Even little kids have fun making their own Valentines! But I was never one to want to put paint all over their hands for making handprint hearts and the like. Too messy! This idea is no muss no fuss.

Stitching Card Valentines

Supplies:

• pink, red, and/or white craft foam
• pink, red, and/or white yarn
• large heart cookie cutter
• scissors
• hole punch
• markers
• tape (optional)

Instructions for Stitching Card Valentines

1. Press the cookie cutter down on the craft foam to make an indention to follow. Cut out the heart.
2. Use a hole punch to punch evenly spaced holes around the perimeter of the heart, about 1 cm apart. Mark the hole positions ahead of time lightly with a pencil on the back of the heart if you need to.
3. Cut a piece of yarn 10-12 inches longer than the perimeter around the heart. To keep the yarn from fraying, tie knots in the ends. OR Roll the ends with tape like the end of a shoelace. Thread the yarn through the holes. Start by going in the hole next to where you want the bow to be from the front. Come back through the next hole from the back of the heart. Go in the next hole from the front of the heart. Repeat.
4. Tie a bow when you get back to where you started.
5. Use markers to write a saying on your heart such as “You keep me in stitches, Valentine!” or “Don’t string me along!”

That’s it! You can have your little one do the yarn stitching for you. Or, you can have them help with the hole punching and give the Valentine’s in a baggy with the string so that everyone can stitch their own. A card and a gift craft in one!

This is the second in what I think will be come a series of Valentine posts. You can see the first one, the Make Your Own Valentine Fortune Teller in the last blog post. Or in the right sidebar, under Blog Topics, click on Holidays.

Happy Valentine’s Day!