More Great Crafts for Valentine's Day

A long time ago, when I was still in elementary school, one of our art projects was to create a heart envelope. I feel in love the project, and decided to share it, along with a few others, for anyone else looking for inventive valentine projects.

Paper Braided Heart Envelope

This project is great for children, if they will be receiving cards in school, as it will hold them well.

What you will need:

• Two pieces of colored construction paper. They can be either the same color, different colors, or patterned. (If you'd like to recycle, see instructions on how to make your own paper in the article entitled "Homemade Paper and Custom Valentines", which is linked here.)
• Scissors
• Writing Utensil (optional)
• Ruler (optional)

Instructions:

1. First, you will need to fold your papers in half hamburger style (short end to short end). Once folded, you will need to draw a long-D type of shape - a square with half of a circle for an end - on the paper with the folded edge being the end opposing the rounded edge. (See Image 1 to left.)
2. Now, you will cut this shape out, keeping the folded edge permanent.
3. Make sure your paper is still folded, and using your ruler if you would like, draw straight lines beginning on the fold toward the rounded edge. Use your scissors to cut the lines into the paper.
4. The next step is to combine the two sides together. Position them perpendicular to each other, with piece b on top of piece a. Beginning with the top strip of piece b (the one closest to the rounded edge of a - colored gray in the Image 2), put it in between the two sides of the first strip of piece a (colored brown). You will then take the second strip of piece a, and put it in between the same piece of b (the one depicted as gray) you just used. Keep alternating in this way until you have reached the end of the first row. Then, beginning with the second strip, do the opposite of the first. So you would take the brown piece and put it in between the gray piece first.
5. When you are finished, you should have a heart-shaped envelope that will open up because of the braiding.

***Be careful to make sure each braiding is done inside of the others, or else it won't open up as it should.

Coffee-Can Valentine Holder

In the spirit of recycling, here is a great craft project to make use of old, unwanted coffee cans.

What you will need:

• Empty metal coffee can
• ¼ Yard of Fabric
• Lace, ribbon, and whatever other decorating items you would like
• Hot glue
• Liquitex Basics Gesso or other primer
• Decoupage medium
• Paintbrush
• Pinking shears
• Tacky glue
• Sharp knife or scissors

Instructions:

1. Clean your coffee can and lid.
   
2. Once it has dried completely, measure your fabric around the can to ensure you have enough. Then apply one coat of your primer of choice to the entire can and lid.
   
3. When the primer has dried, apply some decoupage medium to the non-patterned side of the fabric and attach it to the can, smoothing out any bumps. Apply the decoupage medium to the outside of the fabric once you have wrapped it around the can. This will help smooth out the bumps and create a protective layer around the fabric.
   
4. Use the hot glue gun to fix the fabric to the bottom of the can as well as to the inside lip of the can.
   
5. While you are waiting for the decoupage and glue to dry, using the same method as with the can, cover the lid with the rest of your.
   
6. If you would like, using the scissors or knife, you can now cut a slit in the lid for the cards or other contents to slide through.
   
7. After the lid has dried, you can glue the excess fabric to the inside of it, and then fit the lid onto the can.
   
8. Decorate the outside as you wish.

The above are just two options for Valentine's Day crafts. Take the general outlines and expand to personalize the projects with your own ideas.