Are you wondering what you will do with all of the crafts that you will be asked to make or forced to receive on Valentine’s Day? Not to be a Scrooge or anything, but it is a struggle for people, and especially parents, who are showered with homemade gifts and are expected to treat each and every gift as a precious piece. Of course we all appreciate receiving gifts, but is there such a thing as a useful Valentine’s Day craft? Are there ways to make Valentine’s gifts that you can actually get some use out of instead of just feeling obligated to display it for the sake of the one who gave it to you? Of course there is such a thing as a useful Valentine’s Day craft, and to prove it, here are some examples of ones that you can make this February 14th.
Pencil holder
Making a Valentine’s Day pencil or kitchen utensil holder is as easy as finding some construction paper and something to color with. You can use an empty jar or bottle for a pencil holder (if you use an empty can make sure to sand the edges as they can be very sharp) and a slightly larger empty oatmeal container for a larger kitchen utensil holder. Use a strip of the Valentine’s themed construction paper to cover the outside of the container and use crayons, paint, stickers, etc. to decorate it.
Canvas bag
Canvas bags cost just a few dollars to buy (or less depending on the size of the bag) and are ideal for painting. Get each of your kids a canvas bag of their own that they can decorate for Valentine’s Day. You can hot glue foam shapes onto the bag or use fabric markers in addition to paints. Your kids can continue using the bags long after Valentine’s Day is over by carrying activities in their own bags to keep them occupied on road trips or to take to the library to carry home their books in.
Frame
Picture frames are very easy to make and decorate. You can make a frame from scratch by using, you guessed it, popsicle sticks. Or you can purchase old frames from a yard sale or ugly frames from the clearance rack and simply re-paint and decorate those. Be sure that you take a picture on Valentine’s Day of the ones that you love so that you have something to put into your Valentine’s Day frame once it is completed.
Decorate a votive
Glass votives are surprisingly affordable and easy to find at most mega-mart stores. With some paint made for glass decorating, you can make a votive that can be displayed as a center piece or even used as a holder for flowers or a candle (if doing a candle, fill the bottom of the votive with sand first and make sure that children have adult supervision). You can pull out the votive and use it again year after year if you wish.
Clipboard
Using clipboards is an ingenious way to display and hold all of the pictures, notes and cards that you will get this Valentine’s Day. Instead of throwing these paper treasures out too soon because of lack of space, make a decorative clip boards with your kids and allow them to display their art on these boards that you can then hang them on your wall or even magnetically attach to the frond of your fridge. You will like how neat it keeps all of your kids Valentine’s Day drawings and your kids will love that they can display everything that they have created.