Valentine’s Day

Make Three Easy Valentine’s Day Crafts

In February, we’re all still struggling through dull winter weather. What’s worse, many of us are still in Covid-19 lockdown. I don’t know about you, but I was more than ready to inject a little colour into my home décor. What better way to do that than to add some touches of reds and pinks?

Most of the materials for these projects came from my craft stash. Here’s how you, too, can use what you have on hand to make three easy Valentine’s Day crafts.

Love is Homemade

For this Valentine’s Day idea, you will need:

wood jar shape, any season (Dollar Tree)
white paint (I used acrylic from Dollarama)
heart shape, about 3 1/2 – inches wide
letter stickers (or print words on computer)
glue stick
mod podge

I never got around to doing something for Christmas with this wood jar shape from Dollar Tree. By removing the paper design that was already on it, I was left with a blank canvas to work with. Mostly, these paper coverings will peel off fairly easily. Using your hairdryer or heat gun to loosen the glue also helps.

I’ve had this book of gallery wall art for some time now but have never made use of it, until now. The paper is thicker than scrapbook paper, so a really good quality.

After painting the jar white, I cut out one of the larger hearts and glued it to the center using a regular glue stick. The heart is 3 1/2 – inches wide. I wanted it to fill up the middle of the jar.

A section of background paper on one of the images, served as the jar lid, but paint would do the job, as well. When doing something where there are crevices to cut around, the best way to do it is to glue a slightly larger section of paper into place, then turn the project over and use a craft knife to cut the paper to fit.

Then, I just used a black Sharpie pen to draw in the lid lines.

For the letters above the heart, I dug into my stash of stick-on letters. Of course the trouble with these is that you soon run out of vowels and other much-used letters. I took the “L” from another sticker book. I think it turned out looking classy.

If you don’t want to use letter stickers, you can always just use your computer to write the words in a style you fancy and print them out as I did for the word at the bottom of the heart. I used the Harrington font and sized it at 36 for “Homemade”.

Simply cut out the word and glue it down. You can hardly see the printer paper because the background it’s on is white, too. After that, brush a liberal coat of Modpodge over the entire jar to seal everything and let it dry.

Paper Roses

For this craft, you will need:

a 5 x 7 frame
white paint
a package of small paper roses (Got mine at Dollarama)
pastel cardstock or other paper
a long wood bead
a small piece of Valentine ribbon
puffy stick-on hearts
glue stick
hot glue

Don’t know where my head was during this project because I forgot to take pictures of the steps I took to make this. Still, it’s pretty simple to do. Here’s how I made it:

I used a 5 x 7 frame I already had on hand. After removing the backing and glass, I painted it white. You won’t need the glass.
Using the backing as a guide, cut a piece of card stock to fit and glue it onto the backing using a glue stick.
Fit the backing back into the frame.

The paper roses come with their stems intertwined. Don’t separate them. All I did was manipulate them to try and form a heart shape. (You be the judge of whether or not I succeeded. 🙂 )
Tie a piece of Valentine ribbon around the stems next to the flowers. I had to tack one end of the ribbon down with a bit of glue in order that the pattern would be facing forward.
Apply hot glue to the back of the roses and attach them to the middle of the backing. Avoid getting glue on the stems.
Add hot glue to the back of the wood bead and insert the stems into the top of it before pressing it onto the backing.
Use a small heart sticker to embellish the “vase” and the corners of the frame.

Hugs and Kisses

For this project you will need:

small shadowbox frame approx. 5 x 6 inches (Dollarama)
card stock or other paper in pastel colour
wallet-sized graphic print or photo
glue stick
Valentine confetti
letter stickers or dry erase pen

I saw this Easter decoration at Dollarama and new I could do something cute with it for Valentine’s Day. Fortunately, these frames open at the back, so you can easily remove the backing and picture. I’m saving the bunny picture for possible use in a later DIY.

Please note that the tiny coloured balls are made of Styrofoam which is notoriously electrostatic. It will cling to you and anything else it comes in contact with. Be sure to hold over a garbage pail when you remove the back. Definitely not saving these! I tried using the tiny white Styrofoam balls one Christmas and became so frustrated that I ended up throwing them out.

Next, turn the empty frame over and use nail polish remover to erase the letters painted on the inside of the glass. Took no time at all!

I used letter stickers to attach my chosen message to the front of the glass on the upper right-hand side of the frame. Alternately, a dry erase marker will work, and is also easily removable should you want to redo the frame later on. I always choose pre-made letters because my printing isn’t up to snuff for this kind of thing.

Next, choose a piece of cardstock and, using the frame backing as a guide, trim it to size. Use a glue stick to attach the paper to the frame backing. If you like, you could also write the message directly on the cardstock, rather than on the glass.

Next, choose a graphic from the many free printables online and print a wallet-size copy on regular printer paper. I found this teddy bear graphic here: https://yhoo.it/36hK1WW. I cut the bear shape out of the paper and used the glue stick to glue it onto the left-hand side of the backing paper where the bunny formerly resided.

You could also choose to use a wallet-sized print of a loved-one, if you like. Just trim the borders before you glue it onto your paper. You will also need to make sure that all the outside edges of your graphic or photo are glued down so the confetti won’t get stuck behind it.

Next, turn the frame over and add the Valentine confetti. Experiment with the amount needed. I ended up taking some of this confetti out of the frame.

Replace the backing and enjoy!

I think I like this last project the best. Let me know which of these Valentine’s Day ideas you like! marlenealexander2327@gmail.com

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