Family Time Create & Craft: Easily Make V-Day Cards W/ Kids
Family time create & craft together is so much fun. But it can also be daunting! Especially for you homeschooling moms who are already so busy.
Do you remember the days when Valentines day was all about romantic love? But now you are married with children and so you now have the added opportunity to have Valentines day be a time the whole family creates fun times to love one another more.
A big way we do this is by making valentines! I have learned how to do this with my family of 6 with a spread of ages between 15 and 2, today I share this knowledge with you!
Family Time Create & Craft
Open ended valentines day card making is the way to go for large families especially. Having many options makes your teenagers busy as well as your 2 year despite the great difference in ability.
This also makes it so much easier on you mom! You don’t need to waste hours of your time searching for kits that will be perfect for each child’s age and interest to be successful in valentines card making.
Today we are going to go through tips and tricks for gathering materials, the materials themselves, and tips for actually creating these unique cards with your family.
Gathering Your Materials
Starting something new is daunting, no matter what it is. You know you want your family to make handmade Valentines day cards this year, but you don’t know where to start.
First you must gather materials! There are so many fun and exciting things you can buy for valentines day card making that it can be overwhelming and expensive. But it doesn’t need to cost you an arm and leg and you don’t need to be overwhelmed anymore to enjoy card making with your family.
I am going to split this materials list into two sections according to where I typically buy my card making supplies, Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby.
Before we get started though I want to let you know that you do NOT need to buy everything on this list! In fact I wouldn’t suggest it! Build up your supplies over a many years is what I did and it works just fine.
To help you keep things minimal I will bold the ones I consider necessary to get started with. BUT, just because I say they are necessary doesn’t mean you need to buy all of them either.
Dollar Tree-Family Time Create & Craft
The first place I go shopping for handmade valentines day card making supplies is the Dollar Tree. Of course the Dollar Tree sells things that are not even worth a dollar, but often they have some great values!
The Dollar tree doesn’t necessarily sell the exact same things every year so I can’t guarantee all that I list will be there, but I have seen them there for years so it is a good chance you will too. They always have options.
Paper Products
They have lace looking paper doilies. They have round shapes and heart shapes. The heart shapes are in three different colors, red, white, and pink.
Construction paper is sold there also and it is a especially useful for the younger children.
Tissue paper. They have multi colored options or plain white.
Stickers! They have surprisingly cute stickers in the craft sections and they will have different kinds of heart shapes stickers some of which are made out of foam.
Cutting And Gluing
Glue sticks! This is the cheapest place, that I know of, to get them.
Sparkling glue is a great addition. I like the sparkly glue so much better than sparkles themselves because there is a lot less mess with them! I actually don’t buy sparkles anymore because of the huge mess.
Scissors are of course a nessesity and the Dollar Tree is the perfect place to buy them.
Ribbon and Random
There are ribbons of different kinds. They can be used as borders, tied into bows and more.
There are also many random things that you can purchased. Tiny jewels, rose peddles, tiny stones, sea shells, and more.
Colored pencils are super useful. Being homeschoolers you likely already have some.
Mini flowers and lace.
Hobby Lobby-Family Time Create & Craft
I go to Hobby Lobby the most because it is closer to me then the other options like Joanne’s and Michael’s.
Fancy Paper
Hobby Lobby has a big selection of single fancy paper, but I skip this section and go to the area where there are collections. You can buy the Valentines day colors and/or the fancy paper that doesn’t scream valentines day but still works beautifully for Valentine card making. See photo below.
They come in different sizes. Pick one or many! I started with one and added more every couple of years or so.
Gadgets
There are stamps galore but they are expensive so I have not purchased one from a store. I have bought one from thrift stores before. I do get ink at Hobby Lobby but some years I skip it.
Hole punchers are great. There are hearts, circles, leaves, flowers, all sorts of things. I buy one every so often. The cost can add up quickly with this sort of thing so I just buy a new one occasionally. I personally own 3.
Fancy scissors. These scissors cut different shaped edges.
Random
Go down the valentines day isles and you can find all sorts of things!
With these items you can make endless amount of unique and fun handmade Valentines day cards.
Family Time Create & Craft: Tips For Crafting With Littles
I have been making Valentines day cards with my children for many years. Because I don’t like sleeping, I have 6 children with another one on the way! (JK!) I have 5 boys and 1 girl, ages 2-15.
Following are great tips that I have learned over the years.
Set a time- setting a time with our busy schedule can be the hardest part some times. In our family we have a family fun night once a week so schedule it for 2 or 3 weeks in advance because it can take us more than one sitting to finish.
Organizing the supplies-have the family help you put like things in bowls so that it is easier to pass things around. Have enough scissors and glue sticks so there are no long waiting lines. This keeps the fights away!
I spread the paper supplies evenly around the table so everyone can reach something.
Toddlers-pencils and cheap paper can keep them happy. Some times I help them glue things on because being left out is the worst thing in the world!
My husband, myself, and my bigger kids take turns keeping the toddlers happy when they are done making Valentines. Snacks are a life savor as well.
Music-listen to a Valentines day play list! It makes extra fun. We like to make fun of the extra corny love songs.
Keeping Track of who made what-I write a quick spread sheet that we check off as we make valentines. My older kids love to check off their own.
We show off our Valentines day cards to each other while keeping surprises a secret. Some of your children will have a greater knack at making Valentines then others so this is good for the whole family to appreciate each others Valentines.
Don’t overexaggerate compliments though! Stay truthful. Things like, “You worked so hard on that, great job!” “Those colors together are unique.” Or, “I never would have thought to put those sticker there. ” Not “Wow that’s the most beautiful Valentine the world has ever seen!” They know when we our genuin.
Have a place to put the Valentines when you are done- I have a tutorial coming up for heart shaped pouches that store these valentines beautifully until they are open on V-day. If you don’t have a place to put them they will rip, and get lost! Learn from my mistake!
You also need a place to have the glue dry so plan on that. It can be in the kitchen counters, on parents bed, where ever you have room and that is out of the reach of the little ones of the house.
Family Time Create & Craft V-day Card Examples
I pulled a few examples from last years family Valentines day card making. Last year my children’s ages where, 4, 7, 9, 12, and 14. Can you tell which aged child create which Valentines card?
Happy Valentine Card Making Recap
You are now ready to make hand made valentines day cards with your family!
We covered:
- Material options and where to buy them
- What basic materials you can start with, thus saving you money
- Tips and tricks while you create and craft together
- Showed you examples of different aged children their Valentines day
As fun as card making is, and it is my favorite part of Valentines day, there are many other things you can do to enhance this wonderful time together! Click on a Valentines DIY below.
