Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday to give the gift of time!  My kids really enjoy arts and crafts and I’ve been trying to be intentional about carving out time to enjoy these activities with them.  Holidays like Valentine’s Day are a great time to create some simple and sweet DIY projects…and even use them in your decorating too!  We hope you enjoy these simple crafts!

Valentine’s Day “I Love You” Garland

Materials needed:

• Kraft paper card stock (or simple construction paper works too!)
• Twine or string
• Pencil
• Heart shape template
• Hole punch
• Scissors

I love that you can really tweak this simple DIY in so many fun ways.  I spent $1 on this DIY, purchasing the little cardboard heart box at the Dollar Tree.  I will be using it for another DIY, but the lid was the perfect size for a heart template!  I traced the lid onto my card stock paper.  I chose to do the brown kraft paper, but again, you could change this to whatever color you wanted to use!  It would be adorable in pink and red too!

I traced 12 hearts so that each child would have four to write on.  After tracing, I cut out the hearts and punched a hole at the curve of each heart.

The kids wrote something they love about each member of the family on their hearts.  I had them use neutral colored pencils to keep the aesthetic of the mantel styling.  Again, you could change these colors to fit whatever space you’re styling!

If you don’t have children at home or your children are too young to write, this would also be really pretty with favorite scripture verses or quotes about love!

One of my followers suggested that I write the year on the back of the hearts so I can save them.  I think that is a great idea and I’ll do just that!

We hung the garland on the mantel, layered over the winter greenery I was already using in this space.  I love how it adds a subtle touch of the upcoming holiday, while still blending in with the look and style of our home.

Conversation Heart DIY Box

Materials needed:

• Box or bowl (I purchased this cardboard box at the Dollar Tree!)
• Strips of paper
• Pencil
• Writing prompts

Gathering around the table for family dinners is always a highlight for us.  And it almost always involves rounds of laughter, especially from our Addy!  I thought it would be fun to create a special conversation box for our Valentine’s dinner!

If you don’t have a box, even a cute bowl would work great for this!

I cut small strips of white paper, though you could use any color that coordinates with your table décor.  On each strip of paper, I wrote a writing prompt.  I chose to do 10, giving each member of our family two chances.  Here are some ideas to get you started!

1. One kind thing I did this week was ______
2. One kind thing someone did for me this week was _____
3. How can I show kindness to someone who isn’t kind in return?
4. What is your favorite family memory from this year?
5. What is something our family could do better in showing love to each other?
6. What is something great our family does to show we love one another?
7. Who is a neighbor we could show some extra love to this week and how?
8. I can help my family this week by _____
9. I can show love at school/work to my teacher/co-worker this week by _____
10. What is a funny family memory from this year?

I think this will be a fun and interesting way to focus our conversation around the topic of love and kindness as we celebrate this Valentine’s Day!

Yarn-Wrapped Heart Garland

Materials needed:

• Cardboard
• White Yarn
• Scissors
• Twine

These yarn-wrapped heart garlands are a popular choice for a simple DIY and I can see why!  Rather than the typical red or pink yarn, I opted to use white yarn.  Again, looking for ways to add subtle touches of the holiday while still blending in with the overall style and look of our home!

To start off, I drew a heart about 3 inches tall and 2 inches wide and cut it out of cardboard. I traced the heart 6 times for a total of 7 hearts.

I used about 3 yards of yarn per heart and simply wrapped the yarn around the cardboard heart. I made sure to rotate the yarn around the heart so it wasn’t to bunched or bulky in any one spot. I just tucked the end of the yarn under other pieces of yearn. You could hot glue it to make sure it will stay well, but I didn’t think it was necessary.

I then took twine and threaded it through the back of the hearts. Simply hang where ever will look lovely in your home!

I love how this turned out.  Sweet, simple, and lots of texture!  I plan to add it to our girls’ room after Valentine’s Day, so it will get a lot of use, long after the holiday!

I hope this inspires you to carve out a little bit of creative time and make something simple to help you decorate for the holiday!  It’s a great chance to get kids involved or just relax for cozy night in, crafting with a favorite movie and cup of coffee…or sneak a few Valentine’s chocolates!

Blessings,

Robyn