We’ve had a busy few weeks making valentines cards and gifts for my son to give to his loved ones. These little handmade berry heart gifts have been drying on our shelf for a lot longer than planned but we’ve finally got around to painting them. I think they look pretty cute and my son was really pleased with them (and himself) too! They’re really simple to make and are perfect as handmade gifts for valentines day, mothers day and many other occasions! You can use either Salt dough or clay, We used air drying clay as we have a tonne to use up but salt-dough works great too, you will just need to bake them until they are solid enough to paint!
You will need
Clay or salt dough
Red, yellow, green paint and paintbrush
Card/paper
Scissors
Knife (for cutting out shapes)
Ribbon
Hole punch
First you will need to create your heart shapes. We usually roll out our clay (or salt-dough) and then cut out a paper heart to use as a template to cut around. Once you have your heart, pierce a hole in the top centre so you can thread your ribbon through later on. If you used air drying clay they will need to be put aside for 1-2 days however if you used salt dough just pop them in the oven and bake until dried and hard.
Once dry, coat them in red paint and allow to dry.
Splodge some green paint around the top centre to make the stalk and then use the end of a paintbrush or a q-tip to dot on some yellow seeds.
Cut out your tag shape and use a hole punch to make a hole at the top. Take your chosen ribbon and thread it through the hole in your berry and then through your tag. Secure the two loose ends by tying them in a knot.
Add your special message to your tag and all that is left to do is gift your berry to a loved one!
If you’ve followed the blog at all you’ll know that i absoloutely love making keepsakes. They’re a beautiful way of looking back at previous stages of life and they really show how much our children have grown and developed over the years. We’ve made a couple of these cute little hand print bowls for my son to give to some special people for valentines day (including myself!). I think they’re absoloutely gorgeous. These bowls will definitely require a grown ups help as you’ll need to use a knife, but they really are quite simple and so much fun for kids to paint!
You will need
Air drying clay (alternatively you could use salt dough and bake them) Red and white paint Knife Paintbrush Q-Tip
Take two equal sized lumps of clay and roll them into two equal balls, Roll them out into flat disks. Next you will need to cut out your two hand prints. The easiest way we have found to do this is to draw around my sons hands on a piece of paper, cut out the hand prints and use them as a stencil to cut around with a butter knife.
Now mould your hand prints into a bowl by overlapping them at the palms and then pulling the fingers round to overlap. You can use a bit of water to act like glue if your clay isn’t securing together easily. Bend the outer edge of your bowl upwards. You may need to rest it upgainst something to keep the edges turned up whilst drying. put your bowl aside and leave it to dry for 1-2 days until solid.
Once dry, coat your entire bowl in red paint.
Now all thats left to do is add the final decorations to your bowl. We dipped a q-tip into white paint to make the spots and heart. Leave to dry and you’re finished! Such a gorgeous keepsake to display and treasure or gift to a loved one!
Today we’ve been making yet more valentines crafts! This time however, we’ve used a resource that i haven’t used on this blog yet; chalk. chalk is a really fun and flexible medium and my son loves to use it both out on the pavement and for inside crafts too. It’s just such an interesting texture and style for kids. What’s great for us grownups too is how cheap chalk is, you can pick up a pack of chalk for under £1 at most supermarkets. Which makes this craft fun, easy and affordable – perfect for preschools and groups!
You will need
Coloured chalk Card paper Scissors Tape or blue tack Marker
Take your scrap piece of paper and cut it down to the same size as the front of your card (this is so that you can be sure your stencil is the right size). Fold it half and then using the fold as the centre; draw half a heart shape and cut it out to give you an equal sided heart stencil.
Place your stencil over the front of your card and secure it down with tape or blu tack. Make sure that its tightly secure so that it doesn’t move about when little one is colouring in!
Take your chalks and colour in your heart using stripes of different coloured chalks. Blow off any excess chalk and then slowly peel the stencil away. You may need to tap your card on the table to remove any remaining excess.
Finish off your chalk heart valentines card by adding your special message to the front and filling out the inside to gift to your loved one!
A Sweet and simple craft; these Love bug Valentines crowns are a perfect craft for young children to make this season of love! You could even set out a bowl of hearts, stickers and other decorations so that children can each make their own fun and unique designs. It’s a great way to keep their creative brains busy, at least for a few minutes!
You will need
Red card Black paper Pipe cleaners Tape Scissors
Take your piece of paper and place it in the landscape position. Fold the top corners to the bottom ones to split it perfectly in half. Then, cut along the fold line to give yourself two long equal strips.
Secure your two equal strips end to end as shown above and decorate with some black paper hearts or your chosen decorations. Secure the two loose ends of your headband together to create your crown shape.
To make the antennae, twirl two pipe cleaners around your finger or a pencil to create two spring shapes. Glue a heart to one end of your spring and then glue the other end down inside your crown at the top.
Add any last minute decorations and your valentines love bug crown is finished!
These heart shaped sweet cones are really sweet, simple and cheap to make. We love them and are planning on making a whole bunch of them for my sons class at school. All you need to do is pop a layer of cling film over them and they’re easy to transport and gift. One paper plate makes two heart cones so a pack goes a long way. Why not show loved ones how appreciated they are this valentines or mothers day with some tasty treats!
You will need
Paper plate Double sided tape Red paint & paintbrush White paper Scissors Pen
The first thing you will need to do is cut your paper plate in half. Put one half aside and take your other half to make your sweet heart cone.
Bring your two corner points together to meet in the middle. overlap the two sides slightly in the centre and secure them together with double sided tape.
flatten your cone shape so that you can cut both sides at once. Take your scissors and cut the open ends of your cone into the top of your heart as shown above.
Cover your heart cone inside and out with red paint and put it aside to dry.
Take your white paper and cut out an oval shape to make your label. Write the name of the person who you are going to give your heart to on the label. Glue in onto the front of your heart cone. Now all you have to do is fill your heart cone with yummy sweet treats!
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