Showing posts with label Valentine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valentine. Show all posts

Monday, February 13, 2012

6 Easy Kid and Parent Friendly Projects for Valentines Day!

Are you crafty??

Here are six easy projects you can do with candy hearts to spruce up your Valentine table! 

We don't typically do a lot of decorating for Valentines Day, but it sure is fun to put a bit of the Valentine spirit into the days festivities.  why not have a fun afternoon with the kids and share a few minutes after school today to bring a touch of love to your home or table? These 6 crafts are the perfect way to do that! All of them can be done by you or by your kids, and all can be done in 30 minutes or less. These are fantastic ways for you to have fun, to be creative, and to foster the same in your children.  Enjoy these simple crafts that take no more than a bag of candy hearts and some things you probably have around the house! Enjoy!



The Romantic Candle! 
Time: 5 minutes
Find a few of your favorite sayings on the large candy hearts.  Heat up your hot glue gun - low temp glue guns work just fine.  Glue the hearts to the lower portion of a candle, spaced evenly. (I used a red candle left over from the Christmas holidays) Place in a pretty candle holder and Viola' ! A romantic candle to brighten your table! 

Note: ALWAYS use caution when burning candles - extinguish the flame before you leave the room and before it gets down to the level of the candy hearts. 


I Give You My Heart Plaque
Time 30 minutes

Separate candy hearts by color - a great way for your kids to work on color recognition and organization.  Use as many colors as you'd like.  Draw a heart on a piece of cardboard or other solid base. If you want and accent color on the base, apply that first - covering the entire base.  Use white glue to apply the hearts, one color at a time, to the inside of the heart.  Let it dry before standing upright. This is a colorful way to give your heart, or your child to express how much they love mom, dad, siblings, or other family!


Heart Jewelry
Time 20 minutes

For the little ones, a simple candy heart necklace can be made from ribbon and hearts.  Choose one large heart and approximately 14 small hearts in the sayings and colors of your choice.  Cut a piece of ribbon approximately 18 inches long.  Starting in the center, glue the large heart with low temp hot glue. Working out from the center, glue the smaller hearts in the pattern you desire.  

For the more experienced jewelry maker, use beads and jewelry findings to create a pendant style necklace.  Adhere findings to the heart using hot glue and string on a simple string rope.  

Keep My Heart
Time 30 Minutes

Using a re-purposed candle jar from the holidays, or any other container you have, create a "Keep My Heart". Glue a piece of fabric to the top of the lid and let it dry. Using low temp hot glue,  glue a large heart to the center top of of the jar and let completely dry.  Using small hearts, choose your favorite colors and sayings to line the lip of the lid.  Adhere with low temp hot glue.  In minutes you can have an adorable keep sake for Valentines day!





Sweet Hearts and Flowers for Your Hair!
Time 10 Minutes

Find some of your last year's spring silk flowers and create a fun hair decoration.  Decorate the center of the flower using a single large candy heart in your favorite color.  Affix the heart with low temp hot glue and let dry.  Affix the newly decorated flower to a hair pin or clip and you have hearts and flowers for your hair! 


A Vase for Your Valentine Flowers!
Time 20 minutes

Using two containers create this candy heart vase.  Insert a small container into a larger one - making sure that there is about 1 inch between the perimeter of the smaller container and the larger one.  Fill the space between the two containers with candy hearts.  Fill the inner container with your favorite flowers or greenery! Simply stunning! 




Love is in our actions. Take the time today to have fun and be creative with your kids.  These are simple projects that you can do together to make your Valentine's Day a bit more fun! If your kids are too little or are grown, have fun with these projects yourself. We show love by what we say, but also in the effort we make to show those special people in our lives that we love them.   ENJOY! 

Do you have any other suggestions? I'd love your comments and feedback on these easy crafts! 

Friday, February 12, 2010

Conversation Hearts

"YOU ROCK"
"SUGAR LIPS"
"YOU FLIRT"
"SOUL MATE"
"I WANT U"
"TOO COOL"
"I'M IN LOVE"

Ah....Conversation hearts.....

Do you remember the credence we put in those in elementary school? Do you remember how scandalous it was when a certain boy gave a certain girl a Valentine with a certain conversation candy heart attached to it?

Ah.....Conversation hearts.....

The chalky, sugary, food dye infused staple of February 14th. They were the heart shaped do-dads that we glued onto doilies, red hearts, and Valentine crafts to bring home to our parents - the favorite February festive craft of the elementary art class teacher.

Ah...conversation hearts......

The little candy "love notes" that try and relay how much our true love...or at least our Valentine of the day...cared for us.

There is no doubt about it, if there were no conversation hearts, Valentine's Day just would not be the same. That little bite-size sweet gesture is such an iconic part of the day that celebrates love - or at least being "in love." Even if you can't stand the the taste of the treat or smirk at the sayings on them that change from generation to generation (OK....TEXT ME is just plain silly to put on a candy heart....), I bet you still have a soft spot in your heart for the high fructose fortified feeling filled hearts that say romance on this special day.

No matter who we are, somewhere deep inside, let's face it, we all want to get a good conversation heart. A pink heart bearing "I LUV U" declarations, a green proclaiming your "SOUL MATE" status, or a white heart exclaiming a passionate "I WANT U", all carry the messages we desire to hear on this special day of romantic celebration. It's human and natural...we all want to feel loved.

I truly appreciate the conversation hearts. I have a bag here on my desk as inspiration (and a snack) as write this. Some of the sayings are trite and maybe even a bit shallow, and some could use some updating. But I still get that ushy gushy feeling when I read the sayings and daydream of my Valentine picking out just the right hearts with the right romantic sayings to give to me.... "I'LL DO THE DISHES"...."DOG"S BEEN FED"..."I'LL DEAL WITH THE KIDS".....