“I see the questions in your eyes. I know what’s weighing on your mind…” You’ve been dying to know what my kids are giving out as Valentines, right? (I know it’s not true, but humor me here.) I’ve already got myself sorted and know what I’m getting my partner, as I’ve been looking online at things like a Personalized Spotify Code Music Plaque or nice pair of pajamas, but of course, I know you’re all much more interested in what the kids will be handing out this year. So… As many mothers do this time of the year, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking for cute homemade Valentine ideas for my children to make and give to their classmates, but then I got an Oriental Trading magazine in the mail and decided to take the more lazy approach this year. I bought everything from Oriental Trading. Since most Valentines include candy, I thought it would be refreshing to go the non-sugary, but just as sweet route.
For my preschooler’s class, I bought red and pink pinwheels* (They came in three different designs) and small red and pink heart bubbles. The pinwheels had to be put together, but all that involved was putting two pieces together. No biggie. The bubbles came with its own to/from tag with a bubble-
themed message on it and red and pink string to tie around the bubbles. (When I opened the box of bubbles, I noticed that some of the tags were wet, because one of the bottles had leaked. I wrote to Oriental Trading Company and they immediately shipped me a new box of bubbles. Great customer service!) To make the Valentines, I first slid the string through the precut hole in the tag. Then, I wrapped the string around the bubble bottle twice to secure it. (To make the Valentines look better color coordinated, I used the red strings for the red bubbles and pink strings for the pink bubbles.) After I secured the bubbles, I then tied two knots around the top of the pinwheel. I had to make 20 of these and they took up quite a bit of room, so I put them in a vase to make them look like a bouquet. Now my daughter’s classmates can just pluck out the one they want.
For my daughter’s first grade class, the Valentines were much more simple. She goes to a Catholic school and is actually pretty religious for a six year old, so I bought her class cute God Loves Me To Pieces Valentine cards that came with a puzzle shaped eraser that says “God [Heart] Me.” The cards came with little silver ties and had precut holes in the cards to secure the erasers with. I also bought red, pink, and purple pencils that have “I Have Jesus In My Heart” written on them. On the Valentine card, the happy heart is holding out his hands, so I thought that would be a perfect place to tape the pencils to.
For the teacher’s gifts, my crafty mother in law volunteered to sew together a Valentine heart coaster for the teachers to set their coffee or tea on. I found a cute free gift tag online that has a picture of a latte and says “I like you a latte!” I punched a small hole in the corner and then used a piece of twine to tie the tag to the Valentine coaster. (Thanks, MIL!)
*Oriental Trading is currently out of stock