Valentine's Day Prints
We can't get enough of these gorgeous thumbprint DIY valentines featured on Glittergoods! A fantastic alternative to store-bought valentines, this festive sweet project is easy, inexpensive, and perfect for smaller valentine-making hands to work on.
We also love how one commenter wrote about this project, "I especially love the one behind that looks like it could be two people in some sort of locked, smile nuzzle!" Can't argue with that!
Monster Mania
Chef Messy offers up these darn cute homemade monster valentines and we absolutely love these kooky little fuzzy critters!
Featuring personalized word bubbles for each classmate, these DIY creative cards are easy to make with only a little bit of colorful paper needed. Add in a sweet Valentine's Day treat or goody and this happy monster cutie is ready for one spectacular party!
Pirate Love
For the little ones that can't get enough of all things pirates, don't miss out on Mer Mag's fabulous idea for making these gorgeous pirate valentines.
Including an added colorful stitch across the front for the felt heart eye patch, these cards really go to show that it doesn't take a whole lot to make adorable homemade valentines. And if you're interested in making these exact cards, you're in luck -- Mer Mag offers up a downloadable PDF with her original pirate drawing and different color choices for both boys and girls!
The Sky's the Limit
Much like the Push Pop planes featured in our birthday goody bag ideas, these clever Valentine's Day planes from the Giver's Log are an excellent alternative to the store-bought pink and red usual V-Day inclusions!
Easily made with a stick of gum, Lifesavers and Smarties candies, these sweet litlte airplanes are sure to win over your child's classmates at this year's Valentine's Day card exchange. And as a bonus, check out the full post for a printable PDF of the cool banners that fly behind the planes!
Sweet Chocolate Goodness
Sewtakeahike shares this genius idea for making DIY Valentine's Day chocolate lollipops -- and this is one treat that everyone's sure to love!
Made with melted chocolate, a heart-shaped lollipop mold, and sticks to match, these lovely lollies are quick and easy to make for a large group. The homemade covers are also a simple addition, if wanted -- with only parchment paper and a quick zip-through on the sewing machine needed! Check out the full post for Penny's excellent tutorial and tips.
My Funny Valentine
Blonde Designs Blog features this clever fun idea for giving out homemade lip and mustache lollipops with cute messages for Valentine's Day -- and this is one silly treat that all of the kiddos are sure to get a kick out of!
The templates for making the tags, lips, and mustaches are included in the full post -- you'll only need to worry about picking up some black and red foam paper, and using construction paper for the personalized notes. The best part about these valentines: as you have the lollipop in your mouth, it looks like you've got a fancy new 'stache or pair of lips -- think of it as a valentine and a fun disguise all wrapped into one!
Mad About You
We can't get enough of Design Mom's creative idea for making homemade Mad Lib valentines -- absolutely genius!
Mama Gabrielle shows us just how quick and it easy it was for her and her son to make these super cool Mad Lib valentines wrapped with cute origami paper and messages reading: "You have mad skillz" and "I can't lib without you." Check out the full post for printable PDFs if you're interested in making your own personalized Mad Lib messages. Overall a great non-candy Valentine's Day idea that'll still provide plenty of fun!
Pencil Pretty
Another great alternative to the usual candy-laden Valentine's Day card, Playful Learning shows off these adorable handmade valentines that feature a colorful new pencil as a goody.
Simply made with decorative paper and plenty of unique drawings for each classmate, Mama Mariah said that it was great to see her two daughters make these cards, as it gave them the chance to practice their spelling and writing. Check out Mariah's full post for a handful of other homemade valentine ideas, following the girls' ages with each one -- it's super cute to see the progression with each year!
Wooden Wonderful
A super sweet DIY idea for making upcycled valentines, we can't get enough of these adorable wooden Valentine's Day cards included on Mustard Seeds!
Though Mom or Dad will want to be in charge of cuting the wood into small, coin-sized pieces, your little one will love getting to work on painting in the hearts and adding personalized messages for all of his classmates. Be sure to check out the full post for an excellent walktrhough and wood-cutting tips.
Colorful Cards
Another great idea from Chef Messy, these cool, upcycled crayon Valentine's Day cards are sure to be an instant crowdpleaser for your child tot's classmates.
Including the fun message of, "Happy Valentine's Day for crayon out loud!," the crayons included in these colorful cards are easy to make with a heart-shaped silicone pan, leftover crayon bits, and just a little bit of baking time. Perfect for the families that are hoping to go candy-free this year, these bright and beautiful cards are eco-friendly and sure to inspire plenty of creative play!
