Little Sister Handmade

I could have just gotten the Tinkerbell valentines at the drugstore. It would have been quick and easy, and Mia would have been over the moon about them. But I couldn’t resist making handmade valentines, and figured out a simple way to not only make them, but have Mia do some of the work (an older child could do ALL of the work).

I’ll go ahead and do a little tutorial here (though you hardly need one!), and leave my going on and on about us for the more skippable bottom of the post.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• this easy little pattern for tracing
• dark brown felt for the bear bodies (I think I got about six to a sheet)
• tan felt for the bear muzzles
• red and pink felt for the belly hearts
• 7 mm black pompoms for bear noses
• 7 mm googly eyes
• blank cards (I used a value pack of blank ivory cards that measure 6 1/2 x 5 inches when folded)
• Scrapbook paper (I love the gingham pink and blue!) — by putting a horizontal, then a vertical and then vice versa, you can get four cards out of one 12×12 sheet
• scissors
• glue stick
• school glue

First, trace the bear, heart and muzzle patterns onto the corresponding pieces of felt. Cut out the shapes.

Next, cut the folding cards along the fold (optional, keep them whole if you want cards that open). You can go ahead and write your greeting on the other side now if you wish. Especially if you have little people doing the writing who you know will long be in bed by the time the cards dry!

Cut the scrapbook paper to cover the cards and glue on with a glue stick.

Glue bears onto the cards, the muzzles onto the bears, the noses onto the muzzles, the eyes onto the bear faces and the hearts onto the belly.

look at those dirty digging in the dirt at the park fingernails! I guess tonight should have been bath night!

Give to someone special!

I think we both would have enjoyed the process a little more if it hadn’t been such beautiful weather today. So beautiful that we we had no choice but to go to the park with friends instead of staying home to make the 17 Valentines for Mia’s class, which are to be turned in tomorrow.

We probably would have finished them by bedtime, but Mia wrote each child and teacher’s name. She did a beautiful job, and I was really surprised how few letters I had to show her. She has trouble with drawing an “s,” and she likes to add five horizontal lines to her “E,” but wow, she’s got many of the others down pat. I can’t believe she had the patience to get through all 17 of them. Though that may explain why the joy of gluing, which she had been looking forward to all day, had worn off by about card number five.

I’m proud of my girl and her pride in our handmade valentines. I hope her friends at preschool like them!

3 Comments »