A Trio of Valentine Decorations

A few weeks ago I saw a photograph of a home which had been decorated for Valentine’s Day. It was nothing extravagant, just a few pieces which represented the love in the family. This struck me as a lovely idea; the sparkle of Christmas festivities has gone and I felt it was nice to mark the Valentine holiday with a small decorative reminder.
Below are ideas for three very simple Valentine’s decorations. Each activity looks good using a range of coloured paper but it would also be a great activity for children to decorate their own Valentine paper using paint, pens or crayons and use th at to make the decorations.

 A heart wreath
Materials:

• a cardboard circle (a paper plate with the centre cut out is perfect)
• glue
• a pile of hearts cut from a variety of coloured paper
• a few smaller hearts, glittery shapes etc, for decoration
• piece of ribbon

Instructions:

1. Stick the larger hearts all around the cardboard circle, making sure you cover all the cardboard.
2. Use the smaller hearts and glitter shapes to decorate the circle.
3. Loop the ribbon and glue it to the back so you can hang the wreath up.

Heart garland

Materials:

• Selection of paper hearts, two of each size and design
• string or ribbon
• sticky tape
• glue
• sparkly stickers, glitter pens, small hearts, etc (optional)
• small beads (optional)

Instructions:

1. Cut a length of string depending on how long you want your garland.
2. Stick the string down the middle of one heart and secure with a piece of sticky tape.
3. Glue the matching heart on top so the string is in the middle.
4. Repeat this process with each heart. You can vary the size of the hearts and use small beads between the hearts if desired.
5. Optional : decorate with sparkly stickers, glitter pens, etc.

3D Hanging Heart Tower

Materials:

• strips of paper, one per heart
• string or thread
• glue
• scissors

Instructions

1. Fold one piece of paper in half to make the base of the heart and use closed scissors to ripple each side.
2. Glue the heart closed in the middle.
3.  Repeat to make as many hearts as desired.
4. Stick the hearts together fitting each one top to bottom.
5. Once the glue has dried, attach the string to the top heart and use to hang up.

Photos by Karen Clayton. Craft made by Cameron aged 3.

Karen is originally from Scotland and now lives in Zurich with her husband and two sons.  She is a primary school teacher who now runs her own business, Smart Owls, offering English tuition for children and workshops for different age groups.  More information can be found at smartowls.wordpress.com.