It’s the week of hearts.
It’s no secret that we aren’t big Valentines Day people. I believe so much more in sharing that you love all year long in simple, kind, thoughtful ways. BUT, I do love a good heart craft, and with kids it is hard to completely ignore the holiday.
Since I can’t fully ignore it, I just try to keep it cheap and quick. Thanks to cardboard, that is possible!! (What would we do without cardboard around here!?!?! It fuels a lot of creativity.)
You too can make a fun cardboard wreath to use as decor or stay tuned to the bottom of this post to see how it could be a fun, class, collaborative project.
I started with a bunch of cardboard boxes. I cut off the box flaps and use those pieces to then cut into heart shapes.
I tried to keep two sizes. One slightly larger than the other, but I didn’t not trace the heart to make them all exactly the same. I just eyeballed it to keep it close.
Next, I painted the hearts. I picked colors that went with the Valentine’s theme. You could tweak this step to personalize these hearts and their colors to being pinks for a baby shower or maybe blues & pinks for a gender reveal party!
After I painted my hearts and they were completely dry, I used Elmers glue to attach them to one another. I used blue Elmers Glue, only because it was the first glue I found. Any school glue or hot glue would work!
I played around with laying the hearts in a circle, overlapping one another. I tried to split the pinks and reds from being right next to each other. I then added a little glue to the back of the hearts for where they would overlap another heart and press it into place for a few seconds.
You can probably tell by the pictures I created a base with the bigger hearts and then the smaller ones on top. It helps create a thicker, 3d shape and gives it some depth.
It was so quick! It gives my house a little Valentine’s pop without spending money on decorations.
After I made my wreath, I thought this could be such a fun quick class party craft.
Have every child color, paint their own heart. Maybe they just do solid colors and then add their name in a sharpie? Or maybe they write a way they can show love to their classmates? Or maybe they write something they love about their teacher? There’s so many ways you could take this project. It could then be displayed on the classes door or in the room for the rest of the month.
We all need reminders to love one another well, right!? Have fun! If you do this project, I’d love to see it! Share with #spoonfulofimagination on social media so we can cheer one another along in our crafty journeys!
Are you making Valentines with your kids for a class party this week?
My daughter is really creative. I gave her some paper, heart stickers, pipe cleaners and a hot glue gun and she ran with the supplies and made these all on her own. I stood back and watched her dream up fun valentines for each of her friends.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t buy fruit roll-ups a lot. There’s something about that red, waxy substance that just doesn’t seem like food. Now, this was a fun opportunity to buy something my girl views as a “treat” yet it’s not candy. She’s going to be eating a ton of candy at her class party anyway…why not let her have/give something she enjoys as a special treat, but that’s a little bit different for some extra fun!?
I love that she glued her valentines to her fruit roll-ups to look like the guy was holding the fruit roll up or standing on it. Seriously. She is so creative!
She worked really hard on these little characters and is so excited to give them to her friends this week! If you have some paper on hand, this could be an easy valentine to whip up with your kids this week.Part of the fun of creating with your kids is just the opportunity to sit and talk with one another. Enjoy!
Have you ever wanted to paint a heart?
I used some leftover spray paints and sprayed just the top of my wood pieces. I didn’t need the sides covered or for the whole top to be really even. I was just trying to cover the middle of the wood piece well. I will show you why.
After I painted the tops, I sanded my signs a little with a heavy grit sandpaper. I wanted the color to be mixed a little with a rustic appeal. By sanding the signs a little, some of the color was removed to show the natural wood below again.
This next step is how you get your symmetrical heart. Remember the old elementary school trick of folding a piece of paper in half? Cut one rounded half of your heart, unfold it, and ta-da… perfect heart! So, I cut a bunch of hearts out of thin cardboard. You could use construction paper or even paper bags from the grocery store. Just something that will withstand a little spray paint. The hearts were different sizes and styles. I wanted a mix of different looks, and the different hearts helped create that.  
Now, I laid a cardboard heart on each wood sign and spray painted over them with a different color. The heart cardboard acted as a sticker shadow and allowed the new spray paint color to stay off the previous spray paint layer in the shape of a heart. Since this layer of spray paint is the top layer, you do want to spray paint the sides of your heart sign now.
My hearts were pretty perfect. I did a light sand job to rough the edges up a bit more and then the signs were complete! If you have been following me for a while, you might remember I did this painting trick on 
Do you give out Valentines? Matt and I aren’t a big Valentines Day couple, but I have created a number of different Valentines for our kids through the years. This 
Surely I’m not a hoarder, right!? There are things that are easy to throw out. Toys the dogs have chewed on, stained socks with holes, and junk mail… no sweat!
I decided I would make some simple heart blocks and books ends. I love the simplicity yet loud message a heart speaks. What a cute little accent these would be on shelves and dressers.
I then picked out some fun colors and painted the blocks. Once they were painted on both sides, I cut a heart out of cardboard to create a stencil. I then placed this in the center of my block and painted the heart in.
I ended up creating several different sized heart stencils. This idea for a sign is similar to 
I love how the blocks turned out. To turn some of the larger ones into book ends, I attached a 4″ L bracket to the bottom of two of the blocks.
I think the blocks and bookends turned out so bright and fun. I really like them.
I donated this round of blocks to a fun home decor sale in our town. The profits from this sale help send kids in Zambia, Africa to school! If you are local to Warsaw or Winona Lake, Indiana, please come check out the Hither and Yon sale October 16-17. You can find more details on their 
I think one of the best gifts we have is the ability to use our gifts for good. What a power. The surprise is that we get something in return. It’s a win-win. I was thrilled to make some creations for a good reason. I just might have to buy one of these blocks back because I really like them.