For food-allergic kids, February 14 can feel like a minefield of forbidden treats. But now they can get their hearts into the day too – with Allergic Living’s creative Valentine’s crafts.
Valentine’s Day is about expressing your affection for others, and what better way to do so than to create something far more personal than a store-bought goodie? Here are a few of my favorite crafts, from simple foam roses to beautiful stained-glass hearts – a fun way to spend time with your Valentines.
Foam Roses
Materials
- Thin foam sheets
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun (parental supervision required)
- Glue sticks
- Green pipe cleaners
Instructions
- Cut the foam sheets into 2-inch squares.
- Use your scissors to cut each square in a spiral shape.
- Starting from the outside of the spiral, roll the foam sheet inwards applying a small amount of hot glue to the foam every couple of turns, to keep the rose from unraveling.
- Take your pipe cleaner and bend it in half. Starting from the bend end, twist the pipe cleaner around itself, all the way up. When you reach the end of the pipe cleaner, trim it to make it even if needed.
- Use half of a pipe cleaner to make leaves by bending it into shape, then twisting it around the stem of your rose.
- Using the hot glue gun, apply a small amount of glue to the bottom of the rose and place it on top of your pipe cleaner stem.
Tip: You can also make a ring for your rose by bending a pipe cleaner around your finger, and gluing the rose to the top.
Heart Shaped Animal Cards
Materials
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Googly eyes
- Markers or crayons
Instructions
- Take a piece of construction paper, fold it in half and draw half of a heart, starting and ending on the fold of the paper.
- Cut out the heart shape.
- Repeat steps 1 & 2 with various sizes and colors of construction paper.
- Glue different heart cut-outs and googly eyes into your desired animal shape.
- Use markers or crayons to add details to your animal card, and don’t forget to leave a heartfelt message for your Valentine.
Paper Heart Chain
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Materials
- Red, pink and white construction paper
- Scissors
- Stapler & staples
Instructions
- Cut red, pink and white construction paper into one inch wide strips. For smaller hearts, cut the long strips of paper in half.
- Take two strips of any color construction paper, place one on top of the other and staple them together at the bottom. (See photo)
- Bend the loose ends over to form a heart. (See photo)
- Before stapling the bottom of your heart, take two more strips of construction paper and staple them to the bottom of your heart, loose ends facing up.
- Repeat steps 3-4 until you reach your desired length. Try mixing up the colors to form a multi-colored heart-chain. Have fun!
Stained Glass Hearts
This craft can either be glued on a Valentine’s Day card or hung in front of a window for a fun stained-glass effect.
Materials
- Pink, red, purple and blue crayons
- Pencil/crayon sharpener
- Wax paper
- Iron (parental supervision required)
- 2 dish towels
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- String
- Glue stick
Instructions:
- Remove the wrapper from each crayon.
- Start sharpening each crayon from end to end, and collect the shavings into different piles or containers to use later.
- Once you’ve collected the crayon shavings, cut two 6-inch squares of wax paper and place one on top of a dish towel on a flat surface.
- Sprinkle 1 or 2 colors of crayon shavings on the wax paper, being careful to stay at least one inch away from the edges.
- Lay the other square of wax paper on top and cover with your second dish towel.
- Use the iron (parental supervision required) on a low-heat setting and gently press it over the dish towel, covering the wax paper and crayon shavings. The more you glide the iron over the towel, the more the colors will run and spread out between the wax paper.
- Remove the towels and let the wax paper cool for a couple of minutes.
- Once cooled, cut the wax paper into heart shapes.
- You can either glue your hearts onto a card or punch a hole at the top and use string or ribbon to hang them in front of a well-lit window.
Valentine’s Desserts:
Vanilla Heart Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Brownie Hearts with Raspberry Buttercream
Triple Chocolate Cherry Pie
