Things You'll Need:
- Construction paper (any size and any color)
- Decorations (beads, lace, ribbon, stickers, etc.)
- Glue, tape, double-sided tape
- Scissors (adult supervision recommended!)
- Non-Toxic finger paint, crayons, markers, pens/pencils, etc.
- Hands and/or Feet (or both!)
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Step 1
Preparation
Before you begin, please note that this project may get very messy, so prepare your decorating area ahead of time by laying down a drop sheet or lay out newspapers to catch most of the mess. It is recommended to do this project away from carpets and any hard-to-clean areas. A great place would be the kitchen floor or a room of the house you really don’t care about! -
Step 2
Getting the Card Ready
After you take the necessary measures to insure your decorating area will be easy to clean up. Take a piece of construction paper (your choice of size and color) fold it in half to create the basis of your card (front, back and inside panels). Now you’re ready to start decorating! -
Step 3
Decorating the Card
All young children (and adults alike!) will enjoy getting messy, being creative and having fun by doing the following:
a) Hand & Foot Prints (The Center-piece of your Card)
First prepare an old dish, pan or tub with non-toxic finger paint (other paint that’s fast drying and easy to remove from skin will work as well). Make sure the dish is large enough to lay down your hand and/or foot (or both) in flat. Use if possible a dish/pan/tub that you don’t care to use again for food or that you may have on hand for your kids to destroy with their craft-making!
Once you have the dish prepared with paint, dip your kid’s hands/feet into the paint and have them press either (or both) on the card. You can place their hands anywhere on the card and as often as you’d like. It’s your card, make it creative!
Wash your kid’s hands/feet immediately after the print making portion, to lessen any skin irritations, digestion, etc. and to lessen any further mess you may have to clean up later!
b) Other Decorations
It’s a good idea to let the hand/foot prints dry before decorating other areas of the card. Your paint labels should tell you the product’s approximate drying time (it may be a few hours or overnight).
Once the paint is dry you can continue decorating the card with markers, pencils, color pencils, crayons, stickers, ribbon, fabric, stencils and so on. Again you can be as creative as possible – writing “Happy Valentine’s Day!” on the front or insides, and having all the participants sign the card (it’s a good idea to write the date somewhere as well – this card will make a great keepsake!) -
Step 4
Optional Envelope
If you feel really creative you can also make an envelope to put the card in. For this you may need tape and/or a hole punch & ribbon!
To make an envelope, take another piece of construction paper (preferably larger than the one you used to make the card with). Fold it in half. There will be 3 open sides. The 2 shortest sides will have to be closed using either tape and/or you can hole punch some areas down each side and then take two pieces of ribbon and weave them through each hole until it’s closed, tying each piece off in a know at the top and bottom.
If you really want to get fancy, you can take another piece of construction paper and cut out a large triangle shape - the base of the triangle being the same length as your envelope. The pointy end will be used to close the last remaining opening of the envelope. Once you have the triangle cut out paste and/or tape the base of the triangle along one side of the open end (inside on the front preferred). Once the triangle is securely in place, fold it over to the back of the envelope and secure it with a sticker or double-sided tape.
You can decorate your finished envelope with more hand/foot prints, or with other decorations you have on hand. Once the envelope is completely dry (and your card too), place the card inside the envelope and seal it up (with double-sided tape or just leave it open!) -
Step 5
Give to Valentine
Once your card (and/or envelope) is completely dry be sure to give it to your Valentine! I’m sure they’ll love it!
