I am not a crafty person by nature so the crafts we do around here are foolproof. I love the look of homemade Valentines cards because they are so much more personal than the generic little cards you buy at the store but with my options are limited by my crafting skills.

I love this super simple idea for creating homemade Valentines and the best part is you can make it from supplies you probably already have around the house!

Supplies

• Camera
• Pipe Cleaner
• Multi-colored cupcake liners

Instructions

These homemade Valentines are so easy that your kids can actually do most of the work. My son made these in our co-op preschool last year and he was so proud of the end result (You’ll have to excuse the photo. I couldn’t find the original at the moment so this was just a quick snapshot that was take of the project last year).

The first step is to take the photo. You can either take a snapshot in your backyard or create a solid background by having your child stand against a painted wall. If you don’t have a solid wall in your home, try hanging a solid color blanket or sheet behind your child.

Lighting is the key to getting the best photo. If you have a wall next to a window that brings in a lot of natural light that will work the best. Outside photos are a great alternative as well.

Have your child make a fist and hold his arm out. For younger kids, you may have to tell them to pretend that they are holding something in their hand. It’s best if your child’s thumb is on the side of their fist so that the end result looks more realistic.

Print enough photos to create the number of Valentines that you need.

Poke a small hole in the photo at the top of your child’s hand. If you want to be fancy you can poke a second hole at the bottom of their hand so it looks like the stem of the flower is coming out the bottom.

Poke a hole in the center of a stack of cupcake liners. Don’t make the hole too big of they’ll slide down the stem. A toothpick works great for this.

Have your child thread the cupcake liners onto the pipe cleaner to make them look like a flower. You can use tissue paper cut into interesting shapes for this too if you want to be a bit more create.

When your child likes the way their flower looks, fold over the top of the pipe cleaner to keep the cupcake liners in place then feed the other end through the hole in the photo.

Optional: If your child doesn’t want a flower in his Valentine, you can use a lollipop instead.