Homemade Valentine's Day Mailbox

This is a fun Valentine's Day craft that you can make with your kids. The finished product is a sweet mailbox that you can use to hold Valentine's Day cards or candy treats. Or, fill the mailbox up with goodies while your children are sleeping and let them open the box in the morning to find their Valentine's Day goodies!

All you need to make this craft is an empty oatmeal container (use a large one) and other basic craft supplies. How you decorate the mailbox is totally up to you. You can see one example here to give you some ideas.

Start by cutting a slice off the oatmeal container the entire way down, including the base of the container (have an adult do the cutting). This will allow the mailbox to lay flat. Then glue the open side (the flat side) of the oatmeal container onto some cardboard. When the glue is dry, trim away any of the cardboard that is sticking out from under the mailbox.

Make a door for the mailbox out of cardboard. Cereal box cardboard is good to use since it's very easy to cut. Make the door the same shape as the mailbox but make it just a bit larger. Attach the bottom of the door to the mailbox using tape as a hinge so you can open and close the mailbox door.

Decorate the mailbox any way you like. You can use construction paper or colorful Valentine's Day wrapping paper. You can also paint the mailbox using any craft paint or poster paint. Or, you can cover the entire mailbox using fabric. You can glue ribbon around the edges as trim and you can apply stickers all over. You can also glue on various heart shaped cutouts or magazine clippings. Just go wild with the design! No matter how you decorate the mailbox, it will turn out great.

When your mailbox is complete, make a flag out of cereal box cardboard, decorate it as desired and attach it to the mailbox using a paper fastener (buy them in the office supply section of any store). It's a good idea to also stick a paper fastener in the top of the mailbox and glue a loop to the mailbox door. Then you can hold the door shut by passing the loop over the paper fastener.

This mailbox craft can be used for any holiday. All you have to do is switch the decorating theme to match the holiday. These mailboxes look great under a Christmas tree on on a table waiting for Santa. And the Easter Bunny will love seeing one on your front porch so he can deliver some treats!

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