floss through the top so we can hang this. This craft is great for little hands providing that those hands like to get messy!

"Jesus Loves Me" Door Hanger

{Door Hanger by Mia, Age 4}

I think this one was the biggest success. I used it for our Valentine's party at Sunday School and all of the kids ranging from preschool to fifth grade enjoyed it and were able to easily do this craft. The main prep I did was cutting the ribbon beforehand and some yarn for hanging. We also had some of the cardstock shapes pre-cut for the younger ones.

{Heart Shaped Brownies ~ What's not to love?}

{Happy Valentine's Day to Brett!}

These were a bit more work: molded chocolate hearts, rimmed in red sugar, and filled with fresh berries. Delicious!