Handmade Valentines

I thought Kate would be in kindergarten before I was doing craft projects for her school, but I ended up making eleven valentines for the one year olds' valentine exchange. My goodness.

Yes, it seems silly, but it seemed sillier to spend $5 on a box of Dora the Explorer valentines when I could just make some with craft supplies I already had. But, being me, I couldn't just fold a piece of paper in half, write "Happy Valentine's Day" and be done with it, so I thought I'd share the cute and creative--yet easy--valentines I made.

Start by making a template with a rectantular piece of paper or cardstock. Fold it in half and cut a half-heart shape in the side, so that when you unfold it, you have a rectangle with two half-heart "ears." Cut out as many of these as you need in a fun, valentine-y paper. On each one, cut a notch along each side, as if you were going to cut the half-hearts off, but only go halfway. On one side, start at the top; on the other, start at the bottom. (as indicated below)
Bring the half-hearts together and slide the notches together to form one heart.
Flatten and crease the edges so that the heart is centered on top. (Or, if you were doing a longer rectangle, it could be off-center. That might look cool. Mine were square when finished, though.)
I knocked these out in less than an hour, and I think they're super-cute!

I kept having flash-forwards to late nights in 2017 when I'm losing sleep putting the finishing touches on a diarama of an early Cherokee village or making ladybug costumes for the class play. I'm sure one day I will regret making myself known as the "crafty mom" of the classroom, but for now, it's just another joy of mommyhood.