Simple Valentine crafts

With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought I would share a few simple crafts. Some of these could be done with the kids or grandkids or even a Sunday School class, Scouts, etc.

First up, these sparkly heart ornaments made of felt and trimmed with glittery beads and sequins.

You'll find the directions here: Sparkly Heart Ornaments. These look nice on a wreath, too.

Valentine banners are easy to make and can be personalized to look nice in any room with any decorating theme.

Basically, you cut paper shapes -- either a pennant or scallop shape would work well -- decorate them with Valentine doilies, stickers, etc., punch holes in the top edges of each shape and string them on a ribbon or cord. You can decide if you want to spell out a word -- I used L-O-V-E -- or a saying like "B-E * M-I-N-E", or you can make these without any lettering at all. Letters could be stenciled on or you could print them on or use rub-ons or cut-out letters as I did. You could even decide to string the shapes vertically like a bell pull. I used plaid scrapbook paper for my pennant shapes, but it has not held up really well over time. I think if I made more garlands (and they would be fun for any season!) I would first glue the scrapbook paper to card stock or lightweight cardboard. Fused fabric would work well, too.

Beaded hearts like these are easy and fun for kids to make.

You take a chenille stem and cut it in half. I usually use red stems, but gold, silver, or iridescent would all be pretty, too. Bend one end of the stem up about a half inch to hold the beads in place. Then string red tri-beads onto the stem to within a half inch of the other end of the stem. Twist the 2 ends of the stem together to secure -- it will be basically a circle shape -- then, bend in the middle to form a heart. Add a hanger of gold or silver cord or even fishing line. I like to dangle these hearts from my kitchen cupboard knobs,

but they are pretty as suncatchers or hanging from chandeliers or, as here, on a ribbon board filled with Valentines.

Lastly, felt Valentine cookies

are fun to make, both for use in play kitchens or at doll tea parties, or just for decoration. (I plan to put a few on a plate inside a little glass cake dome.) There are tutorials out there to make these felt cookies, but here is what I did: simply traced a heart cookie cutter on cookie-colored felt and cut out the "cookies" -- 2 felt shapes for each cookie. A lighter tan would have been nice, but I was using what I had on hand. (The nearest store with felt squares is a good 40 minutes away.) Then I traced about a half inch inside the cookie cutter on pink felt and cut that out for the frosting -- one shape for each cookie. Again I would have preferred a lighter pink, but this sort of rose color is what I had. Then I blanket-stitched the frosting onto the top cookie shape of each pair, using pink thread, and sewed on beads for "sugar crystals". Red and pink beads would look nice as "sprinkles" if preferred. Then I blanket stitched the 2 cookie shapes together, using tan thread, with the frosted one on top. Done!

Here are a couple of cookies in progress. I am experimenting with a white embroidered chain stitch on the second one, to look like white frosting trim. Just an idea I had -- we'll see how it works out!
Oh, and don't forget these pretty votive holders: Sparkly Votive Holders. They are especially fun to make with Valentine stickers and plenty of glitter.

Hope you have fun with these Valentine craft ideas!