Spreading Love with Valentine’s Day Crafts

Valentine’s Day is coming soon! Children will pass out valentines to all their friends and classmates, and couples will exchange flowers and candy. It’s the perfect time to remember the importance of love in our lives. The holiday also presents an opportunity for making adorable heart-shaped crafts with your child. Here are a few Valentine’s Day crafts that we love.

Bird Feeder Hearts

Crafting projects often end up stashed away and eventually thrown away, despite your best intentions. What if you could make an adorable craft that could be put to use? These bird feeder hearts can do just that, making them more sustainable and fun than the average craft. They’re easy to make, especially with the help of older children. 

Recipe

• For the hearts

• ¾ cup of flour

• ½ cup of water

• 1 2.5 teaspoon envelope of unflavored gelatin

• 3 tablespoons of corn syrup

• 4 cups of birdseed

• Other items needed

• Heart-shaped cookie cutter

• Cooking spray

• Pieces of ribbon

• Gift tags 

Instructions

• Spray a spoon with cooking spray.

• Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. 

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

• Spray the inside of a heart-shaped cookie cutter, place it on the parchment paper, then fill it with birdseed, packing it down as you go.

• Spray a second spoon with cooking spray to pat down the heart, making sure it’s really packed in. 

• Make a hole near the top center using a chopstick or similar object

• Remove the cookie cutter, fixing up the edges, then let them sit overnight

• The next day, put a ribbon through the center of each heart, and tie the ends together

• Tie a gift tie to each ribbon 

Perler Bead Valentines

Who says Valentine’s cards need to be made from cardstock? Playing with perler beads will bring you right back to the days when you were making cards for your classmates. It will also show your child a fun, easy form of crafting. For this project, you will need to use an iron, so you may need to help a younger child.

Items needed

• Perler beads

• Perler bead pegboard

• Parchment paper

• Iron

• Small 2.75-inch glassine envelopes

• Washi tape

Instructions

• Arrange beads on a pegboard into a heart shape, and build a square around the heart. Make the overall size 12 pegs across to fit into a 2.75-inch envelope. 

• When the design is complete, lay parchment paper over the beads

• Set the heated iron on the parchment paper, holding for 10-15 seconds

• Allow plastic to cool

• Once it has cooled, remove the square from the pegboard, and place into an envelope. Seal the envelope with washi tape. 

Yarn Heart Art

A staple of crafting, yarn can be used in many ways to create works of art with a homemade feel. You can dive into crocheting or knitting with your child, create a design using a board with nails, or do this simple project. These pieces of 3D art make wonderful decorative gifts despite how simple they are to make.

Items needed

• Red yarn, preferably in multiple shades

• Flat wooden hearts, various sizes

• Small canvases, around 6” x 6”

Instructions

• Wrap the wooden hearts with yarn, forming the round shape as you wrap. Be careful to make sure it holds the heart shape. 

• If you are using multiple colors, be sure to alternate between the two colors when you’re wrapping. 

• Tuck in the loose thread.

• Hot glue the hearts to the canvas.

If your child loves to paint, consider having them paint the canvas, making sure it fully dries before sticking anything on it. A bright solid color like yellow or blue can make the red hearts pop and add another dimension to this simple project. 

Crafting for Valentine’s Day gives you a chance to spend quality time with your child and allows your child to spread love through homemade gifts. At North Tampa Christian Academy, a Tampa private school, students thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.

5 Fun Ways to Decorate Pumpkins

Fall is here, and suddenly pumpkins are all around us. Adults are enjoying pumpkin spice lattes in the morning, and kids are trying pumpkin spice snacks. One of the most time-honored fall traditions, however, is pumpkin decorating. Displaying a pumpkin inside or outside of your house is a great way to ring in the season and show off your creative side. Traditionally, pumpkins are carved into a facial shape, but lately, pumpkin decoration has gone to all-new levels. Here are a few fun ideas that anyone in the family can try.

Cover in Washi Tape

Washi tape was all the rage in DIY a few years ago, but it’s still around for those who like to be crafty without having to get their hands dirty. Teens may prefer this method of decorating, especially since it creates a cleaner result. Washi tape comes in all sorts of fun patterns, from geometric to floral to truly abstract. The great thing about being able to fully cover the pumpkin is that you don’t need to worry if your pumpkin is a little bruised. This strategy can also be used for plastic pumpkins if you prefer a reusable decoration. Just be sure to fill all gaps and spaces, and seal the tape in with mod podge.

Use Elements from Nature

The great thing about pumpkins is that they’re all natural. Whether you’re making your pumpkin into an animal shape or looking for a design that really says “fall,” dried leaves, acorns and more can all be used as decorations. Younger children will love going outside to collect crafting materials. Before using items gathered from outdoors, just make sure to look out for bugs. If you find leaves or pine cones that aren’t quite dry, take a few minutes to dry them in the oven at a low temperature. 

Nails and String

Poking nails into your pumpkin is a great way to achieve a 3D effect. If you and your child are looking to create a one-of-a-kind design, adding string to a simple shape can create the illusion of a spooky web texture. Simply find a shape, configure nails in a pattern around that shape, and tie string around the nails, making sure most of it crosses into the middle of the shape. As long as you have plenty of string, you can bring new textures and life to your pumpkin design. Paint around the design to create even more depth. 

Painting the Stripes

Choose two contrasting colors (or black and white if that’s what you’re going for) and paint over the pumpkin stripes. The best way to do this is by painting the lighter color first. That way, when you find a rhythm, you won’t have to worry about painting the light color over the dark color. Your pumpkin will look like a work of art, even though you’ve chosen a fairly simple way to decorate it.

Creating a Stencil 

If you love carving but aren’t a fan of pumpkin guts, there’s always the option of carving only the outside. You can create a work of stencil art, which involves less effort than conventional carving and leaves more room for detail and creativity in your design. You can find a stencil design online, print it out, and trace it onto your pumpkin. From there, you should have a fairly easy time making a fun pumpkin without worrying about your child carrying a large knife.

At North Tampa Christian Academy, a Tampa private school, students thrive creatively, academically and spiritually in a project-based learning environment. Faculty and families work together to inspire leadership through Christian innovation. Contact us today to learn more.