homemade valentines recap
We are in the midst of making some very cute valentines. But they are not quite finished.. hopefully I can share them in the next few days. I realize time is short if your children are passing valentines out at school, so here are a few ideas (some new, some not so new).
We celebrated Bee's birthday last week and made these little notepads for the goodie bags. All kids love a little notebook of their very own, especially one with their name on it. These small notepads are easy to find in the office supply section, they usually come in packs of three. Print out some labels to cover the front, and these notepads are suddenly so much sweeter! (I always have a pack of full sheet sticker labels around the office.. you can feed them through most inkjet printers just like regular paper.)
I've made an editable PDF if you'd like to make some of these notepads yourself. The font won't match the one I used, since editable PDFs need to use fonts that everyone has on their computer (like Helvetica). But you can type in any name you like and print away. Trim them out after printing and peel off the adhesive backing, then carefully place your sticker on the front of your notepad (take your time, lining it up perfectly takes a little practice). These fit perfectly on Mead notepads, that's just what they had at my store, I can't vouch for other brands.. but I assume they are all pretty close. (Note: Make sure you print these at 100%, sometimes Acrobat will automatically scale your artwork to fit the page, so check your settings!)
I've also made a PDF for the valentine's we made last year. It's sometimes hard to think of a valentine where the kids can be involved, especially if they need to make 30! Print the PDF onto cardstock, cut it in half (each page makes two valentines), and let your kids draw on the arms, legs, and eyes... and then sign their name. You can attach one or two pieces of candy to the little man's arms.
I made these ABC cards for Design Sponge last year, and I think they would make a very thoughtful gift for your valentine. We have a birthday tradition in our family we’ve been doing since we were kids. We go around the dinner table and each person takes a letter of the alphabet, and we say something nice about the birthday girl/boy. A is for Artistic! B is for the Beautiful! We go around and around the table until we get to Z (which can be a difficult letter, you have to get creative). You can mention a favorite memory, or something that reminds you of that person, but it has to involve your letter. You can download the file over at Design Sponge, it prints 4 cards to a page.
And don't forget tiny matchbox valentines... inexpensive and awfully cute, especially when you involve your kids by having them write the nametags or draw little pictures of each classmate.
02.8.2011
Reader Comments (164)
What a lot of lovely suggestions! I especially like last year's doodled-upon hearts and the alphabet idea!
Thank you for the PDF files. My 3yo is going to go bananas over that heart!
the alphabet birthday tradition is so sweet. how special the birthday boy or girl must feel ....
Love! Love! Love! Another reason why I love your blog so much! I've spent the last week looking on the internet for fast, quick Valentine's to make for a girls' day I'm having here on Saturday, and couldn't find anything that I could make between work and two kids under two. I'm so HAPPY that you did this re-cap because now I'm making the match boxes -- SUPER easy! Thank you! p.s. Happy Valentine's Day
fabulous notebook idea. another favorite to add to the matchbox valentines. thanks for sharing your ideas!
We are not so big on Valentines Day in Australia but your homemade child centred gifts have inspired me to get celebrating. Love the photos!
Thanks for the little roundup. I've been considering doing the heart with arms and legs, so I'm very happy to see that you're offering a PDF!
Also, I was just thinking about those little matchboxes recently when someone gave me a whole bunch of empty ones. I'd be worried about putting food in a box where there had been chemicals, but you can buy empty matchboxes (a.k.a. small paper drawer boxes...) from Oriental Trading -- and probably other places too.
Thanks for all the great ideas!
The matchbooks are my favorite. I totally borrowed the idea from you last year and made party favors for a friend's birthday. They were a big hit!
So glad to see this today. I have a 4 year old, and we made recycled crayons for her class at Christmas. Now we have something for Valentines!
Thanks so much for putting these up again! I actually looked back through the blog to find these hearts as Jackson is DETERMINED to make valentines this year. I'm grateful for the PDF as the Word hearts are, well, retarded. This saves me from having to cut out hearts for everyone! So thankful for you again, Brooke! Happy Valentine's Day!
A friend of mine, Elizabeth House, told me there was a Hellewell on this website. I'm a Hellewell, too, so we must be related somehow.
I'm glad she told me about your site; I love your work!
How lovely! I love the notebook! Thanks for that lovely idea!
We did the matchboxes! It took an hour and they are adorable. Thanks especially for the PDFs. I'll be back for those next year!
What great ideas! I love the little letter cards. Thanks for the wonderful list.
LOVE these ideas!!! thanks so much!
Thanks again for these. One of my daughters designed her own in photoshop (she's 12), one of my others drew her own and we scanned them in and used them. My 10 old son is using your heart ones. He loves them - even giving the guys ones some muscles. :)
I adore your valentine ideas! The ABC cards are genius. Thanks for the inspiration... I crafted crayon hearts this year for my kindergartener loosely based on your instructions from last year:
http://howaboutcookie.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/crayon-heart-craft/
I'll have to file the ideas above for a rainy day!
Such incredible ideas, and so generous of you to share the pdfs! I am finding this after Valentine's day but am bookmarking the ideas for next year. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Thank you for sharing the PDF! As a new (step) mom to little ones again this will be perfect for parties and valentine's Day next year!!!
you kill me.
in a good way!