Living in Germany, they don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day like Americans, so there weren’t any pre-made cards at the local grocery store.
Instead, we got some paper, cut and folded them up to a size roughly 3X5 inches, and got to work spelling out the names of class-mates. By the time we’d finished, we’d written every letter of the alphabet.
On the bad, there was more practice learning how to spell “From” over and over again, followed by her name.
On the inside, we made drawings, thinking about what each of her friends likes, and then (with a little help from me), sketching them out and coloring. We drew rainbows, an alien, a race car (“with GOLDEN wheels!!!” she said), a dinosaur, lightning bolts, an unicorns.
Of course – there was a request to put candy inside, so we needed to create something to hold it in. She grabbed some pre-made envelopes and was upset when I said we were going to make our own – but quickly changed her tune when I said that this would make it easier to put candy inside.
For the envelope, we cut up some more paper, and folded the corners down to make a point in the middle, then folded the center triangle down, like making a paper airplane. We used tape to secure the vertical and angled sides.
The benefit to this design is that the flaps can be pulled apart to put candy inside, but the paper still has enough tension to prevent it from falling out.
Also, I really didn’t want to have to help writing the names again on each of the envelopes, so the folded sides were just enough to have the name sticking out.
I also liked how it helped to prop the card up when it was done, making it seem almost like a magical flying card.
I’m sure there are many more ideas out there, but mostly it was important just to spend time with the kid, sharing ideas and doing art.
Honestly, it was also fun for me to draw something that looked like a 5-yr old could have drawn it, without the forthcoming self-judgment of making amateur art.
Let me know what other DIY ideas you have and send pictures of your art!
Waunder 