Tips on Making Your Own Cheap and Easy Valentines

Nothing says "I Love You" like handmade gifts, and the same certainly holds true for handmade Valentine. Sure, you could just buy a box of Valentine's Day cards at the store, but with a little effort, you can make a whole pile of Valentines, and it will probably be cheaper than the boxed variety. Best of all, this is a craft that can be done with kids of all ages, though younger children will require more supervision than older kids.

To make your own cheap and easy Valentines, you will need:

- Construction paper. You will mostly want red, pink, and white sheets, but other colors can be used for accents.

- Scissors. Depending on how old the children involved in this project are, you may want to limit their use of scissors. Older children can likely be trusted to cut their own construction paper, but with younger children, you may want to do most of the cutting in advance.

- Glue. I recommend glue sticks, as this is the easiest sort of glue to apply, it allows you to reposition items for a short time, it dries quickly, and it cleans up easily. Normal glue or paste will also work for this project, and you shouldn't need anything stronger than that for most Valentines.

- Writing utensils. Pens, pencils, markers, crayons, etc., choosing whatever you prefer to use to write on your Valentines. This can also be adjusted based on the ages of the children involved, keeping messy markers out of the hands of toddlers, for example.

To make the card itself, fold a piece of construction paper in half. If you want to make a large number of Valentines, you can then cut along this line, and get two Valentines out of each piece of construction paper. If you want heavier duty Valentines, don't cut the construction paper, but fold it in half again, making a card that is 1/4 the size of a full sheet of construction paper. You can also make larger Valentines by just folding the paper in half a single time. I usually prefer to use a full sheet of construction paper, folded twice, for my Valentines, but the half sheet Valentines make your construction paper go a lot further.

Next, decide how you want to decorate the card. The easiest way to do this is to cut out a square or rectangle of a contrasting color of construction paper, smaller than the front surface of the card. Fold this smaller piece of construction paper in half, and draw half of a heart, with the center of the heart on the fold line. Then cut along the drawn line, and you will have a heart shape that is even on both sides. You can also cut out hearts freehanded, but drawing them on the paper and cutting along the line might be easier for some children.

Then glue the heart onto the Valentine, wherever you want it to go. You can cut out several hearts and glue them on the front, back, and even inside of your card. If you do put glue on the inside of the card, though, be sure to let it dry all the way before you close the Valentine. Other shapes are also a possibility--flowers are another good Valentine embellishment, and let you use more colors of construction paper. You can also save the border from the cut out hearts, and glue those onto a different Valentine for a different sort of look.

Finally, use your writing utensils to write little messages on the Valentines, add more decorations, or sign your name. There are plenty of stock phrases that are common on Valentines, but making your own Valentines allows you to personalize the cards for the recipients. You can skip the writing portion of this craft, depending on your preferences.

Of course, this is only the simplest version of a Valentine's Day card. If you have scrapbooking supplies or other craft supplies available, there are many more things that you could do to make these cards even fancier. Scissors or punches that cut patterns into paper, especially if those patterns involve hearts, are very useful for this project. You might also add scraps of ribbon or cardstock, though these items probably require a heavier duty glue. Finally, stickers or glitter glue can really jazz up a handmade Valentine. There are many other possibilities of what you might use for making your own cheap and easy Valentines; just use your imagination and creativity to see what you can come up with!