How to make your own Valentine's Day cards

Feb 07, 2012 9:00 AM by Molly Cerreta Smith

Posted in Parenting / Family Fun / Crafts

Valentine's Day
DIY Cards

Whether for your kid's classroom Valentine's Day card exchange or a sweet memento for your one and only, spread some love this year with these fun and easy DIY Valentine's Day card ideas.

Chain of love

Help your child cut heart shapes -- small, medium and large -- out of card stock in his favorite colors (you don't have to limit him to red, pink and white). Punch holes in the top and bottom of each heart except for the last heart, which will only need a hole punched in the top. "Chain" together the hearts with ribbon. Add a longer ribbon to the top heart. Write a heartfelt message or let your child color a picture on each heart and you have a card that doubles as V-Day decor.

Check out more Valentine's Day decor ideas here >>

Let it shine

Heart-shaped doilies are not hard to come by at Valentine's Day. Pick up a few packs of various sized and colored heart-shaped doilies, then glue them together (layering smaller ones on top of larger ones) and decorate with sequins, metallic confetti or colored rhinestones. For an adult version, glue Swarovski crystals into a single word or short phrase (a la conversation hearts).

Check out this Valentine's Day craft using a baby food jar >>

Love pops

For this sweet treat you'll need yarn, felt, felt glue, googly eyes, scissors and a bag of lollipops. Assist your child in cutting out matching heart shapes -- about two to three inches tall -- from colored felt. Make a face on half of the felt hearts using googly eyes, and nose and mouth cut from extra felt pieces. Once dry, match up a decorated heart with a plain one and make holes along the edges using the small hole punch designed for fabric. Place a lollipop between the two felt pieces and thread the yarn through the hearts so the ends meet at the bottom with a few inches left on each side to tie a bow. For an adult version, forget the candy and slip a special gift, like cufflinks, inside.

Puff heart

Cut a large heart out of card stock and write a message on one side. Next, cut small pieces of various colored tissue paper into one- to two-inch rectangles, then scrunch each strip and glue it, short ends up, to the blank side of the heart. Repeat until the entire heart is covered with tissue paper. If you are really crafty, make a pattern or spell a word with one color tissue paper, then surround it with other colors.