Valentine's Day crafts

Ah, Valentine's Day! Another opportunity for crafting. We are making Valentines that look like cell phones, from an idea in this month's Family Fun magazine. I decided to do the text on the computer using clear and white mailing labels. This saved us time writing in names and signatures and made the card look more authentic.

The best part is that the buttons are actually those candy dots. I think the kids will figure that out. Maybe they look a little homemade, but at least they will be different and interesting to hold. Perhaps they will spark some imaginations.

We all liked the idea that we are giving kids cell phones for Valentine's Day.

I also wanted to make a link to these 1950s Valentines that were originally linked at boingboing.net I think I am going to use the images for something. They bring back a time that's sweeter, perhaps. But then, as one poster noted, the guns on the pirates and cowboys would probably not be appreciated on cards sent among schoolchildren today. Was it a more innocent time then? I never quite thought so. But there is something perhaps a little more imaginative in these cards than the plethora of cartoon-linked cards that are basically all I can find in stores today. That's kind of why we are making our own.

We're also supposed to make a box to put the cards in. Sort of forgot about that until one of the other schoolmates explained that she had already completed hers. And that last year her brother made one that floated around the room, as it was attached to a balloon. Here are some of the most clever Valentine box ideas I've found so far. These boxes were made by second and third graders, supposedly, altho I think that lots of parents helped.

This year I'm putting my creative juices into helping out on Valentine's instead of a Pinewood Derby car. I've attempted too many of those cars and find it absolutely frustrating. The whole thing becomes much too competitive, even among the kindest groups. I am not a NASCAR fan. I don't know enough about woodworking to even want to show off any miniscule amount of talent I may have in that area. Why anyone thinks Pinewood Derby cars are fun year after year is beyond me...? Why not every other year?

Valentine's Day still has that wonderful goofiness for elementary school children. Before you have those heart-wrenching crushes, the holiday is about getting a small gift, eating candy, and celebrating in the middle of a freezing cold winter.