Valentine's Day Crafts, Food, and Fun

Here are some neat crafts and links for Valentine’s Day.

Chocolate Raspberry Vanilla Bean Marshmallows

These sound so good. Anyone who has made marshmallows from scratch knows how good they are. They aren’t as hard as you might think!

“Do you need a fun treat for Valentine’s Day? Or maybe something cute to do with the kids? These Homemade Marshmallows are so much fun! We’ve made them before as Chocolate Candy Cane Marshmallows for Christmas, but I thought it would be fun to dress them up as Valentine’s Day treats too!”

Crayon Hearts

These are cheap to make and so pretty.

“If the sun seems to peer right into your window, give it something pretty to look at — and through. These translucent hanging hearts are easy to make from waxed paper and crayons. In return, sunbeams will color your room with cheer. Begin with a 12-by-16-inch sheet of waxed paper. Fold it in half along its length; unfold. Deposit wax-crayon shavings (made with a handheld pencil sharpener) evenly but not thickly across one half of the paper. Fold the clean half of the paper over the shavings. Crimp the three open edges with a 1/2-inch fold to hold the shavings. Protect your ironing surface with kraft paper. Place the waxed paper on the kraft paper, and cover it with another sheet of kraft paper. Iron lightly on medium heat, checking after every few passes. Stop when all the shavings have melted; let cool. Next, trace and cut out hearts of various sizes. String each heart with a silk thread for hanging.”

Hand-Shaped Valentines

Hand crafts are always a good idea with little ones in the house.

“Send a touching message with valentines traced from little hands. Just cut from construction paper, and then decorate. You can hand over sweets or a toy ring, or let someone know he’s your hands-down favorite.”

Heart Pancakes

Cute and easy

“I know. Heart-shaped pancakes. Maybe that seems over-the-top susie homemaker-ish. But we loved them. It was almost as good as getting to eat cereal shaped like chocolate cookies or old Irish relics.”

Rubber Cement Masking Valentines

These valentines were made using a very pretty method, rubber cement masking. Joy of My Life has an article on how to do it.

“We also made heart cards using card stock paper and one of our favorite techniques: rubber cement masking. Ana loves watercolors. She had fun combining rubber cement masking with salt sprinkled painting to make a few sheets of paper. We let it dry. Then, cut into hearts. Ana meticulously wrote the names on each card.”

Sack Lunch Surprise

Lunch time chocolate!

Clip a sweet surprise onto your child’s lunch bag. Use pinking shears to cut a scalloped border around red cardstock. Layer on a contrasting piece of paper and attach foil-wrapped chocolates with double-sided tape.

Valentine’s Mobiles from Studio 5

This looks fancy but it’s just ribbons and paper.

Sentimental Valentine’s Day Wheel

This is neat and a little different. You could use their template to customize your own.

“Hundreds of years ago, astronomers fashioned volvelles — wheels of paper that worked like circular slide rules — to help track the movement of the planets. This version of a volvelle conceals rotating endearments along with phrases and symbols that convey your affection with a turn of the wheel.”