Love is in the air! With Valentine’s day fast approaching, start making your list of everyone you want to send a Valentine’s day card to. Whether you love this day and look forward to it every year or think it’s a made up holiday created to get people to buy more stuff, sending homemade Valentine cards is sweet and will brighten someone’s day. Show your loved ones you care by making a handmade DIY Valentines day card.
You can make cards for your spouse, your best girlfriends, or even your kids. If you’re a teacher, it’s nice to make them for your students, or make cards with your kids to pass out to their classmates at school. There are so many card ideas that are so simple to make and look so nice. And, if you want to get craftier, there are some more difficult and elegant cards. The main thing you will need is card stock or paper, and we’ve got lots of it! Check out our assortment of red paper and red cardstock, use white or cream cardstock for the base of all your cards, and of course, pink paper and pink cardstock for the fine hearts you’ll be needing.
How To Make A Valentines Card
There are many cute homemade valentine cards ideas that are simple and easy for kids to make. For one, you have the thumbprint hearts card. Use a sheet of white cardstock paper, cut in half lengthwise. Fold it in half to form the card. Next, using red and pink finger paint or ink pads, press your little one’s thumb into the first color, and press it into the paper at an angle. Next, overlap it with another thumbprint pointing in the opposite direction to form a heart. Do this multiple times over the card, in both colors. You can even make the hearts in a row to create a “love bug” caterpillar. Or draw lines under the hearts to make them look like balloons. Next, using a black felt tip pen or marker, write your message on the bottom of the card. “Happy Valentine’s day”, or “Glad that you’re mine”. Put it in an envelope and give it to your love! You can even write something personal inside the card.
Another great idea for kids is the Folding Hearts Card. It is so simple to make. Take a sheet of paper in a lighter weight, size 8 ½ by 11, in any color or with a pattern. On the white side of the paper, cut out a big heart. You can do this by folding the paper down the middle and cutting half a heart. Color or write anything you want on the heart. Then, turn the heart upside down so the point is facing upwards. With the pattern side down (and the message facing up), fold both sides of the heart towards the center. Next, fold the top of the heart (now on the bottom, the part with the curves) up to the center. Lastly, fold down the tip, which now forms the flap of your envelope. Close it with a pretty sticker or patterned tape. Give it to someone special, who will open the envelope that turns into the card!
Pop-Up Valentine Cards
If you want a more intricate card idea, try this Popup flower card made out of hearts. You’ll need two colors of card stock paper, preferably red and pink, and one for the card itself, cream works nice. For these DIY pop up Valentine cards, you can use a heart puncher if you have one, or just cut out your own hearts using the red and pink papers. To get the perfect heart, you can use small squares of paper, and fold them in half then cut half a heart. Once you have one done, it’s easy to trace it to make the rest. You’ll need around 8, or more if you want. Once you have all your cut hearts folded in half, start arranging them on the cream cardstock to form the 3D pop up heart. Using glue or double sided tape, secure one half of your first heart on the paper, with the tip facing inwards. Then glue the next heart right under the unsecured flap of the first heart, and keep going around in a circle until they are all glued down. They will pop out to look like a beautiful flower. Follow the tutorial here.
Better Homes & Garden offers free templates to make your own popup “I Love You”, Accordion Hearts, and a Heart Wreath.
Kids can make these fun Kissing Hand Popup Cards from Buggy and Buddy. Fold a piece of lightweight paper in half. Help your kid trace their hand starting from the folded edge. Cut out the hand, being sure not to cut the folded edge. When you open it up, you’ll have two hands facing each other. Write your message on the top half. Next, cut a small strip of construction paper (pink) and fold it into an accordion. Cut a small heart (red) and glue it to one end of the accordion. Glue the other end onto the bottom hand of the card. Now, when you open the folded hand, the heart will pop out! A great card to slip into your kid’s lunches to remind them how much they are loved.
What To Include In A Valentine’s Day Card
You can make a great gift for your boyfriend or girlfriend using these fun and clever Love Coupons. Maybe you don’t want to buy a gift this year, but you still want your partner to know that they are loved. Use this easy template to print the coupons on 8.5×11 cardstock paper, in any color or pattern. You’ll also need 8 size A2 envelopes, preferably in red. Print the coupons out on two pages, and cut each into four coupons. The coupons include things like, Cuddle, Dinner and a Movie, Hug and a kiss, perfect for him or her. Every couple’s goals. You can also create your own coupons. Next, follow the instructions to glue the envelopes together to create a chain. Put the coupons inside, fold it like an accordion and tie it with a ribbon if desired.
There are some neat ideas for classmates and cards to make for school.
For an edible Valentine’s card to send with your kid to school or to make with your students, make these Lollipop Butterflies. Use the template to cut out the butterfly shape. You can print it with a laser printer on red or pink cardstock. Cut two small slits in the center to stick the lollipop through. Write sweet messages on the edges of the card. Give it to your friends and enjoy!
Or use this cute and easy “Color My World” template from Better Homes & Garden for kids to color and stick on top of a bag of crayons. They can give them out to friends.
There are so many great ideas for beautiful cards, like this Bouquet of Hearts that adults and kids can make, or this Hearts in a Jar that is the cutest thing, using a mason jar template filled with lots of little hearts that pop off the page in a 3D effect. Or make this brilliant card by painting on cardstock paper, and using different sized heart shaped cookie cutters as stencils, dip them in contrasting color paint and stamp on the paper. For something more fun, try this Woven Heart Basket and fill it with your favorite candy.
Whichever card you make, simple or complicated, the message to your loved ones is the same: you are loved, today and every day.
And leave them with a homemade Valentine’s Day card that they can’t help but treasure forever.