We added "pink fairy" glitter (carefully chosen and liberally sprinkled by my daughter) to each of the letters. I used a Fiskers 1/4 inch rectangle hole punch to punch a hole in each side and then strung the letters on a 1/4 inch ribbon. We included two mini clothes pins with each garland. We packaged each garland in a clear cellophane bag tied with a ribbon.

BE MINE Conversation Heart Garland

I LUV U 4 EVER Conversation Heart Garland

Wishing you a very happy Valentine's Day!

This boy's indecision pushed us into a last minute project last night that I am still trying to finish today.

So if you find yourself in the same spot you can download the COOL Whirly Gig. We used card-stock, but they worked on thinner paper also.  My son finally getting into the fun decided we should punch a hole in the bottom and tie on a piece of candy (YIKES)!

Cut on all solid lines and fold on the dotted lines.

Fold up bottom flap and if you are not tying on candy you can fasten with a paper clip (wish I had a cool shaped one) , staple or cute heart brad.  Since the party is an hour away I think I might just hot glue that candy on the bottom!

Toss up into the air and it will twirl to the ground!  I hope you enjoy!  I am off to the Valentine's Day party.

Here is another free valentine download for you! This one is much simpler! Download the files, cut and assemble!

Lollipop Lily

Leaf

You might also be interested in these Valentine's Day Ideas.

• Pillow Box Alligator- blank so you can add your own embellishments like stickers, heart hole punches, glitter and more!
• Pillow Box Alligator with pink hearts
• Inside of mouth

First download and print out an alligator and inside of mouth

Cut out pieces

Lightly score lines on pillow box and gently fold

Put glue on side flap of pillow box and fold together, leaving the ends open. Allow to dry a few minutes before folding in the ends of the box.

Score about 1/2 inch from the end of the upper mouth piece so it can open and close (see final picture). Fold in ends on box and begin gluing on upper and lower mouth and the tail.Use lots of glue stick! Use a rubber band to secure pieces while they are drying.

Fold edge of each leg and glue to sides of box

Add some googly eyes and fill box with candy

Take a little tuna fish can and cover it with spray paint and paper. Hot glue plastic pony beads all the way around the side and run a yarn through the beads and you have a little drum. Be sure to use a safety can opener so that there are no sharp edges and the top of the can works as a lid.  I think it would be best to package the candy in little clear bags so the candy doesn't take on any odd tastes from the can.

Small olive and green chili cans would make cute little drums. You could also forget the beads and yarn and use glitter and other embellishments instead!

Last year I wrote about making miniature heart cheesecakes. My pan is non-stick, made by Chicago Metallic and purchased from Williams Sonoma. I have found one that looks the same (I am not sure about the non-stick, but the bottoms come out so I don't think removing the cheesecake would be a problem either way) at Amazon. I think this is a good deal  ---I paid more!

See how to make these miniature cheesecakes here.

To make this doormat you need a carpet sample , ours were free from our local store. Since we repeat this craft all year round he knows us! He didn't have the rectangle size (or texture free) we like so these square ones had to do. It is best to try to get the regular pile-not Berber, shag or textured carpet.

We made our own stamps by cutting shapes out of foam sheets and rubber cementing them to a bock of wood.

Each stamp needs two layers of foam, so be sure to cut two for each stamp you make. Once you have the foam shape glued to the wood, put something heavy and flat on top of your stamp while the glue dries. This keeps the foam from curling.

We paint (we use acrylic) the paint on the stamps with a foam brush. This is easier than dipping and keeps the area around the stamp clean---which is very important. Use a lot of paint.

This is probably the only time that rocking and jiggling your stamp is okay. You are trying to work the paint into the carpet. I suggest asking for one extra carpet sample and give a few practice runs to get the feel of the amount of paint, pressure and jiggling you need to do. Kids love to use both hands and press really hard (an important reason you want to keep the surrounding wood of the stamp paint free). An adult probably needs to give the stamp a final press --depending on the age of the child.

If your print comes off light, simply take your foam brush and work a bit more paint in those areas.

Once you are finished the stamps can be rinsed off with water. Allow them to dry completely before storing.

If you don't want to make your own stamps you can always use the large foam die-cut sponges found at craft stores.  Make sure to dampen your sponge and then dip into paint.  You will find an especially nice selection of these sponges around Halloween.

I have asked for 25 carpet samples at one time (give the carpet store some notice so they can collect them for you) so we could do this for the craft at a holiday party at school with 1st and 5th graders. It actually worked out beautifully. I was able to die-cut the shapes out of foam so I had plenty without me having to cut them all . I had parents each with their own stamp and color of paint and walk around the room allowing the children (who stayed at their desks) to stamp their carpets. The parents would paint the stamp each time. We set the carpets out in the hallway to dry. We did this at the very beginning of the party so they had time to dry before heading home (on the buses -oh my I am sure I was popular with those drivers that day!).

You will need regular weight copy paper and card-stock to make these cards. First fold the regular weight copy paper in half.

Cut out a space 2 1/2 inches over and 2 inches down from the upper right corner.

Fold the left edge over as shown in the picture.

Cut the top part away as shown. You might want to practice on scrap paper until you get the heart shape you are happy with.

Fold the heart to the center.

Cut two inches off of the long side of a piece of card-stock. Fold the larger piece in half.

Place your heart card into the card-stock and glue everything but the heart shape.

Decorate the front

Decorate the inside. When you open the card the heart pops up.

More crafty Valentine Ideas can be found here.

We made lots of crayon shavings with a pencil sharpener.

Place shavings on a piece of wax paper.

Either place another piece of wax paper on top or fold over the edge to cover all of the shavings.

Iron on the lowest setting for about 1 second. You can go always go longer after checking to see if the shavings have melted. Be careful to not burn the wax paper. It is a good idea to do the ironing on a piece of newspaper. Some shavings could leak out of the sides and it does leave a residue underneath the wax paper. If you are worried about your iron, just place your wax paper between two sheets of newspaper or scrap paper.

I think it is easiest for kids to trace around cardboard so I took cereal boxes and cut out heart shapes to be used for patterns. This is where you get variety so let the kids draw the hearts.

Draw around your pattern.

Cut out, hole punch and tie on ribbon, thread or fishing line. Hang!

Martha has directions and a gorgeous display at her place.