Soft at Heart
Much like rejuvenating your old crayons by recycling them, All Buttoned Up explains how it's equally easy to reuse your old fabric pieces for personalized decorative Valentine's Day cards.
Featuring pretty scraps with polka dots, vibrant colors, and fun patterns, these valentines are super simple to make with only a little cutting and gluing work needed. And the very best part -- Mama Melissa says it only took her and her four-year-old a whopping 45 minutes to make 21 of these valentines for classmates!
Perfect Puppetry
Antoher fun option for a Valentine's Day candy-less treat, we can't get enough of Katie Did's neat idea for making these adorable personalized finger puppet valentines.
To get started on your own V-Day puppets, you'll want to have a variety of colorful construction paper, cardboard or paper "finger tubes," and some decorative markers or tape to help fancy them up. To make sure that the kiddos all knew that these sweet little guys were puppets before tearing them up in search of candy, Mama Katie also made rough shillouettes of her daughters' hands and cut the pointer finger's top with an x-acto knife so that the puppet could perch on top for all to see. Be sure to check out the full post for more fun photos and the walkthrough.
Valentine's Day Goody Jars
Free Pretty Things for You's guest blogger Little Miss Momma shows us just how she made these adorable Valentine's Day goody jars in a great tutorial.
Deeming this project as the "world's easiest Valentine's Day craft project," the crafty Little Miss Momma explains how she used papper baking cups with cute ladybugs on them for the jar's decoration and how you can fill your jars with any goodies of your choice -- candies, love notes, stickers, and more!
Upcycled love
Zakka Life shares this genius idea for making homemade valentines out of used envelopes -- so easy, eco-friendly, and totally fantastic!
Pretty much only requiring scissors and some cute decorations, this Valentine's Day project is perfect for all ages and it teaches a great lesson on reusing old materials to make much neater ones. Plus, these valentines can be made into pouches or packets for love letters, candy, and other Valentine's Day treats. Super neat!
Sweets for the Sweet
We absolutely love Hausfrau in Melbourne's idea for making these hoemmade cookie valentines -- and we're sure that all of the kids receiving them will too!
In this great Valentine's Day pictorial, Mama Louise explains how she used paper-covered CD cases for the cookies' packaging (smart mama!) and includes photos of some equally adorable bookmark valentines that she made for her tots. All in all an extremely sweet deal!
A Hearty Bunch
My Paper Crane shows off these fun, personalized Valentine's Day heart people cards, and we're sure this is one gaggle of valentines that'll certainly get a roar of classroom giggles!
A simple and creative Valentine's Day project that's great for all ages, you'll only need to worry about having construction paper, glue, googly eyes, and glitter on hand to get started. We love the idea of personalizing paper hearts with silly faces to give to friends and family -- maybe a mustache for grandpa and a cool haircut for dad? Yes!
Goin' Fishin
Katherine Marie Photography features this clever idea for making fish out of mini candy bars -- and they are darn cute!
Mama Katherine explains that her and her two-year-old made these cute candy fish cards for Father's Day, but we think that they would be equally excellent as unique homemade valentines for this year's party. Perfect for small hands to craft, with only a wee bit of googly eyes, pasting, and construction paper needed!
Love Prints
Anothing fun take on using thumbprints for homemade Valentine's Day cards, Plum Pudding shows off these sweet love notes that her child made for classmates. And the best part -- she used the cards featured before as her inspiration!
Similar to the other thumprint valentines shown, you'll only need to use your child's hand (or thumb, for that matter) to make the card's main decoration -- simply add a sweet note once the print has dried off and you're good to go! Mama Megan also notes that instead of using a stamp pad, she just colored her daughter's fingertip with a washable marker -- genius!
Love Bugs
Make and Takes shows off seven different ideas for using hearts and colorful construction paper to make adorable little Valentine's Day card critters.
Some of our favorites are the fish, mouse and this ladybug shown --0 though they are all super cute!Easy to make with a little creativity and some colorful construction paper, the options are endless for which critters you'll be able to come up with! Check out the full post to see the rest of Mama Marie's heartfelt critters.
Lovely Prints
And speaking of another kind of fun Valentine's Day printing idea, Mom in Madison offers up these gorgeous potato print valentines that she made with her sons during a "heart" project.
To get started on your own, simply cut a potato in half and carve out a heart shape in the middle for stamping. Once the hearts are ready to go, give the kids some sparkly red and pink paint to work with and you're on your way to having some super sweet valentines!
